Giles Deacon Project - Part 1

Now that I have finished the 60s style dress, I have been given a new brief. This time the dress will be entered in a competition which is on the website Showstudio. The competition is part of a design download series on the website. Giles Deacon provided a pattern for one of his dresses. I have downloaded and printed this pattern off. But because the pattern was printed out on A4 the pattern pieces had to be assembled before you cut them out.

This was all I had time to do because it was near the end of the lesson but I plan to cut the pieces out over the weekend and buy the fabric. 

The 60s Dress Project - Part 5

This is the final part to the 60s dress project. Today was the deadline in which the dress had to be finished by. Fortunately I managed to complete my dress.

I started the lesson by turning the dress inside out and over locking the sides.

Then it was time to make the pleated skirt frill to attach to the dress. I folded the darts together according to the pattern I made for the pleats.Then pinned them in place and repeated this on the other side. I then sewed the pleats on both sides. I attached the back and front of the skirt frill together.

The next thing I did was attached the skirt frill to the dress.

I placed it on a mannequin to see how it looked so far. I now think I should have made it shorter and put pleats in the back.

I hemmed the sleeves by turning them up twice and sewing. I should have sewn close to the edge because this would have stopped the hem from flapping up.





I cut out interfacing for the neck facing and ironed it on to the neck facing fabric. I then

 over locked three of the four sides on each piece. Then I attached then together with a 1cm seam allowance and ironed them into a open seam.  

Next I sewed it on to the neckline on the dress. I attached it to the zip part first then folded it around and pinned it. I also did the on the other side. Then I lined up the seams and pinned it in place. I pinned the neck facing all the way around the neckline. This was sewn with a 1cm seam allowance.



I cut small triangles on the edge of the neck facing, where it is joined to the dress. This gives it ease. Then I ironed it and did a running stitch along the edge. I then tacked it to the inside of the dress. After that I had finished the dress.   





Vanity Thread

At the end of the year I have to create a dress for the fashion show that the college has. The theme I was given was the Seven Deadly Sins and this is also what my current brief is about. I have to create a thread for each sin. I chose to do my first thread on vanity.

 I started my thread with some observational drawings I produced. I associated make up with vanity and that is what drew. I then found this image which I thought represented vanity. The thing that was most prominent in the picture was these thick black lines so I continued them on to the page. Next to this image I did some shape development by drawing a lipstick next to a fugue and drawing the lines across the fugue.  

The line in the image reminded me of the lines that surgeons draw on to mark where they are going to cut during plastic surgery. Plastic surgery also links to Vanity. This gave me an ideas to produce some Sashiko. I then did some more shape development using the Sashiko I made. The shapes created in the shape development made me think of butterflies but also after plastic surgery you are supposedly emerge more beautiful. This is what a Caterpillar does after it goes in a cocoon; It emerges as a beautiful butterfly.

 I looked at the striped pattern on one of the butterfly images I had and created some hand embroidery. The stripes remind me of the stripes of a tiger but also I think that tigers link to vanity because the way they saunter around is very vain.

 

After a class show and tell of our threads at college, I discovered that I should have done some work on the mannequin and maybe looked at the shapes the tiger makes with it

s legs when it walks. I could have looked at the butterfly life cycle. This feedback will help me with my next thread. 

The 60s Dress Project - Part 4

Continuing from last time, I sewed the shoulders together in an open seam.

The next step was to attach the sleeves. First I made sure the sleeves were the right way round.

I marked in pencil where to sew. I did a loose stitch 0.5cm from the edge and another loose stitch parallel to that 1.5cm from the edge. I then took hold of the top two threads and gently pulled to gather the top of the sleeve, this was to ease it into the arm hole. Then I attached it to the arm hole. I repeated this to the other sleeve.





The 60s Dress Project - Part 3

I have started manufacturing the dress. I started off by sewing the dart. Before I did this I marked with a pen where the pin was placed on the pattern. I then lined up the notches and sewed a straight line from the notches to the dot. I repeated this on the other side.

I assembled the pockets next. I sewed the pockets and the pocket linings together (right sides together) but leaving a gap on one side. The gap enabled me to turn the pocket inwards. I ironed the pockets flat ready to be attached.

I marked with a pen on my dress where pockets were meant to go and attached the pockets.  

I moved on to the zip next. I over locked the two back panels and then attached the zip.

 This is what I managed to get up to in this lesson.