15/5/15- Skirt Construction

Today I worked on making my skirt. Throughout the week I have been creating the toile for my skirt and I am happy with it so today I finished cutting out my fabric and began constructing it. I had already sewed the basic underskirt together last night so using the pattern I made yesterday I added the facing to the waist as to discreetly neaten the top edge. This worked well and gave a flat edge so when the overskirt is added it shall not be bulky. After this I had to sew my overskirt together which is constructed like an apron and will be tied over the underskirt. Overall this went well, I had to sew the pleats, printed panel and ruffles together to the waistband. I had to be careful with this as having multiple elements meant it could get bulky. At first with the printed front panel I made it with a back so all the raw edges were enclosed but once I had done this I realised it was just too bulky to be sewn to the waistband, I had already clipped the inside edges as it was being turned inside out which would have been a problem but luckily as the fabric doesn't fray I managed to still create hems on the edges by just folding them very small and sewing. Although this did mean there was stitching on the outside I made sure it was neat and close to the edge. Once I had sorted that out I sewed the ruffles down the side zigzag stitching the raw edged to make sure they didn't fray and so were secure.

(Constructing my skirt, authors own, 15/5/15)

Overall I am really pleased with how the skirt has turned out. It didn't end up being too bulky which I was worried about and I am pleased with how the colours and fabrics have worked together. I have learnt more about constructing garments from this as I was unsure at the beginning of how I would construct the different elements together. I also think my sewing skills generally were more accurate as I wanted to keep the skirt looking neat and I usually tend to make little mistakes when sewing but I managed to avoid these and apart from changing and unpicking the panel at the front to make it less bulky the construction went smoothly. If I could improve it I think I would change the fabric of the pleats to something that would hold its shape a little better so they were sharper and held the lines of the pleats better when hanging. 

Next I need to construct my duvet coat ready for Tuesday so it can be photographed with my skirt. At the moment the shape of the coat is going to need more experimenting to get it right and I also think I am going to have to shorten the coat otherwise it is going to cover up all the detailing on the top of the skirt.

14/5/15- Garment Development

Today I continued with the making of my skirt, working out the final sections in calico and paper on the stand to get the correct shapes as well as cutting out my fabric ready for making. I mainly worked out a lot of my shapes by eye and experimenting or by building off the basic block. By making the toile onto the stand it has allowed me to amend sizes such as the width of the ruffles or the fullness as I am making so the different elements are in proportion. One element of this I have found quite hard is getting the length of the garment right as I feel the mannequin only basically being the torso or trunk of the body gives a slight distorted view of length so I have to make sure I continue to measure it against a body to ensure I make the garment the correct length. Now I have worked out my toile pieces and pinned them together I can begin to sew the real skirt together as I am happy with how it looks. A lot of my garment is about accuracy and keeping all the elements neat so they flow as one so I need to make sure I sew accurately and press it correctly as otherwise I think it could look messy which will ruin the skirt.

Today I also spoke to Becca about my sketchbook and improving it as it doesn’t feel very exciting at the moment. I believe my issue is I just draw into my sketchbook designs as I think of them knowing what they should look like in my head so I forget to include reference or colour or samples/ stand work with them to explain my ideas so I now need to just go back and improve on this. Key points I need to work on are: adding in references, loads of colour and fabrication, involving my stand work more and making sure its not just all drawing. The method of making sure there are always three different methods and processes on a page is really applicable to me in order to make someone understand my thoughts and processes. Speaking to someone else about my work was helping as it gave a clearer idea of what was missing and what wasn't working which I couldn't see so well as it is my own work. 

This weekend my main focuses are going to be my garments and getting them finished so they can be photographed tuesday so that I can go back and improve and tidy up my work so it is as high standard as I can get. In the back of my mind I also need to be thinking of the best way to display my work in an interesting way at assessment that represents what my project is about. 

13/5/15- Garment and Print Development

Today I got both my test prints and my final samples printed. I got them in a range of sizes from a5 to a3 and in both fleece and satin so that I can make boards next week. Overall I am pleased with how they have turned out, the prints are strong and seeing them on fabric gives me a better idea of what scales were good as well as the colours. From printing them I like the damask print with a background as it sort of brings both the rich and poor elements together whereas with the rubbish print I like it with a white background as it gives a really bold contrast of black to white making the print more dramatic, I also found the background took away from the details like the small areas with newsprint. I am also pleased that none of the prints have ended up with trap lines and I feel like they do flow and don’t appear to be too repetitive or linear which is something I was finding earlier in the project. In future with prints I think it would be good to play around with more fabrics, I only tried out three but I think testing on a hessian or something rougher would have been a good experiment and might’ve created an exciting outcome. 

(My prints, 13/5/15)

Today I also continued to work on the toile for my skirt, I think it is slowly coming together and I am working out how to create the elements of it. Today I experimented with the ruffles down the side, they are created using rectangles and gathering the top edge, I found from creating them on the stand that they needed more fabric so were fuller as I think they need to be quite dramatic. I now need to translate this back onto paper to make a pattern piece for them. Tonight I am going to begin constructing the skirt as I feel I can create the elements as I work them out which will stop me getting behind. I am going to create the pleated section so I need to be careful to make sure they are accurate and that I iron them properly. 

(Developing toile for my skirt, 13/5/15)

I think at the moment I need to remember to work on my final line up for the project as well as work on my garments as otherwise I will be rushing it next week and not have the time to do finishing touches well and to a high standard I will be happy with. Tomorrow I need to continue constructing my skirt as well as continue designing. I also want to think about a simple top I could make to go with my skirt and coat as I think this will be better for having my garments photographed next week as will be a complete look.