Manufacture Of Shirt.

Well this was one of the most confusing tasks I have been given. The process of manufacturing a shirt is actually very difficult, due to the cuffs and collars. I found creating the shirt was very confusing as there are so many parts to put together and lots of measuring was involved and that is my weakest point. Although I did like the end result I felt very proud of the shirt I had created. Also, life is easier now as I can sew in a straight line so my work looks how it's suppose to. Here is a step by step guide on how to manufacture a shirt:

-Trace around shirt block- first draft.

- Pattern added 1.5 seam allowance to create pattern pieces. The pattern pieces I made were front shirt, back shirt, yoke and cuff.
- Traced out the sleeve, divide the sleeve into six sections and spread using slash and spread technique. Slashing and spreading will add volume to the sleeve to create a bishop sleeve.
- I find pattern cutting very challenging, this is due to my eye sight and not being able to see the pencil markings on white paper. Also I find maths very difficult.
- I laid all my pattern pieces onto my fabric. I made sure that the pattern pieces that were placed on the fold symbol were placed on the fold. I made sure all the pattern pieces were placed in the correct direction of the pattern.
- I couldn't fit the sleeve pattern onto the piece of fabric. I had to open up the fabric so that there was enough room. If I was working in industry this would not be practical because it would take up to much manufacturing time.
- Once all my pattern pieces were pinned on to my fabric, I then cut them all out. First of all I ironed on my interfacing to the button stand, folded it over 1.5cm and top stitched so it held in place.
- I then got the back piece of my shirt and the yoke and created a box pleat in the back of the shirt and sewed it together.
- I then ironed on the interfacing to the collar, placed them right side to right side sewing a 1.5cm seam allowance. I had to cut the 1.5cm seam allowance in half to reduce the bulk, then I bagged out the collar. I then put the collar between the two collar stands and sewed a 1.5cm seam allowance.
- I then attached the collar to the shirt by sewing one side of the collar stand to the yolk and then folded over the other side of the collar and top stitched to keep everything tidy and a good finish.
- I sewed my pocket by sewing both pocket pieces together, making sure there is a small gap left so I could turn the pocket inside out. Cutting the seam allowance in half to reduce the bulk and then bagged out the pocket.
- I cut up the sleeve vent and two strips of bias of bias binding. I then attached the vent to the bias binding with a 1cm seam allowance. Cutting the seam allowance in half and ironed the bias and top stitched.
- I attached the sleeves to my shirt attaching the shoulder and over locking the edges. I attached the front and back , I did this by sewing down the side of the shirt and over locked.
- I ironed on my interfacing to my cuffs and folded a 1.5cm on the edge of my two cuffs, I then sewed a 1cm edge. I placed the top stitch of the cuff to the non stitched side with the right side to right side and a 1.5cm seam allowance and bagged out.
- Sewing the cuffs on I firstly ruffled the edges of the sleeves by sewing two lines one above and one below both 1.5cm. I then pulled the threads which created the ruffle.

- I then sewed the cuff to the sleeve with a 1.5cm  seam allowance. i then tucked the ruffled edge into the cuff.

- I top stitched the ruffles I put inside the cuffs and unpicked the top row of stitching which created the ruffle.

- I have yet to put my buttons into my shirt, but this has to wait as the button machine isn't working to well at the moment.
 Here is my finished shirt.

Progress Over Easter

Over the Easter holidays I have produced a new thread on physical appearance. My main foucs was deformities of the body. I found my new thread really interesting when I was researching in more depth, and seeing what some people have to deal with. This is the image I have chosen for my new thread.

Physical appearance is highly important to the people of today. This is because your appearance is the first thing that is noticed. Nowdays it feels as though everybody should be the same and people feel as though they need to be perfect, so when it comes to people with deformations they aren't seen as normal and they are classed as being weird and abnormal. Although they don't look as we would class 'normal', they aren't that different to everybody else.
For the new brief I have really tried to make ago of organising myself and getting everything done on time. I feel good about how the brief is going so far and I am going to try my best to keep up and not get behind.

