Saturday, 29 January 2011

Catwalk shoes?

I found a pair of shoes by Red Herring which I think are an option for the end of year catwalk. The printed pattern is relevant to my fabrics and the style is very 70's relating to my theme of vintage style.
Here they are:

Inspiration from my friend.

I asked a friend who has previously been on a photography and graphics course, what he thought might be useful to me for my project idea. I thought it might be handy to have an outsiders opinion. This is what he came up with:

Pop Art

Damien Hirst

William Morris

David Choong Lee

Thursday, 27 January 2011

First toile

Here's the start of my first garment. So far it's the bodice, and two front skirt panels. The bodice is tight fitting but currently has one layer, of three.
I tried two different methods of pleating the skirt. The vintage pattern I used was a size 14 (bust 32 - obviously the sizing has changed since 1955!) and on the hips, whereas I want it on the waist. I have reduced the waist size by 20cm in order for it to fit and I think it's still a little too big.



Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Mummifying...

We had our last workshop today where we used a technique called mummifying which is used in couture houses.

Here is the method, with photos that I took along the way:








I thought this was a great way to create a really tight fitting corset, but it was so time-consuming. I intend to make a mock-up of the corset to see if my pattern actually fits properly.

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Specialist Practice Realisation

We received our SPR results today. I'm really pleased with my grade!
The improvements I should make are already things I knew to do, but I didn't leave enough time. I'm going to make a point to give myself enough time for the PP in order to get a higher mark.
I have decided to compile the research for the PP into a manual as well. I had the chance to explain my idea to my tutor today and she's really excited about it, so I've been given a bit of a confidence boost.

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Fashion as a Forum

First session on this subject today... weren't expecting Sarah James! I'm sure she'll be interesting in this topic, she usually has a lot to talk about.
So far, I feel completely lost. I understand what the topic is about, but I'm not clear on the content of the essay we have to write. Tutorials next week, Sarah said she'll explain it better to me then.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Mens shirt & ethical lecture.

Workshop on mens shirts, will be handy for making the boyfriend a present! Found it quite easy and was interesting to make, paritcularly the cuff.
Also had a lecture by a company called Offset Warehouse. The lecture seemed a bit long with too much information crammed in but I thought the actual content was really good. I felt like I learnt a lot about ethical fabrics and sourcing. There were some fabrics passed around the theatre that I felt, some were surprisingly nice, for instance nettle. I now feel more inclined to look into ethical fabrics for the future.

Thursday, 6 January 2011

Last of the workshops

Back to uni this week, straight on with more samples.
Began with a couple of pockets, I thought it was really handy to learn the jean-style pocket. It was much easier than I thought it'd be.
I've already made two bodices before, but I thought it'd be good to practice. We learnt the couture version which I've never tried and I really liked the method. I know I will use it in my collection.