Garment Construction .... continued !!

Above I have added the stand to the dress to act as a base for the neck piece to be sewn to. I then created a chiffon gathered piece of fabric to act as the neck piece however this has been rather un successful due to the fact that the chiffon is a lot softer than the chiffon is a lot softer than the net. So I will have to experiment with ways to try and stiffen the chiffon to get it to stick up as the way the net did in my first toile around the neck.

This neck piece however was not a total waste of time as I then experimented with how it would long when displayed in different ways such as on the front of the dress. I like the way the ruffles fall and sit on top of one another. I may experiment with this further to create the ruffles for my front section and for the jacket.

Garment Construction !!

Above are the startings of my garment construction after cutting my pattern from my chosen fabric. The photos show the front back and side of my dress so far as well as the side panel and the lining and facing that will be sewn inside the dress.

Second Toile

Above is my second toile I am a lot happier with the way it is looking now especially with the front of the jacket being moved back further from the centre front, and the way the facings on the hips have turned out.

During todays lesson I had a tutorial with Rose the main out comes of this were as follows :-

Dress

• To slash the bottom of the dress open at the sides and front to allow the hem to sit better of the tutu section at the bottom of the dress.
• To raise the V at the front of the dress more.
• To possibly manipulate the stand on the dress to fit around the neck better.
• When constructing the dress only attach the lining and dress at the zip and let them sit separately down the rest of the CB.
• Use a longer concealed zip down the centre back (70cm, 28 inches)
• Bag out the layers of the tutu to create neat French seamed edges and add more volume.

Jacket

• Make own shoulder pads to fit the jacket as will have to be slimmed down.
• Move the front and back seams more towards the CF and CB to allow it to be hidden under the lapel more.
• Raise the neck of the jacket at the back.
• Add 4cm to the sleeve to make longer.
• Slim down the sleeves to give more of a fitted tailored look.

I am happy that most of these changes are quiet minimal and I have fitted the dress to my model so my next step will be to start fabric cutting and garment construction !!

First Toile Changes

Photo 1 - Photo of my jacket and dress first toile.

Photo 2 - This shows the cut out hip panels of my dress. I have drawn them on just to give an indication of where to place them. After looking at them I feel I need to bring them higher up. I was also struggling with how to achieve the cut out look with chiffon panels behind, after my first attempt wasn't very successful. I will be using the technique of using facings for each cut out to produce a neat cut out shape.

Photo 3 - This is the back of my jacket toile on the back and front wing seams have been used. However after seeing it on the stand I am going to change the seams at the front to be hidden under the lapel, and allowing it to follow over the shoulder seam to the back into an almost V shape to mirror the back of the dress.

Photo 4 - This shows the front of my jacket on top of the dress. After seeing this I think the jacket sits to far forward towards the centre front of the dress and all the ruffles on the dress are distorting the shape of the jacket.

Photo 5 - The tutu like creation at the bottom of the dress I have attached to the hem of the dress. However this is pulling it down and distorting the shape of the dress. So in my next toile I will create a lining that will be attached to the facings in side the dress all ready so the hem will be able to sit nicely over the tutu.

Diffusion Range

Above are my two attempts at my diffusion range after researching diffusion ranges in general. My first attempt was to just simplify my first high end designer collection. However I felt this was quiet literal and looked too similar to the first collection, so re designed it again. I feel the second diffusion collection is more successful, and much more of a RTW collection. If I was to make this diffusion collection I would use cheaper fabrics and processes such as printing fabric instead of embroidering etc to make it more affordable than the high end designer collection that would contain higher quality fabric and processes and hence be more expensive. If I have more time I may possibly look in to diffusion range accessories or a range of perfume etc to accompany my diffusion range for this collection.

Diffusion Range Research

Here I have researched different Givenchy Ranges. I have looked at spring / summer 2010 and autumn / winter 2010 seasons, looking at their haute couture, ready to wear, the collection and capsule ranges to see the way that Givenchy create different collections for one season.