Maxi Skirt.

These are my adapted patterns for a maxi skirt.

Adapted patterns put on to paper ready to trace off final pattern.

This is my waist band with the interfacing ironed on. The interfacing stiffens the waistband and helps hold the structure.

This is a invisible zip.

This is a photo of the front and back skirt sewn together. I still have to add the waistband and hem the skirt.

This is the end of the waistband turned inside out. I have turned one side up by 1.5cm as a guide to finish           

the waistband when I come to top stitch it down.

A pinned waistband ready to sew on to the top of the skirt.

This is the maxi skirt complete with a hem, waistband and button hole fastening.

Well my tutor and I were pleased with this creation! I did not moan once, although the thought of making a maxi skirt was a very daunting idea. I thought this skirt would be more complicated as I had to make it longer which meant extending the pattern out and therefore there would be more Maths involved. The great thing is I actually thought it was very easy because I only had to put three patterns together and because it was larger it was easier to pin. I found that creating the actual pattern is the hardest part as I am terrible at Maths. Luckily good old Trish, the support tutor who helps me, was on hand. Once I had the measurements I managed to create my pattern quickly. When it came to cutting out my pattern I learnt a very valuable lesson and that is to make sure it's cut out neatly. If the pattern is not cut out neatly then the garment won't line up properly and could look wonky, making life harder in the long run. Due to the way the maxi skirt was cut out, when it came to ironing and hemming it I therefore struggled as it wasn't even. Asking for help off my tutor I learnt how to iron the fabric in a way to make the pattern line up. I did this by pushing and pulling the fabric tightly so it reached the mark I needed and then I sewed a loop so it wouldn't move. After overcoming the minor hiccups I managed to sew my skirt together and  I was really pleased with my outcome. I was very excited with my material as I chose to use a bed sheet I have had for years. It's a magical bed sheet as the fairies glow in the dark. There aren't many people who can say they own a maxi skirt that glows in the dark with fairies on it, but I can. If I could make a maxi skirt again I would make sure my overlocking does not go wrong so that my hem is even because it caused a big problem when creating this skirt.

Merry Belated Christmas Guy's And Happy New Year.

I hope that everyone had the most AMAZING Christmas possible ! I know I did. I went away skiing for Christmas :) for a whole week, possibly the best Christmas of my life ! I was very proud of my skiing as I only fell over once out of the whole trip. Let me tell you when I become a top designer I will be sorting ski wear out, it does nothing for your figure. I needed to look good as well as snowboarders are very attractive. I went skiing in Bulgaria it's a very beautiful country and I recommend everyone goes there at least once before they die !

WILLIAM TEMPEST ...

Possibly the most excited iv'e been to have a person touch me ! oh yes that's right, William Tempest touched me :).

Well some of you may be wondering who on earth is William Tempest. William is a fashion designer,his designs have been worn by celebrities such as: Kate Moss, Emma Watson, Lilly Allen, Leona Lewis and Victoria Beckham.The most amazing thing is William Tempest studied at the same college as me !!! After college William went on to St Martins in London which then led him on the right path to get to were he is now. As William attended the same college as me I got the opportunity to meet him and he gave a talk to all of the fashion students at college. The most depressing thing about this day was the fact I had to work ! Poor me had to miss Williams talk, although I went to college for 20 minutes just to meet him anyway. Before I started college I had know idea who on earth William Tempest was, but now I am totally inspired by him and his achievements. 

Button Hole......

Domestic Machine.

Last week I discovered a new machine, it was a domestic sewing machine that could create button holes. I was very confused at how it worked at first because there was a lot of buttons and pictures. My Thursday group worked with the technician Gemma to create a button hole. Well it's now my new favourite machine as it does all the work for you because it has an automatic setting. I really enjoyed doing this, I got a little scared as I thought I almost broke the machine and they are very expensive.

