Woven stretch and nonstretch fabrics in clothing designed for boys with specified physical handicaps

Graduation date: 1967This study was developed (1) to compare the durability and\ud comfort of stretch and nonstretch in certain selected denim and\ud gingham fabrics, (2) to test specific designs as to their self-help\ud features and (3) to test special features in the designs which might\ud be adapted easily to ready-made clothing for handicapped children.\ud Two shirt designs and two trouser designs were developed for\ud boys who wore leg braces, had limited finger coordination and had\ud varying degrees of deformity in the shoulders. These designs were\ud then constructed into 16 shirts from woven stretch and nonstretch\ud gingham and 16 pairs of trousers from woven stretch and nonstretch\ud denim.\ud Eight boys, ranging in age from five to 12 years, were selected\ud from the Children's Hospital School in Eugene, Oregon. Each boy\ud had two outfits of the same design, one of stretch fabric and the other\ud of nonstretch. Each outfit was worn once a week for a total of 12\ud wearings. All garments were laundered after each wearing by a\ud selected laundress who followed a set procedure.\ud The designs and special features were evaluated by two therapists\ud and the mothers of the eight subjects during interviews with\ud the writer. The writer also held discussions with the children.\ud The fabrics were evaluated by the laundress and the writer by\ud examinations of the garments after each laundering. From these\ud evaluations the following results were apparent:\ud 1. The woven stretch fabrics had better abrasion resistance\ud than the nonstretch when worn over corrective appliances\ud and retained their color and dimensional stability.\ud 2. A pull-over style shirt with a dickey and raglan sleeves\ud was desirable for boys who could raise their arms but had\ud little finger coordination.\ud 3. A shirt with a front opening with Velcro fasteners was\ud satisfactory for boys who had limited finger coordination\ud and could not raise their arms.\ud 4. Raglan sleeves in shirts were desirable for boys with poor\ud coordination and deformed shoulders.\ud 5. Elastic at the waistband of trousers was desirable for those\ud who needed larger trousers to fit over leg braces and pelvic\ud bands. 6. A leg opening closed with a zipper or Velcro was desirable\ud in trousers worn over leg braces