Jacket toiling

Poor Rachel was my victim when it came to trying on my garments today lol, however she very kindly obliged and agreed to help me out :). Above are some pictures of the toile of my jacket, I think the overall length and shape is ok, however I feel it looks a bit simple but I don't know if over complicating the design of the jacket will detract or over do it with the dress. I am also unsure on the way I have executed the rouched front, however I must remember that the chiffon I will be using will be much softer that the net I have used and will contrast more with the grey poly wool the jacket will be constructed with. Other points to look at include the neck edge of the so called lapel, I believe this is to square and needs to be rounded off or re - designed.

Next I tried on the jacket with the dress, I believe I have achieved the overall look I wanted at the top part of the out fit with masses of gathered fabric, however the jacket does not sit properly with all the gathered fabric on the dress. It is pushing the jacket outwards so it is not sitting or fitting as I had hoped. Possibly ways to rectify this would be to cut back the centre front of the jacket to sit in line with the gathered fabric. Or secondly I may re - design the jacket as am not overly pleased with it and think it could be a lot better and compliment the dress better. Any way its a starting point I guess so all good :) !!

Garment 2 - Jacket

Above are some design ideas for my second garment a tailored cropped jacket to accompany my dress.

Garment toile

Above is my first steps and attempts at toiling my dress, my first challenge was creating the V shape section on the front and finding a way to incorporate the darts within this, so it is possible to also insert the chiffon section into the front. I have replicated this also with the darts on the back of the dress as shown above where a zip will sit in the centre back to allow access into the garment.

On the hip section of the dress there are three almost bone shape decorative features, above I have attempted to sew these in using net as a substitute for chiffon. I have had really trouble with this section of the dress as every time I have sewn them in it has distorted the shape of the front of the dress as shown above. I may have to think of another way to design this section. One possibility may be to cut out the sections and bind the edged and possibly have the lining created from the chiffon to allow the colour of the fabric to show through. However I would have to test this as binding could also distorted the dress front. Another option may also been to use embroidery thread to create them as had stitched detailing.

Next I went on to create the almost tu-tu section at the bottom of the dress this was created using 5m of net cut into 3 different sections that were 30cm, 45cm and 60cm wide. I firstly attempted to create the ruffles by gathering, however this was un-successful due to the length of the net being so long that the thread kept snapping when being pulled through. Instead I sewed the 3 pieces of net together and then attached them to the finished hem of the dress. However I am not sure if I am pleased with how this looks and feel that I may possibly insert a lining inside that the net could be attached to along the finished hem of the dress to lay neatly over the top.

Then I drafted a collar and created just the stand to act as a support for the ruffled neck piece to sit on. The gathered neck piece was created using 1m of net that was doubled over and sewn and then tacked though the centre and gathered. This was then sewn to the seam of the stand.

To finish the edges of the armholes and neck I created facings and sewed these in. I believe this gives the garment a neat finish and was the best possible solution to this. However in the picture above you can see through the calico where the facing at the front finishes. Hopefully this is only due to the fabric being calico and not the poly wool I will be using. The facings inside will also be useful and help if I wish to line the garment.

Above is the garment on an actual person, my sister reluctantly agreed to try it on for me although not being the tallest person in the world this did not help :). I am pleased with the overall fit and look of the garment so far. Main points to come out of trying it on a person were that it is tight on the hips and bum area so this may need to be addressed to allow the model to easily walk in the garment. Also because of the garment being so tight fitting the zip at the back may need to be extended to come down to the base of the spine to allow access in and out of the garment.

Steps to carry out next include sewing the gathered fabric panel at the front into the dress to complete the toile. And starting to toile the jacket that will go with the dress.

Garment

To the left is the garment I have chosen to manufacture from my collection. I have never created an evening and dress before and believe that by creating this it will push my learning and production techniques and capabilities and hopefully help to teach me new and exciting skills.

The fabric I have chosen to create the dress from is a grey poly wool for the main structure of the dress and then a chiffon to create the voluminous ruffles around the neck, front and bottom of the dress.

The outfit however must comprise of two garments and one must be tailored. As the dress is not tailored I have decided to design a short bolero styled tailored jacket to compliment the dress.

Revised collection

Above is my revised collection, I believe it looks a lot more sophisticated and styalised than my previous. The colours look a lot better due to scanning in fabrics and using actual swatched to add colour. I have also added more of a range of clothing by adding a long dress and an evening dress and short dress which I believe gives more balance to the collection.