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!

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. 

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. 

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!

Sneak Peak...

I thought i would upload a sneak peak from yesterdays shoot untill i edit the best ones tonight

I just love the effect the photographer created with the movement! and the our lovely model Jenna did a fantastic job! 

FINISHED!!!!

So I've been working non-stop the past couple of days trying to get my outfit finished for the group collection project at uni! I have made the hardest Jacket everrr lots of leather and fringing! looks pretty effective though! 

Heres a crappy snap on my iphone 

hmmm hopefully will look good  styled on the model tomorrow! 

I sent my 'Black Widow' jacket away with a lovely Fashion Promotion student today, i can't wait to see the pics from her shoot it will be interesting to see how someone else interprets it without any of my direction.

I've also been helping my boyfriend photographer Alexander Jordan with finding models and clothes for his editorial tomorrow was going to be 2 male models and 1 female model but models cancelled so its ending up a menswear shoot with my friend Charlie Patterson modeling with his scooter! He's only 17, but i think he has a great look for it! Have a suitcase of clothes to arrange into looks in the morning! its a shame the two shoots clashed so i prob wont get to see much of Jordan's shoot but hopefully it all goes well! It's only 2.13 in the morning and I'm gonna go to bed! i thought i'd still have so much more to do but today has gone surprisingly well! Had to cancel on sassoon though :( my hair is a mess as well! never mind hopefully rearrange it for next week! 

Anyway busy day tomorrow with a very early start! 

slowly but surely...

getting there. Its taken me a long time to get my jacket done and I've still got the collar to do :( I think it has actually been the hardest thing i have ever had to sew. I have even almost shed a few tears! I'm actually feeling like death so i don't think I'm gonna be able to handle an all nighter as planned. i think i will manage tomorrow to get everything done. well i will have to. 

Sassoon isn't looking likely! I'd post some pics but i don't like people to really see my work until its actually finished! 

Shoot on thursday! 

eeeekkkk!!!

Think we are gonna do somehting like this around the hair with really big dark eyes showing through...thanks Giles!!

PEACE X

Long day...

Migraines that give you double vision do not help when trying to use an overlocker on jersey. I don't advise it! Gosh I still have a lot to get done I want to get everything pretty much done tonight so i just have finishing off to do tomorrow before I go to Sassoon. I hope I don't have to cancel on them! I think I may go for a rest till 6 then get straight back on the work. hmm sleep or  eat?? 

zzzzzzzzz....

Lotsa Fringing...

...has kinda drove me crazy tonight! my eyes cant handle it! It's taken me quite a few hours to stitch all the fringing down and make the shoulder pieces to my jacket! i think its been worth it though! looks pretty effective so far! Photo shoot on thursday! flip! early start tomorrow! 

Relentless anyone?

till tomorrow, goodnight. 

The nicest surprise!

One of my housemates has been on an exchange in Paris and has just returned for the weekend and surprised us! I was awoken by screaming housemates crawled out of bed with major confusion to find Miss Carla Grima standing at the bottom of the stairs! 

Lots to do this week! Plan of actin for tomorrow...SEW SEW SEW!! 

The toile...

So here are a few pictures of the completed toile as promised yesterday, excuse my messy bedroom in the background. Its impossible to keep tidy when doing work...

Front

Side

Back

It was pretty difficult to sew together as there are a lot of corners and points running into one another so i had to be very careful and precise on the machine! The sleeves, collar, and the pieces that kinda stick out on the back and at the bottom on the sides were all interfaced so they stand well. I have made this in final fabric for a project their were a few problems which need resolving but ill post pictures soon! My next plan though is to use the top of the garment to make a leather caplet type garment! I'm going to add buckled straps to thr front across the chest and some to the back which will come out from the bottom of the sleeves to hold its shape! As soon as i have money that is what i will be doing! hope you like!