Week Twelve.

 Blog Twelve.

In Pattern cutting, this lesson, I finished off making my skirt. I added the zip with an invisible zip foot which went well. I'm proud of how my zip has turned out as you cant see it beneath the fabric of the skirt. After I used the normal zip foot to attach the skirt together, this was harder to do as you can't get as close to the seam, however, the seams still looks neat from the outside. At home all I had to do was attach the facing and undertsitched it,so i'm proud of my progress and completing my skirt in good time. 

In my last lesson before the hand in I made sure all my work was presented well and I stuck in the final photos of my skirt that I had evaluated. I'm glad that I managed to hand in all my work on time. 

In textiles this week I made sure that my work was ready to hand in for Friday. I did this by printing out and repeating my final designs and adding in my recent samples to help show my development in my sketchbook. 

In my final lesson of the week I had one more design to print out however this took longer than I thought it would as of issues with the printer so I dint manage to complete as much in the lesson as I hoped. This was okay though as there was still time after our lesson before the deadline to complete work, so all my work was still handed in before the deadline.

In photography this week, we where aloud to use his time to work on our book work. This was useful as it meant we could work on our essays we are writing about fashion photographers.

In Stretch this week I researched types of fabrics, styles and colours I could use for my skirt to include in my costumes. 

In CAD this week we where able to continue to create patterns or work on book work. This was helpful as we cant access adobe on any other computer in the college so i could use this time to make patterns on adobe illustrator. 

Week Eleven.

 Week Eleven.

This week in pattern cutting I started out by finalising my skirt toile and making sure it fit the manikin. When I was happy with this I cut out my fabrics ensuring this was done to produce the least amount of fabric wastage. 

At home after the lesson I started to construct my skirt, starting by overclocking it to ensure it doesn't fray. I managed to connect all my panels together, leaving the left as worn side so I could add in the zip. I am happy with my progress as I got a lot done and it will be manageable to fit this in within my time frame. I stopped making my skirt here this week so I had enough time to work on our textile side of the brief as well. 

In textiles this week I explored how to use heat transfer paper, this will be useful so I can transfer my digitally arrange patterns onto fabric. I enjoyed doing this as i embroidered into them suing a machine and also made them into a quilt like sample. I also finished off transferring my transfer paint samples which turned out well because of their vibrant colours. 

I really enjoyed Stretch this week as I constructed a toile bodest of what I want the top of my costume to look like. This is a corset bodest without the boning so the dancers would still be able to move comfortably. This was challenging too make as i have never sewn from an already made pattern and there was a lot of panels, however, this was really rewarding once I had finished it. I experimented with different fastenings , I chose to use hooks and eyes as this is what they use in their costumes so they're wearable for multiple people. 

In CAD I finalised my design for my wrapping paper, I think this looks good as I have neutral tones and fluid sketchy lines in my design which i think work well together. 

Week Ten.

 Week Ten. 

 

In pattern cutting this week, we finalised our skirt designs that we had drawn at home. I think my skirt designs where successful because I have explored a range of skirt styles whilst still making sure they all relate to each other. I did this by making a start design and adjusting this about it, for example, the godet size, length or number of panels.  

In our next lesson we started to make our pattern for our skirt, I decided to go with my design for a six gored panel skirt with four godets. I made this pattern by reflecting to previous bookwork to remind me of the steps. I think this went well as my pattern works. I know this because when we made our toiles for the skirt at home everything lined up and was correctly measured.  

At home this week I made my toile for my skirt, this went well as I learnt my pattern works and I had no issues when sewing this together. 

 

In textiles this week I started to work on my fabric designs, I did this through firstly creating my mood board. I think this went well as I didn’t overcrowd the page with images, use juxtaposing images and I added a colour scheme, which helped me to direct my work thinking about ways to include colours.  

 

In the lesson we used fabric paints to repeat patterns onto fabrics. I tried to include different types of patterns, for example, mirrored, brick and dropped by half. I like how this turned out as it gave variation to my designs. To develop these designs I will embroider into them to add texture and enhance certain parts/ add details. 

 

I also experimented with transfer dyeing using the heat press. I think how this has turned out because of the bold lines that have been produces, however some of the colours aren’t accurate to the fruit I wanted to replicate because they print lighter than I thought they would.  

 

In photography this week we continued to work on our triptychs experimenting with lighting and angles. This helped me to develop my photography skills, focusing the camera. 

 

In CAD we continued to work on our wrapping paper designs which was useful as it meant we could work on our development for our deadline. 

 

In Stretch this week we continued to design and research what we wanted to make for our Royal Ballet competition, I was inspired by history to create my costume designs. 

Week Nine.

Blog Week Nine.

 

In pattern cutting this week, we started by making poppies for Remembrance Day. We did this by gather fabric to create a circle shape and adding a black button. When cutting out our patterns for this, we thought about how to cut them out to be more sustainable and cost effective. I liked doing this as it made me think about how I can successfully conserve fabric when cutting out, this will also help when we complete group projects so we as a group can place patterns in a way that wastes less fabric.

 

We also learnt about different types of pleats; knife, inverted box and box pleats. I also learnt about yokes and where to find them. I found being taught how to construct these techniques helpful as I have never constructed them before. I found making these into a pattern complicated, but once I thought it through and thought about the shapes of what I was trying to make I was able to make a successful pattern.

This week we made designs for our liberty skirt which mine is inspired by plants. We started by creating a mood board, which I include my own photos to show what I wanted to make out of reflection of what skills we had already learnt and how I can develop them. I wasn't happy with my first mood board as I feel it dint work well together as the images where far apart and didn't link too well.

 

For my designs I focused on designing gored skirts with godets, this is because I feel like this is a smart looking skirt which I feel link s to the liberty clientele. When designing I made sure to experiment with the lengths of my skirt and godet, the number of panels, and adding pleats. This was because I wanted to make sure I was sure of which skirt I wanted to make by experimenting with small design changes.

In photography this week, we learnt about lighting and how to use positioning to create darker and lighter photographs which reveal more or less of our models. I think this was great to learn how to do because the way you position your model you can enhance the model and make the lightning just on them. This could make the only think you see be the model and your garment making the focus just be on that.

 

In textiles this week, we created patterns with dye and varnish. I liked creating my designs as I like creating multiple layers and seeing how the colours interacted with each other. I liked how the varnish blocks out colours so they stay the original colour because it means you can clearly see the contrasting colours I created. I focused on created marks that looked like you would see on insects. I also tried to replicate their shapes. I think this worked well as my designs are inspired by drawings I have previously created.

 

We also experimented with using better quality cartridge paper to see if that made a different result. I preferred the higher quality paper as less ink was absorbed making the page dry quicker and feel stronger which will be useful for when I want to develop my designs, e.g. free machine embroidery.  When completing this I also created a few designs inspired by fruit for my fabric designs. I think this worked well as it made me able to start thinking about colours and shapes I want to include in my designs.

I also experimented with ink and bleach to create patterns and I like how this turned out because of the sharp lines created by the fountain pen and how using more or less bleach varies the colours on your page. I will repeat this digitally developing my skills from CAD.

In CAD, I learnt an alternative way to create repeated patterns, I like this method of making your pattern a swatch because it means that you can quickly replicate your designs. It also means you can make your pattern into any shape and then repeat that.

 

In stretch this week I further researched the history of ‘The Winters Tale’ and completed my mood boards. I am enjoying this stretch project as it is challenging me to think about design aspects which are needed to allow the dancer to move freely. I enjoyed making my costume designs for my three chosen characters as I made sure each dress has a different style.