Process Analysis Document
22.1.2015 Working on samples
I took a piece of calico fabric and started to cut out geometric shapes to create the pattern of a butterflies wing (the pattern being zoomed in). I tried to cut out big pieces so that only thin lines would be left. This was quite hard to do as the thin strings of calico would rip apart on some parts. I tried to develop this sample further by only cutting out the left over lines and sewed it onto a flat piece of white net. The look of the all samples on the mannequin was rather successful when I draped the fabric and created volume with the fabric. When pinning the fabric just straight onto the mannequin it looked very flat and not exciting.
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When creating my next sample I used a white net fabric and stitched round lines onto it. I made the lines round to imitate the outline of the butterflies wing. The stitched lines lifted the net up and made it become 3D like.
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I created another sample by using black thin tape that I pinned onto the mannequin. I pinned the tape in the shape of the veins of a dragonfly's wing. I created two different samples as there are many different vein patterns they vary from dragonfly to dragonfly.
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For another sample I unpicked some of the lines and made the tape hang down. I did that just because I was curious how it would look like and I wanted to try out something new. This idea was not very successful as it looked messy and not like the structured vein lines at all. Fig. 8
For my next sample I cut some calico into a big piece with round edges. I made the edges round because I wanted them to resemble the shape of a butterfly's wing. I stitched the black tape onto the calico and sewed mixed circle shapes and round lines onto it. I did this to recreate the veins of dragonfly's wing. I repeated this sample but this time I trapped some white net and wadding underneath my tape.
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To get inspiration for my shapes and silhouettes I also have been looking at images of architecture. One building where I drawn a lot of inspiration from was the right wing of the Brussels Parliament. The building is called 'Parlement Francophone Bruxellois'. It has been designed by Georges Hano. I found it interesting as the glass has a pattern that resembles the structure of the pattern of a dragonfly's wing.
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Another piece of architecture which influenced my work is the 'Ban' Pavilion. It is designed by the Orproject which is a group of many different architects, artists and designers. I am fascinated by the fact that it is both transparent and translucent. I also admire it curved shapes. This and the transparency reminded me of the wings of the dragon fly.
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29.1.2014 Sampling I bought one meter of a black crepe fabric for testing and sampling. I cut out shapes that reminded me of the pattern of the inside of a dragonfly's wing using the roller cutter. Cutting out the exact shapes was not easy as some of the lines in between broke. While doing this I realised that using the roller cutter was quite difficult as it's not the best tool for cutting very accurate shapes.
Fig. 14 While I was making this sample I looked at images of architecture and collections to inspire me. The image of the Ban Pavilion and the shapes of the butterfly’s wings gave me the idea of creating 'round' sleeves. I started to put pattern paper on the stand and drew out the shape that I liked. Drawing the shape out on the stand was a successful idea because I could straight away get an idea how this shape would actually look on the body. I took the paper of and transferred my pattern to tweak it and to draw the bodice. I pinned my patterns together and put them onto the stand to see how it would look like in 3D.
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I cut out my pattern in calico. I decided that the front would be cut on a fold so that there would be no seam in the front and that the back would be cut in two pieces. I made that decision so that a zip or other opening could be added later to get the head though the top because the neckline was quite narrow.
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I looked at Thierry Mugler's fall 2013 ready-to-wear collection and it inspired me because many of the garments had very round silhouettes. The part of the shoulders and arms were curved and structural which I liked. I also loved how he combined sheer and dense fabrics.
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Another collection which I really enjoyed looking at was Melitta Baumeisters graduation collection (aw 2014). I particularly like the simplicity about her collection and that all of her pieces were very clean and minimal. What I liked the most was that her overall silhouette was very curved and slightly oversized. Fig. 21 Fig. 22
Pattern making
I started working on my second pattern for my final collection. I decided to make a coat with rounded sleeves. For the back I did not make a half pattern that you cut on a fold, I decided to make a full pattern to cut it all in one piece. I drew my facing directly on my front pattern, it is 5cm wide. Another very inspiring collection that I found researching was the autumn / winter collection (2014) by Jacquemus. I am very excited by the rounded silhouettes and clean cut shapes.
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I especially liked the pockets. He made different rounded pockets, some had circular shapes and some were rather oval.
