Final garment and photoshoot.

Whilst making the garment, I found it a lot easier to do as I had already made a toile. I started by cutting it all out on fabric as I was sharing with another student so we had limited. We both payed our patterns in the most economical way so we both had enough to fit all our patterns as well as having scraps for samples.

I started by making the pocket up and sewing it onto the front bodice. I ending up using YouTube to make the pocket as I hadn’t made a pocket before I was actually really pleased with my sewing on the pocket as I was able to get it as close as I could to the edge and made it look as professional as I could. Then sewing up the side seams. I then sewn in my plackets and cuffs I found this a lot tricker than the pocket as it’s really fiddly but I believe my sewing was pretty well done on this project.

The biggest struggle I had whilst making the short was the bottom sleeve, after removing all the seams I didn’t have a way of sewing it into the garment, after a long discussion with Beth and Irene we decided that I’d need a facing the the sleeve would be attached to, the facing wood also be attach them to the garment around the neck line. The collar would also be sewn into it being sandwiched between the garment and facing. The facing was the thing I struggled with the most. I keep sewing it in the wrong way so either the sleeve would come through the wrong side or inside out. But after figuring it out I sewed it in as well as the collar I then added the last detail which was the band along the cotton and the eyelets. I then created a belt that was black and white fabric sewn together.

I thought my photoshoot went really well and the model looked great in my shirt I decided not to pair my short with anything as I wanted all the attention to be on the shirt as it is a very strong piece on its own and I did not want it to look too much and messy. I thought the shoot was overall great and decided not the tie the belt as it was looked too bunched up on the model, it looked really edgy with it undone. I was overall pleased with my outcome I thought my sewing was really well done and my photoshoot went better than expected.

Toile development

After having my final design I then went on to create my toile, in first used a dropped sleeve block as I had two sleeves in one and thought I had to have a seam to join to bottom sleeve to the top one.

But after putting it onto the stand I realised that it did not sit nice at all I was really baggy and fell awkward on the shoulder and under the arm, also the top sleeve looks horrible as it looks an awful length. I also had to sort out the cuff as it did not fit right and did not look as nice as I thought. I also wanted to make the pocket slightly bigger.

This meant I had to adjust my patterns, I moved the sleeve seams higher so they were place on the shoulder, this did sit a lot nicer when I put it onto the stand, also for the cuff I found that they were not nicely done, I decided to make a placket for the sleeves, this made the cuffs fit perfectly to the sleeve and it added just a little detail which made the sleeves look professionally made.

After completing the toile, I discussed the seams with Irene and we both agreed that it would look better without them as we wouldn’t have been able to match up the stripes, I had to sacrifice the idea of having my yellow strips all going the same way. I like the idea of having no seams, it did take me a while to get my head around it and work out how I’d do it but I was happy with it when I don’t it, it sat nicer on the stand and you was not distracted by the shoulder seams. I also decided on making the bottom band wider and changing the collar from a petter pan to a more Standish collar.

Portfolio/research.

For my last project we were given brands to create a design. We were given the brands in groups but had to work individually, I was given the brand H&M conscious, I was familiar with the brand  H&M but not H&M conscious. I decided that I need to research the brand before rushing into designing and trends. I found out that it was a sustainable more eco friendly collections from H&M. They use organic recycled materials. As for the costumer, the clothes ranges from the younger generation to the older. There was really a limit on age. For my muse I decided on using Olivia Wilde. 

I dedcided to focus my work on being sustainable. Whilst being in Milan I found myself taking picture of the capitulation instead of taking inspiration from clothing. I found that I was more inspired by the lines and shapes in the city such as the tram lines.

My trend was based around the city, I wanted to create a design inspired by being sustainable in the city, whenever people think about eco friendly sustainable people, they usually think of bohieman/hippy clothing, I want to create a design with some edge and more structure rather than free and Flowing.

For my fabrics I chose a yellow a white striped curtain and a black and white striped duvet set. The yellow really stood out to me and I thought the black and white would go really well. I thought this went well with my research as I wanted my designs to be a little edgy and the yellow really works. Also the fact that the fabric is an old curtain and duvet cover means that I’d be up cycling Which is sustainable. I wanted my designs to consist of strong edgy shapes I really like the idea of having to sleeves in one as well as having a drawstring bottom.

After some alterations when making my toile I finally came up with final design.

My final collection.

When researching and doing my portfolio. I find that this is one of my strong points. I really enjoy doing the portfolio work more than production although I do enjoy that as well. I find that my feedback so far has been positive and I have worked extremely hard on this project and am really happy with the end outcome.