This week I managed to make most of my suit in college.
Sewing the panels on this trouser went well as when pivoting the fabric to change directions I snipped the fabric so it has created neat and sharp corner. This worked better than my toile, maybe as of the thicker fabric or as of lining the fabric up better. I started to work on the trousers and I originally sewd the godet in between the trousers at college, and I thought this went well as of the neat seams and marking the darts to show where the godets needs to be sewn, but when I went home to carry in sewing the trousers realised had sewn the godet on the wrong side of the trouser leg. I had sewn the godet on the inside rather than the outside so not only was this on the wrong side but if I had left it it would not flare out as it would be stopped by the other leg. The layer on top of this trouser leg would also not allow it to stand out as of the opening being on the outside leg. To amend this I unpicked the godet and the other side of the leg which I then sewd in.
I made sure to try different positions for the pocket and where it sits above the godet as I wanted it to be sewn in the best place. I decided that I did not want to pocket to overlap with the godet as of the fabrics are the same so having a small piece of the yellow trouser between them could be useful to break up the patterns and colours, creating contrast. I didn't want the gap to be too large as I still wanted the pocket to be about where your finger tips are to keep this functional. When positioning the pocket I also made sure to pull the other layer of the trousers down to see where that would position to make sure it didn't overlap on top of the pocket to much hiding it and taking the feature of the pocket away.
Next I sewd the zip in I decided to not add the decorative stitch around the front fly zip that it would usually have, especially with jeans, as I wanted these to look like suit trousers more than the top of jeans. I also didn't want this stitching to take away from the pattern of the trousers by drawing attention to the zip. l added a a hook and eye to the waistband of the trouser to connect the two pieces and make sure they stay together when the person is wearing them without drawing attention to this as is a practical feature rather than a visual feature. Before sewing the zip in I decided it would be a good idea to attach the trouser leg that has two layers together so it would not move around and become distorted when sewing the zip in.
I found sewing the lining together a task I could handle as it is like constructing just a usual bodice. However, when attaching the back lining and facing together he pin for holding the pleats for the lining came out so I sewd it without making the lining too long for the facing. To fix this I unpicked this seam, repinned it and then reseed it. I found gathering this sleeve harder as of the thicker fabric compared to normal cotton, which is something to consider when using this fabric in the future depending on what I need this fabric to do. I put the foam into the shoulder to act as a shoulder pad and this was necessary to do before the lining went in as this is sandwiched between the layers with the lining going under the foam supporting it.
Trying to poke through the top of the shoulder triangle shape was very challenging as of the angle and fabric, I had to use different object to poke through to fabric such as a pen, knitting needle and my hands. I found that the knitting needle worked the best as of the thinness and point. In the end the angle was to sharp so when trying to push the point a seam came un done making me have to resew it.
I also had to trim the fabric down to the stitching multiple times on the seams so that it became less bulky but the point was still to sharp so this didn't help much. If I was to resew it less angled it would not match my design and look so striking. Before sewing the lining it I put the jacket with the foam in on a body to see if it was too long as I didnt want to cut it down too far without seeing where it sits. At this point I can tell that the foam is too long as when it sits on this shoulder it is causing the triangle shape to go backwards as it can't sit straight ups. To fix this I trimmed the bottom down muiltiple times, checking each time on the body, that it is sitting straight up. I think that using this foam as a shoulder pad has worked well as the foam I have sued can support the fabric and shape very well not being to soft to hold it up. Using this has also accentuated the shape making it stand out more as it stands up making the patterns and the shape down the arm more visible from the top.
When it came to the hemming the jacket and sleeves I decided to fold both the fabrics into one another so you couldn't see the raw edges and top stitch them as of the differsnt lengths of the jacket I thought this would give the neatest result. I also thought this would be best for the sleeves and the lining and outer layer where different shapes. I think that this has worked well as it looks neat and you can't notice the top stitching unless you look at the hem closely.
This week we filmed our pattern crazy fashion film, which I organised the place, time and filmed. I made sure to get my ideas across to improve my communication skills as I needed to make sure the group were positioned right to film and organised. I found that some member of the group weren’t as focused as other so I made sure to refocus them and make sure they where doing what the rest of the group were.
