TOUGH WEEK

It's been a bit of a slow one this week! My last post was about the start of a dress I was making and the top peice of it wasnt so straight forward as I had hoped! After draping and doing the pattern for it in a day once I had sewn it together I hadn't got the fit quite right!


So it was back to the stand to adjust the pattern! it turned out i had put too much fabric to the center to make it stand out and not distributed it evenly enough so the sides looked too flat with a kind of bluge out the middle...not a good look! I took the seams apart and split a couple of lines into the top to add in some more fabric where needed.


Once the adjustments were made i stuck the paper all together again to check it all looked ok, you could tell the difference straight away the way it stood was a lot better so i hoped that it would all work out in the actual fabric this time!


I decided to make two variations of the dress, one out of standard calico where the rest will be fitted and the other like planed out of the Organdi fabric with the latex dress underneath which will have a more interesting bottom which will flare away from the body. I want to test out both styles as the two different fabric types will make a big difference and its best to be able to see it to decide which works better.


The calico version was pretty straightforward to make i fused the pieces to make it extra sturdy and it stands really well. The sillohuette is pretty different its interesting but still flattering at the same time! I really want to make myself a nice black version to wear out!


The Organdi fabric however was not so straight forward and caused me a lot of problems which to be honest stressed me out a lot. You see the fabric is translucent so the seams inside have to be finished in an attractive way. Normally a French Seam is used but when i tried that out it was just not working because of the curve in the middle. It ended up pulling and puckering and was sooo hard to sew! I know it doesn't look like it but believe me IT WAS!


So after a few different trials trying to make the seams more of a feature on the dress i had to settle for normal seems which i think i will just have to end up binding inside. So with all my faffing around with the top part to the dress trying to get the fit and finishing right i have yet to finish it! but this week it will be finished!

MOVING ON

My first toile review went surprisingly well which i was pleased about so i now just have to move things forward and carry on! Today I started working on a dress that hopefully will be apart of the collection. I made a dress to go with my jacket last week but that was a more simple garment which was made to show the shape, silhouette and techniques that i will be working with.





I used paper again to get the effect I wanted , you can create structure and shape allot easier that way. I am going to stitch this top half together in calico tonight to check the fit then i will be using a more sheer fabric that has stiffness to it so that the fabric fits in with my concept.


I am using Halucination within my concept, the idea of something that is not quite as it seems, false interpretations, weird yet beautiful. So to represent that i am using structure showing a sharp and strong look but with delicate fabric in a more subtle feminine colour. The Outer dress will be masking what is really there (the natural shape of the body) and underneath it I will be using this amazing latex fabric i found in the cloth house to create a bandage tight dress underneath.

Anyway I'm off to go sew! I shall update later

The Black Widow

I had to make the jacket in this black fabric for a project. Didn't turn out to great. I'm gonna alter the design and make it into a caplet type thing maybe change the collar and make it in leather!!

But for now heres a few pics of the garment at this stage...

Was such a bitch to sew!!!

The Making of the 'Black Widow' Jacket

I love using paper on the stand to come up with cuts for garments now, you can explore a lot more faster and cheaper! here are some pics of the process i went through to create my jacket that i like to call the 'Black Widow' 

I created a technique piecing triangles and rectangles together and just played around on the stand!!

I added things and took them away taking pictures as i went along so i could easily go back to a idea! 

I started to fill any gaps that i could create other shapes with out of calico by pinning and tracing it off on the stand.

Sticking with the main features i liked i placed on style lines ready to drape the rest of the garment. 

Once id marked on the rest of the style lines i was able to trace them off in calico and take patterns from them and the paper shapes i had created ready to cut out in calico to make my toile!

I'll post pictures of the toile tomorrow!