Year Two Week Seven

 Week Eight 

This week we started our timed session of sewing our white on white shirt. I found that this went well as I had timed my toile making so when planning out my sewing time I knew that I wouldn't have to rush and I would have time to complete everything needed. In this session I completed everything I wanted too including the collar and the bib. I feel that the ruff collar process went well as this time I was familiar with the process, but this time did take longer as I wanted it to be neater and I talked it down more to the collar tie so that it was more stable. As I had thought ahead about it taking longer as of these extra steps I did allow more time so I didn’t need to rush. I think that the extra fabric tied all along the neck instead of adding this at the back has worked better as it looks more fluid and neat. 

In the next session, I sewd my bodice together which took less time than I had planned for so I also added my welts to the sides which I had planned to do the next session. I’m glad I could do this earlier as it means if something takes longer that I thought it would next time then I will be able to have abit more time that I had left for the eyelets to go in. 

I managed to shoot my colour dress this week, styling it to suit the dress. I also made sure to do my models hair to make the shoot look like the 60s. I think the results of this shoot are good as I gave my model poses to do so there is a range of movement and fluidity. This aided me to be able to finish this colour dress page as I had the foundations done but just needed the photoshoot. 

As I finished this I could then start on my individual architecture portfolio page. I found the process of setting up this page went well as I had an idea of what I wanted these page to feature. I like this page as I have shown the process of making this garment, from my moodboard, designs and then the garments. I think this works well for this page as it shows other ways the garments could be worn with the moveable ties to the paniers. 

This week we went on a trip to The William Morris Gallery to see the Women in Print exhibition which was inspiring to see all the prints made by women. This was also nice exhibition to see as we have a pattern crazy project this college year so it was nice to the range of patterns and colour which were put together. We also had a talk at Liberty archives this was insightful to learn the history about the company and how they store there prints to be exhibited and transported.

Year Two Week Six

Week Six 

In this weeks Pattern cutting lesson I learnt how to sew button holes on the new machines. I like how this has turned out as it is more straightforward than my own machine as this does it automatically with the settings. I think for my white shirt I want to use bigger buttons as these small ones got lost in the white bib. I think this bib works well over the top of my white bodice as it isn’t big enough to distract you from the shape of the bib but is long enough to look proportional.

At home, I worked my on white shirt toile sewing the sleeves with the new patterns to allow for me volume. I learnt that for my final shirt I need to gather the sleeve caps more so they fit into the armhole without any puckering. The Marie sleeve would also benefit from me pulling the elastic tighter so it fits around so it can hold the puff shape. The shape was also not holding as well as it could, as for this toile I used a poly cotton which is heavier pulling the sleeve down slightly. I like how the sleeve looks with the slit as it makes you see in the sleeve and how it’s constructed. When sewing this next time I will sew the netting in one piece instead of cutting it in half as I think this will better show the structure and will look neater and more intentional. Once I had done this I cut out my final fabrics and overlocked them so I was prepared for next week when I start making it finally.

This week we had life drawing, which I hadn’t done before. I found the process interesting as I don’t usually take time to draw fathering focusing on textiles. I liked experimented with poses as I usually only draw from the front angle on a two dimensional flat pose. Next session I would like to experiment with different media when drawing and now I am familiar with the proportions of the body I will try to keep the proportions right in each pose to make my drawings look more realistic. 

In textiles we produced cut and slash techniques. As this was a technique I was familiar with I wanted to create more developed techniques. I did this through sewing in different directions so when slashed the texture was all over. I also made sure the layers of fabric would ensure the top fabric would fray as I like how this looks when the thread is loose. 

For my portfolio this week I decided to work digitally to create my illustration for my colour dress as I wanted this to have sharp lines, I also need to draw small circles and emails and I thought this would be the best way to do this. I like the way that this has turned out as through the model I drew with the dress you can clearly tell the time I wanted this to be based on, the 60s though the style and hair. 

Year Two Week Five

 Week Five

In Pattern cutting this week I decided to make a ruff collar after creating my mood board for my white shirt project. I felt like this would match my inspiration of historical structure well as I was inspired by a picture of Queen Elizabeth the first with a v shaped hem and a ruff collar. I have decided to make my ruff collar go from either side of the the neck instead of going the whole way around as i felt this would work better given the ten hour time constraint. I still feel like this looks good with the garment as from the front it covers the whole neck but from the back you can see how it is structurally held t the garment and neck. I feel like he shape of the ruff also links to my structural theme as of the shape it makes with the curves. 

