Year Two Week Nine

Week Nine

This week in pattern cutting to develop my shirt, I added the Dorset buttons that I made. I found the process of making Dorset buttons slow at first because I was using thin embroidery thread which took too long to blanket stitch around the ring of the button. After doing this for one ring I decided to switch to embroidery thread as this is bigger so it takes less time to blanket stitch. 

As this was my last session in making this shirt I had to also add the bias binding to my shirt neckline. This slightly twisted when sewing it but as this is covered by the bib this isn’t a big issue. If I had more time I would maybe redo this so it’s flatter. 

This week I completed my patterns for my white on white dress. When making the belt part of this belt I stated by roughly sketching the shape I wanted by putting it against the stand, I then solidified the lines so I was easier to see this. The first draft I thought is more accurate to my sketch but doesn't look exaggerated enough and looks quite plain. I decided to extend the bottom curve deeper and the curves is more fluid and sits better on the mannequin. I also like the shape of this as this pieces sits just under the bust with the high curve and how the bottom goes to the dropped waist making the audience see this as the attention is drawn to it.

To help me physically visualise the height of the collar I want for this design I used a collar I had made for my white shirt project. This then helped me to measure and draft my new pattern by being able to measure how much longer I wanted to make the collar based of this band collar.

As the sleeve block is quite fitted I made sure to open the slashes enough that this would be a comfortable sleeve without being too baggy to replicate the style of dress I am making accurately.

I then started to make my toile, which start simple as all I had to do to start this was sew the darts in the bodice and sew the shoulders and seams together. When sewing the sleeves I made sure to think about all the ways I could sew them to get the best result. I like how the sleeves flow over the cuff as it creates a nice drape and doesn’t go too far over the cuff.