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Having to choose between three colours and just being allowed to work with one colour only was very difficult for me and made me feel anxious. It took me a very long time to make a decision because I rather would have had the freedom working with a few different colours as I wouldn't be limited to just a few specific fabrics. I also couldn't imagine an entire collection looking very exciting being all in one colour. I felt a little bit unsure about the colour black in the beginning because I associated it with negative emotions and events such as death. This is why it was very important to me to make my project very positive. The poem about the butterfly that I choose was very positive and all my contextual references that I choose look interesting and I don't associated them with negativity. Being able to turn the project around and making it about something good made me feel great and I felt like I already achieved a lot.
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Making my coat: I continued making my pattern for my coat. I measured on my own winter coat to get the measurement for the length which I then extended. The length is now 90 centimetres (measured on the centre front). I originally changed my neckline to make a collar (which I did not end up doing). I dropped my neckline 3 centimetres down form the centre front and the shoulder I dropped 1 centimetre. I added a 3 centimetre fold in the centre back of my coat for movement. The lining pattern I traced from my original coat pattern. Pocket: I drew out a round shape for the pocket and cut out my fabric from this pattern. I sewed over my pocket where the hand would go in. And then I sewed the pocket from the opening all the way around to the other side of my opening onto my front piece of my coat (while my coat front was still a flat piece and not sewn together yet). Making my sleeve and lining: I added 4 centimetres to the sleeve of my coat as I will fold it in and attach my lining to it. I did not sew my sleeves together and then put them in as I usually would do it. I thought it would be easier to attach my front sleeve to the front piece (of my coat) and the back sleeve to the back piece of my coat and then sew it all together in one go (from the shoulder seam down to the sleeve seam). On my hem, I drew onto my fabric pieces with chalk. I drew a 4 centimetre line and then another 2 centimetres above it. I did that so it would make sewing my hem later easier. I folded over the 4 centimetres and ironed it. After that I folded over the 2 centimetres and ironed over it as well. I then pinned it down on my edge. Sewing in my lining: I first attached my lining all the way down on the side seam of my coat. Then I put my lining sleeve into my coat sleeve, pinned it (on the cuff) and sewed it onto my coat sleeve. I attached my lining to my facing. At last I attached my lining on the neckline. I decided to stitch one centimetre around my coat (on the front and sleeves). I did so to make the lining sit in properly and I also stitched around them hem but this I just did for decorative reasons.
Buttons: I initially planned to have 5 buttons on my coat. Unfortunately the buttonhole machine could not make buttonholes for the size of my buttons. Instead I bought some black popper buttons as I decided that having no visible buttons would suit my clean simple look better. I attached 3 buttons to my coat sewing them one the inside (without going all the way through the fabric) so that there were no threads visible on the outside of my garment. I also decided not to attach a collar as I liked the perfect round neckline which goes very well with my round pockets and sleeves.
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Making my trouser: I traced of a trouser block size 8. I took off 2 centimetres of the original length as I measure on myself and thought the trousers would be too long. I also dropped the crouch 1 centimetre because my trousers are meant to be quite wide. I extended the pattern to give the leg a round shape. As I did with my coat I marked a chalk line, ironed it and folded it over to make it easier to sew the hem. I first over locked the crouch of my trouser pieces. I sewed in all my darts and attached an invisible zip that I've sewed (with the zipper foot) between the two front pieces. I sewed the front and back pieces together. I then over locked my seams to make it look more neat and I pressed the over locked seams to the side. I then sewed the hem of my trousers (which was fairly easy as I already ironed it before).
Trouser waistband: I made my pattern by tracing off the top of my trouser pattern (front + back) and I closed the darts. After that I cut the pattern out in fabric (twice) and sew my front + back pieces together, pressed the seams open and over locked my waistband on the under edge (as the over edge is getting sewed onto my trouser it doesn't need over locking).
