Difficult Area On Cheyenne Dress

I have designed the Cheyenne inspired dress to have cut outs on the back with shapes taken from my print. I didn't really know the best method in how to create this look so I began by:

• Cutting out two medium size pieces of calico and the shapes which were taken from my print.
• I then hand stitched the two pieces of calico into a triangle shape.
• I then placed each of the shapes on to the calico. I made each shape go smaller so that they would fit into the triangle.
• I hand stitched around each edge of the shapes which touched the calico so they were all attached.
• This method didn't go to plan and didn't look like a professional finish. I am going to try out another method and see if I can create a neater finish which fits in with the concept of the Cheyenne dress.

Painting My Print On To Calico

 I drew my design onto two pieces of calico but only faintly, so that the pencil lines weren't obvious. I then used a small fine paint brush and fabric paint and applied it to the faint print that I had drawn out on the calico. I have found that painting the print onto the fabric is extremely time consuming and it takes a lot of attention to detail. However, it does look professional and creates the right kind of mood and feel for the concept I am trying to convey. I also embroidered areas of the print which I had painted on using a chain stitch. The chain stitch makes areas of the print more prominent and it creates a more effective look. These are the methods in which I will be applying my print to the fabric.

Toile Diary Dress Two

• Step One: I retraced the dress pattern which I had created for toile one.

• Step Two: I then took in the shoulder strap 1 cm and made the neckline on the front and back panels straighter so I took them down about 2 mm.

• Step Three: I then cut out the pattern for my new toile and pinned them down to calico but before I cut out the pattern pieces in fabric, I realised the shoulder pieces didn't match the back panels of my dress and so I added a piece of paper. This added just under half a cm to the shoulder attachment so it fitted properly.

• Step Four: I then cut out the pattern pieces in calico and made sure I cut out a 1 cm seam allowance, adding notches so I could match them up ready for manufacturing.

• Step Five: I then added darts to my toile before I went ahead with completing the rest of my toile.

• Step Six: After I added darts into my toile, I attached the front panels to the back panels using a 1 cm seam allowance and basic stitch.

• Step Seven: I only sewed half way up the back panels of the dress when as I was attaching the back panels together due to the fact I was adding a concealed zip.

• Step Eight: I then added the concealed zip using a concealed zipper foot. However, the zip wasn't put in properly as I had attached it the wrong way around and so I then unpicked the zip and attached the zip in the correct way.

 I found toile two very simple to pattern and make the changes to. The manufacturing process was straightforward also but I had problems with attaching the zip. I am pleased with the outcome of toile two and there is not many changes to be made other than it needing to be taken in a few cm around the waist and bust area.