Creating My First Garment.

The first garment of many...

Finally I have created a garment, this garment was a skirt which firstly I had to make a block for. The block looked simple enough to make, until it came to it. I had to create the whole card block from scratch following instructions from my lecturer and a handout. I had a lot of help from Trish, she really does make life so much easier ( who knew there would be so much maths involved in fashion ). Then after I had created my skirt block I went on to cut out my pattern in fabric and manufacture my skirt. It took me two lessons, I really struggled with it, but with Trish helping me I got the job done and it wasn't as hard as I was making it for myself. So by the time my skirt was completed I was really pleased with the outcome.

This is my front and back skirt block.

The front of my skirt.

The left side of my skirt.

The back of my skirt.

The darts on the back of the skirt.

The right side of my skirt.

Lapped Zip.

Second task of pattern cutting : I was told to create a lapped zip, I found this a lot more difficult than the centered zip. Here is a step by step guide to make a lapped zip.

Step 1- Mark out exact length of where your about to stitch. Stitch up to the bottom zip placket with a regular stitch length, do a back stitch. Then do a machine tack, and press seam open.

Step 2- Place zip face down, make sure the edge of the coil is along the seam line, using zipper foot place to the right and machine tack.

Step 3- Place zipper foot to left of needle make sure the zip face is up. This creates a fold, bring fold close to but not over. stitch through edge of fold.

Step 4-  Turn to the right side, stretch fabric till it's as flat as it will go over un-stitched zip. Hand tack across the bottom of the zip, then up along the side from the seam line. Put zipper foot to the right of the needle, top stitch close to tacking across the bottom of the zip and along the side. Do not go over the tacking and remove hand tacks.

Step 5- Open the zip by removing the machine tacks, and you will have created a lapped zip.

Creating What I Thought Was The Impossible...

Who ever said fashion was easy, you couldn't be more WRONG !

Well pattern cutting Thursday, the day we get down to business. This is my groups day for pattern cutting, I could say my favorite day of college, although if you saw how stressed i got in that lesson you wouldn't believe that for one minute. I must say things look easier than they really are to make, like the zip's we had to create.
Here is a step to step guide on how to create a zip :

Step 1- First things first you need to get 2 strips of material, when you have these strips you need to over-lock one side of each piece.  

Step 2- secondly you have to change the stitch on the sewing machine from 3 to 4.


Step 3- Thirdly you will need to change the foot of the sewing machine to a single foot. To do this you need to get a screw driver, losen up the screw until the foot that is in already drops out, then get your single foot and screw that in its place pushing it up and to the right till it's tight.


Step 4- Now you will need to sew a 1.5 cm line from the edge of the material.


Step 5- Then you need to open both sides of the over-locked peices  so that its all folded out and place the edge of the zip exactly in the middle between the over-locking and the material.


Step 6-  Then you close the zip up and do exactly the same on the other side.


Step 7- Now you have gotten this far you need to iron it all out so that it keeps it shape.

Step 8- You then change your stitch size back to number 3 on the dial.


Step 9-  You now sew a straight line between the zip edge and the right hand space, without being to close to the zip. Then when you get to the end you pivot and do 3 stitches to the middle and then do exactly the same on the other side.



Step 10- Finally you unpick the stitches where the zip will unzip and zip up, and you will have a complete zip which you can put on to anything you like.

London Fashion Week...

London Fashion Week...

I have heard of London fashion week, but never really looked into it until now. I would love to watch London fashion week live, it looks amazing some of the designers are out of this world...

Vivienne Westwood is my ultimate fashion idol ! she is showing the Vivienne Westwood red label at the London fashion week She will be showing at 18:00 on Saturday the 17th of September.
I have also decided to follow and report on a new label that i have never heard of before called Fashion East they will be showing 12:00pm on Sunday 18th September. I have purely chosen to follow them based on their name.
I will be sure to post an update on these two collections with my opinions and thoughts.
http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/catwalkschedule_SS12.aspx