I found the process of sewing this ruff to be fairly straightforward in steps but time consuming taking about an hour, however this is a big part of my design so with the ten hours I feel like this is a good amount of time to take. When sewing the ruff you use three needles at one with a similar process to suing a princes pleater but done by hand. A few times the threads got twister when sewing, so I amended this by sticking the needles I wasn't using at the time to the table so they wouldn't get caught. I found this worked well as it meant the threads stayed neat and easy to work out the position for each needle to sew in. Overall, I like the outcome of this ruff as I feel like the shape is accurate and stands up well, next time for my final sewn shirt I will make the band on the inside of the ruff  long enough s that it can be tide round the neck instead of adding extra fabric to the band to do this, I'll do this as I think it will make this more sturdy and neater around the back of the neck. 

After doing this, I constructed a bib, which I found making the pattern for straightforward, matching up the front and back bodice together and working out the shape I wanted. As I made this experimentally I wasn't sue if it would lay right or work properly, but after making it I am pleased with ow it as turned out as I will be using this pattern for my final shirt as it lays on a person well and I'm happy with the length and width. This also didn't take long which is good considering the time limit. 

In Textiles we are sharing techniques with each other to experiment with. One peer started this off with knitting, as it hadn't been too long since the last time I had knitted once I had been reminded how to cast on, I got into the rhythm of kitting, but I did struggle on my first attempt with adding an additional loop when I was changing between needles. By my second try I have managed to create a long piece of knitting with minimal mistakes. I found it useful to have knitting demonstrated again as it meant that when casting on and especially off I did this with the right technique as this is what I usually struggle with. 

We also got taught smocking, which was my first time doing this technique and I found it interesting how it manipulates the fabric, however I feel for my wedding dress it may be time consuming to do enough of this to make a feature. I did like the they way that it made geometric shapes on the fabric, but I think I underestimated how much it will shrink the fabric down with the smocking so next time I will use bigger pieces of fabric. 

Within this, I also demonstrated a heat manipulation technique which I enjoy using a heat gun and fabric to melt through or using coins or other objects to leave their shape once the fabric manipulates around them. Our class hadn't done this before, especially with the molding so it was good they got to experiment with trying different fabrics and object to mold with. If my dress fabric allows it I think this would be a good technique to include as I like the way it manipulated the fabrics so it looks melting and burnt but also holds shapes which are bubble like. I found the experience of showing people this technique went well as I found this familiar to my work experience in the textile room at a secondary school. 

When working on my portfolio this week I decided to make the focus of my page photography, but still featuring designs on, as I haven't had a page with this focus yet. I feel like this worked well as to show I can also pose and photographing the skirt after making showing a wider range of skill. 

Year Two Week Four

 Week Four 

As I had been off for the last week before with illness, I started this week catching up on the pattern cutting and construction of the collars. When doing this I found watching videos helped me to understand the process and the measurements. I found making the patterns for the collars challenging still as of the many steps that goes into one collar and how you repeat and alter one collar multiple times to produce the top and under collar. However, the steps are becoming more recognisable as I go on.  

I then made these collars in fabric, bagging them out, and putting them on my mannequin. I think that these worked well as they all looked like my reference image and they held their shape well even though I didn’t use interfacing. The process of sewing these were simple as of the simple seams and I feel as though the corners have been pointed well from being sewn around. Next time to improve these collars, I would create more abstract and interesting shapes as they are quite similar with the rounded or squared corners. 

In Textiles this week I learnt about interlocking squares and how you can arrange them to make orang I like shapes. I liked how I could fold back pieces off the squares to make different designs and incorporate different fabrics and textures to make my designs more tactile. 

I collated my first year work to think about a portfolio page and I found that to show off my flower skirt I wanted to crate illustrations. I think this worked well as I managed to change my drawings from my book into interesting heads for my illustrations. I think this has elevated the page as you can tell it links to my skirt and the inspiration behind it. 

I also created weaves for my next page based on insects and I think it is an interesting way to show off my patterns mixing them and I like how the bright and darker colours contrast one another with the different directions of the designs.