Making my top (short sleeves): I made my top exactly like I made my toile. The slit in the back is 15,5 centimetres long. I sewed my top together which was very difficult as my fabric was fraying a lot so I decided to over lock the entire top to keep my edges from fraying. As my neckline was fraying out a lot I had to change my pattern and make it 1 centimetre lower. This means that the measurement for the slit in the back changed to 14,5 centimetres. Making my skirt: I made my skirt pattern 53 centimetres long so that my skirt would end right under the knee. The waistband length measured from my pattern is 70 centimetres + 2 centimetres seam allowance. I divided my pattern in three pieces. I transferred my pattern onto my fabric and cut my back out in two pieces (so that I can put a zip in later). I cut my three front pieces out, sewed my darts in and over locked the seams. I opened my zip, pinned it in between my back pieces and sewed it in. I sewed down on both sides while my back pieces where not sewn together yet. I then sewed my back pieces together using a zip foot so that I could get a little bit closer to my zip (just on the length of my zip). I sewed the rest of my seam down using a normal sewing machine foot. I sewed the back and the front of my skirt together and over locked my seams. I then made a pattern for my waistband which I cut out in fabric (on a fold). IMPORTANT: Put pattern with the writing upside down onto the fabric before cutting. Otherwise my skirt will be 'mirrored' and not match my drawing. Making my dress: I decided not to put a zip into the back of my dress as I felt that the fabric distorts when being stretched. I figured that out, as my skirt which was sewn in the same fabric, looked a little bit bulky on the side seams. I put a slit and a button in instead. I also cut out a 4cm wide stripe (on 45 degrees) to finish my neckline. I cut another 2 stripes out to finish my cuffs. While cutting out my sleeves I realised that my chosen fabric frayed a lot so I decided to over lock my sleeves first to stop them from fraying. I sewed the shoulder darts of my dress first and pressed them. I closed my shoulder seams and sewed all the darts into my sleeves to make the cuffs become tighter than the rest of my sleeves (which was meant to have a lot of volume). The fabric that I used for the sleeves was great to sew as it did not move at all, was easy to cut out, pin and sew. As a next step I over locked the edges of my dress (except the hem because I am going to finish it). I sewed 2 lines (on a big stitch and using a different thread colour to make them more visible) onto my sleeve. I pulled the bobbing thread to create a gathering which made it much easier to put the sleeves in. I decided to finish my neckline before putting my sleeves in as my fabric would get quite heavy with the sleeves. I used the stripe that I already had cut out and attached it to my neckline. I sewed (from the
outside of my garment) directly on top of the seam that I've done before. I had to unpick and redo this line a couple of times as it was quite difficult to sew directly in the seam. Another difficulty was to put my sleeves in without trapping fabric. I pinned my sleeves onto my dress and sewed them but unfortunately I trapped a little bit of fabric so I had to unpick the sleeve and do it again. This time I used even more pins and got the sleeve in without trapping any bits of fabric in the seam. I closed my dress by sewing the side seam of my sleeve and the side seam of my dress in one go.
I finished my cuffs by attaching the stripes that I already had cut out. I sewed a facing around my slit to make it look neater. I over locked the sides of my stripe (for the facing). I finished my dress by sewing on a button and a loop to get in and out of my dress. I used a thicker thread to create the loop.
Fig. 30 Making my top (long sleeve): I used a blouse pattern which I changed and made 10 centimetres longer for my top. I traced the sleeve pattern that I used for my dress but instead of putting darts in (for the tight fit around the cuffs) I decided to add ribbing. I decide to add ribbing around my neckline as well. I closed my shoulder seams first and decided to use a zig-zag stitch as my fabric was quite stretchy and the zig-zag stitch is more flexible and stretches too. I interlined my sleeves to make them stiffer so that my soft fabric would stay in shape and not just loosely hang off the shoulder. I sewed my sleeves together on the middle seam and put them in exactly like I did with the sleeves of my dress. I closed my top by sewing the side seams of the sleeve and top in one go. I decided to make my cuffs 5 centimetres wide, pinned my ribbing and attached it. Sewing my ribbing onto my cuff's was not very easy as the fabric layers were quite thick. I attached my ribbing to them hem as well and over locked all of my seams afterwards. When trying on my top I realised it was too long and my ribbing on the hem had become quite loose. So I unpicked my ribbing, cut 6 centimetres of my top off and attached a new ribbing (I also took 6 centimetre of my ribbing to make it tighter). I sewed everything back together and changed my pattern as well. I was much happier with the look of my top after I changed it.
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