The last of my sampling and the start of my patterning and creating of the toile :)

So today I have managed to complete all of my sampling, and have now moved onto creating my toile. :)

For the last of my sampling, I have looked at the skirt area, and the gathering at the bottom. I originally gathered the outer layer, and the three layers of netting, but I don't feel that this is visually appealing, so I think on my actual design I will just have one layer of netting, and just gather the outer layer.

I then moved on to creating my patterns for the front and back bodice section. I used a close fitting bodice block, and altered the pattern pieces with design lines whilst it was on the mannequin.

Front bodice pattern with my design lines on.

Back bodice pattern with my design lines on.

 I then cut out my new pattern's out of Calico, and took in the darts. I feel that this part of my design is very simple and easy to create as it is so basic.

Front bodice



Back bodice

I have began to create the strips of fabrics to hold the front and back bodice together at the sides, they will measure two centimetres in width and be cut on the bias grain, however I will be completing these tomorrow.
I feel that today has been successful, as I have been able to complete my sampling.

Sampling of the sleeve

Today I began to sample the sleeve for my final design, i felt that this would be a difficult area because the sleeve is divided into sections and held together by two pieces of fabrics.

My sleeve design.

I began by tracing around a sleeve pattern piece, from this I divided the pattern into 8cm sections, leaving gaps were sleeve would not be needed. I ended up with three pattern pieces.

my pattern pieces for sleeve.

 Cut out smaller strips of fabrics on the bias grain to hold the bigger sections together. I decided that I would interface one section of the sleeve to see wether or not this would be better. 

Sampling of my sleeve.

The middle section is the interfaced section, I feel that it works better when interfaced as the fabric hold it's structure and it is more visually appealing. I found this sampling very tedious, however I'm glad that I have done it as I could have fixed any issues, and I feel more confident with my chosen design now.

My day as a stylist!

Today we had Jemma Sawyer, a former student of the college and a well-known stylist come in to talk to us about her career.
She set us a challenge to do in pairs. We were asked to create a mood board to inspire a 'What's hot' page about clothing for Festivals, for Look magazine.

Our mood board, music festival's.

We began by looking into various music festivals and Coachella, this lead us to look at celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Lily Allen and Maria and the diamonds. Our clothing and accessories would be taken from high street shop's such as New Look, Topshop, Accessorize and ASOS, as Look is more of a high street magazine. The make up is inspired by an image of Lily Allen, and we would use Barry M as they have a selection of glittery eyeshadows.
I feel that this experience has made me realise how much you have to take into consideration as a stylist, I don't feel that it is as easy as it looks.

started sampling

Today I have started sampling my final design from a previous post, I have found four possible problem area's, which are the side section, the decorative fabric attached to the bodice, the sleeve and creating volume around the waist. I have sampled the side section today, and feel that my first sample was successful, so I will use this technique for my final garment. I have also began to sample the fabric attached to the bodice, looking at other designer's work to help me.

-Picture of side section-

I was originally thinking of using elastic to hold the front and back section of the bodice together, however I feel that this would fall into a fad/high street category so I have decided to instead use a fabric strip.

-Picture of designers decorative fabric maybe?-

^^^ If so: I have chosen to look at these features as I feel they are similar to what i would like to create, and they are very effective visually.

Pattern Cutting: Straight and bais grain dresses

In my pattern cutting lesson, I have created two V neck dresses, one cut on the straight grain and one cut on the bias grain.

Cut on the straight grain, front view

Cut on the straight grain, back view

Cut on the bias grain, front view

Cut on the bias grain, back view

I felt that the dress cut on the straight grain was definitely a lot easier to complete as the dress cut on the bias grain kept stretching and twisting as I was sewing, the dress cut on the straight grain did not. I think that my dress on the straight was succesful, however the bias dress could use a bit of improvement with accurate sewing and fit, I had to unpick a lot of mistakes.
I have learnt that when sewing a dress cut on the bias grain, that you cannot pull it through the machine, you have to very gently feed it through to avoid it stretching and therefor looking mishapen.

Pattern cutting: My shirt

In my pattern cutting lessons, I have created a shirt with a pocket, button stand, collar, cuffs and a yoke.

Front

Back

Pocket

Sleeve

Collar

Cuff

I feel that I struggled most with the collar and the cuff's, I struggled to sew neatly and accurately. However I unpicked some of my stitching and did it again to make it appear neater and more professional. I feel that the pocket was quite simple, a lot easier than I was expecting, which I was happy about. :)
I feel that the rest of the shirt was relatively straight forward to complete. I think that my shirt was successful, although I came across a few difficulties, I believe that I can improve on these with practise.

My final design. :)

I started off by using my shape development for gay pride as a starting point to my designs.

Shape development for gay pride

My starting point

Through out my designs I have been developing them, taking inspiration from my mood board and previous research into sexuality.

My mood board for sexuality.

I looked at various shapes that came through on my mood board and tried to incorporate them into my design, e.g: The sharp table legs, the volume and the broken shape on the left hand side of the board.

A few of my designs.

My final design! 

So here you have it, my final design. :) The layers and the sleeve has been inspired by my mood board, the bodice section has been developed from my starting point and the volume/gathering in the skirt section has been inspired by my research. This all communicates the celebration of sexuality.