ANOTHER WEEK

Last week wasnt fun it really was quite shit. Luckily my review went fine although we had to have a metting with our head of year yesterday so she could inform us of how worried she is that we are all so far behind!! Im staying calm though. It will all be done on time. It has to be!

Heres a better picture of the shoulder piece on a stand, the straps will be fastened underneath the arms.

Today i managed to complete another jacket! I feel so relieved that this jacket is finished now! It took so long to make and is most definitely the hardest garment i have ever made. I was on edge sewing this the whole time! My blood sweat and tears went into making this bad boy!

Its quite cute as you can take the front piece off to dress it down more and add a little variety to the wearability of it. I also managed to get a meter of my print onto fabric to make the top which features underneath this jacket which should be whipped up tomorrow! 

This week is a little more positive than last week! I hope it remains that way! Although i can see it going slightly down hill as we do have a project due in on monday which i am yet to start! Nothing like working under pressure!

SECRET PLANS UNDER WRAPS

I do have some good and exciting news which I am looking forward to unveiling! A great opportunity has been offered to me which will take place as soon as I finish uni. I can't let slip exactly what it is yet but i have been allowed to say "watch this space for Viennese Juiciness!" Excitement!

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

Thats been the saying of the week i think. Its been a really tough time leading up to this review and i cant even get myself to discuss the printing problems again it would take up my whole blog so far! At least now it is sorted! Half of my stuff is being printed at uni and the rest is being shipped off to some other company who will actually do it in 5 days. So next week i should about have all my fabric.

Heres a sneak peak at one of my small leather jackets / shoulder piece whatever you want to call it. Sewing from hell I tell you. The iphone pic doesn't really do it justice, though thought i would take a quick snap of a bit of it as a little preview as things progress. I managed to nearly finish my more intricate white one today, actually had a break down sewing that beast. Looking good though so it will all be worth it in the end! Its my review 5 tomorrow, not sure how i feel about it. I know its going to go bad as I'm really behind atm due to about a million problems. I just have to be confident and reassure them it will all be fine else i know I'm going to get beaten down! Fun times. 

TWO DAYS TILL REVIEW

I dont even know where to begin with today. Its been so unbelievably shit! every time something went wrong my immediate reaction was to just start laughing! Luckily as somethings went wrong others problems were resolved. I have a couple more meters of my print onto fabric, after the heated roller broke down for a while after melting someones fabric! Yes this was hilarious! My uni is just incapable of producing a print without any hassles. Had my second year helper today which was nice, although i think they may be slightly scared of final year now. I cant even face going over the sagas of the day so i will leave it at that! Hopefully i wont cry tomorrow! 2 days till review... STRESS!

ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER

Absolutely nothing is going right for me again today, the print I have been waiting god knows how long for was partially put onto fabric and by partially i mean 3 out of the 17 meters! The 3 meters that were  printed were printed wrong as the heated machine was not hot enough leaving faded patches, not a good look. So thats another trip to london to get more fabric. So i have to wait another day to print the rest after the machine has heated up properly! 

My leather jackets are all still in pieces i have to wait for my printed linings to sew them in as the lining has to be caught in with the facings so this holds me up slightly again! The white long sleeved jacket has a slight problem, where the leather has stretched on the top sculptured part of my sleeve the bottom section now does not match, so i have a couple of different options of how to resolve that. Neither of them I particularly want to do but thats what happens when you don't have the time or the money to toile things up again out of the final fabrics which is what they would do with things like this in industry.

So for my review on Friday they are asking for 4 outfits to be complete, thats 4 OUTFITS not garments OUTFITS. The majority of the class are no where near that mark for some reason with prints taking for ever and mishaps here there and everywhere that target is just not going to be met. Iv had little cry's and nearly puked a couple of times today, but i did have some good news! I was informed that I can use the sewing machines in a factory back home over easter which could save my whole degree! yes there is a glimpse of light! Lets hope tomorrow is a better day.

HALF WAY TO HAVING A PRINT

So of course my print wasn't completed. Its quite frustrating at this stage when it is completely out of our hands, having to rely on other technicians and technology isn't very reassuring. The majority was printed onto the paper, but with regular interruptions where the machine decided to run out of ink, or just randomly stop for a break. The paper is now rolled up waiting to go through the dye sub whenever that will be. (hopefully soon)

Running around trying to get my print out onto fabric delayed my sewing and still only bits of my jackets are sewn together, proving to be a very time consuming task. I am however quite happy tonight as i realised we have four weeks until easter, rather than the three i thought we had! Anyway im off to sleep. sleep is very precious at this stage. I am however looking forward to getting in the studio at 8 to carry on sewing my jackets! I'll post the progress at the end of the week.

THE FIRST GARMENT

Today I actually started to sew my final garments. FINALLY. 12 hours and an amazing head ache later i almost have my first jacket/shoulder piece ready for the linings (which WILL be printed tomorrow). It was nerve-wracking sewing the first piece, especially in leather, but I'm pleased with the way its turning out!

With help from the technician the sleeves turned out pretty perfect and hold the shape really well. To achieve this without the bulk from all the seams I lapped the edges which creates a different affect as a finishing.

Its not all there yet but its close! just have to sew the sleeves into the main body and attach the facings and fastenings then it can be sent to the factory for the linings. 

Hopefully i will be able to start the second jacket tomorrow which is a more complicated version of this but in white leather. Then as promised my print will also be produced for the dress that accompanies this cropped jacket. Things are starting to progress. Slowly but surely.