Technical File - River Island

INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITY TECHNICAL FILE

MARTINA MILANA

THE MAKING OF THE PATTERN • • •

First pattern draft to be developed using the stretch-bodice blocks (no darts) Use a fabric with a good stretch, such as elastane or lycra Produce first sample of a basic stretchy sleeveless top

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Make the top as fitted and tight to the body as possible, taking advantage of the full stretch potential of the fabric

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Working on the stand, pin the fabric along the side seams until reaching the desired shape and amount of stretch

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Measure the amount of fabric subtracted to the side seams

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Report it on the pattern draft in order to create a new fitted bodice to be working on

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Pattern draft to be edited, new set of patterns to be produced for a first toile of the top

FIRST TOILE •

Stretchy fabric (lycra) needed for toiling. The top does not have an opening ( such as a zip or buttons) and has to stretch enough to be pulled through the head and the shoulders to fit the human body shape

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Once the desired fit has been achieved, it may be useful to trace off the style lines of the final design directly on the sample.

These measurements will then be transferred to the pattern draft in order to produce the final set of patterns

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First toile to be produced. No straps added to the top at this stage The top has been fully bagged out, whereas no seams are visible from the outside of the garment The piece communicates a ‘sporty’ feeling

POSSIBLE ADJUSTMENTS •

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CF could be gathered, in order to add volume to the top part of the garment. Both sides of the CF would be ideally gathered to 8 cm.

The curve on the front top seam could be increased and reshaped in order to insert straps while maintaining a ‘pointy’ shape at both sides of the breast Notches to be added along side seams on pattern draft The triangular opening on the front of the top could be reshaped and slightly reduced on the sides.

The lenght of the cropped top seems to be fine The bottom pattern of the front as well as the back could have a folded edge instead of a seam.

This would facilitate the assembly process An elastic band or tape could be inserted in correspondence of the folded edge at the hem, in order to keep the garment in place while being worn

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Review pattern draft Trace off final patterns and add 0.7 cm seam allowance ( 4 thread overlocker ) Annotation about gathering must be indicated on front top patterns, previously slashed and opened to allow the right amount of fabric to be cut All measurements have to be reported on pattern draft to be kept as reference Straps to be drafted

THE FINAL TOILE •

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Toile to be produced using the original fabric for the final piece (100% Lycra) Despite the great stretch capacity of the fabric, a lockstitch machine will be used alongside a 4-thread overlocker

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GATHERS When gathering the top, use the largest stitch of a regular lockstitch sewing machine ( 5-6 ) Run two parallel rows of stitches (do not back tuck) on each pattern to be gathered, respectively at 0.3 and 0.6 cm distance from the edges (SA are 0.7 cm ) On each pattern, on one side only, secure with a knot the two rows of stitches. On the other side, gently pull the threads in order to gather the fabric until achieving the desired lenght ( in this case, 9 cm including seam allowances ). Then secure the gathers with a knot Finally secure the two patterns together at CF, first with lockstitch (set at 2.5 or 3 ) and then with a 4thread overlocker (same process to be repeated with facing patterns)

PRINTING TECHNIQUE HEAT-TRANSFER PAPER • •

Prints to be transferred to the final lycra patterns They represent respectively the straps, the front top of the garment, the back pattern and finally the striped front bottom

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NOTE: If the garment was to go into production, it will be digitally printed on a mass production scale

FINAL PRINTED PATTERNS • • •

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The heat-transfer method worked successfully on the lycra patterns The prints have been fixed by ironing the printed surface against a sheet of silicon paper for a few seconds, so that they can be washed in the future However certain parts of the print have not been transferred properly and the result may not look as sharp and professional as planned. Nevertheless the final outcome is quite satisfying for a sample. In industry the garment would be digitally printed on a mass scale NOTE: Instead of printing a black and white striped pattern on the front of the garment, it would have been better to use an already printed version of a striped jersey fabric

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

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There have been no major issues in the assembly of the final prototype The hardest stage consisted of attaching the top to the bottom front of the garment, paying attention to notches while ensuring that the final piece presented no holes or visible stitching

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A lockstitch machine has been used alongside a 4-thread overlocker to secure the garment edges while allow it to stretch without damaging or breaking the seams The final prototype generally appears to be neat and well made.

No seams are visible as the whole garment has been bagged out.

The interior looks as neat as the outside, with the exception of one of the side seams which had to be hand tucked. It presents a little gather of fabric as the two sides did not precisely match Finally, the prototype size may be slightly smaller than a size 12, as the lycra has shrunk as a result of the persistent heat that was applied in order to transfer the print on the fabric. However the top still fits the human figure and allows freedom of movement while tightly hugging the body

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE - Details

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Front detail – gathers and opening

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Strap and underarm seam detail

THE MAKING OF THE PATTERN • •

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First pattern draft to be developed from the basic skirt blocks Darts to be closed in order to reach the desired A-line shape Extra lenght of about 20 cm to be added to the original hem Some extra volume to be added to the skirt by re-drafting the curved shape of the side seams

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Box pleats to be applied to the skirt.

First experimentation constisting of 4 x 3 cm pleats on each pattern ( 8 on the front and 8 on the back of the skirt, equally distributed on both sides of the CF and CB The extra volume added to the sides appeared to be unnecessary as well as achieved following a wrong procedure. Side seams should in fact remain untouched while any extra volume can be only achieved by closing darts and/or adding pleats.

FIRST TOILE • • •

Front View Back View Pleats - detailed view

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Back View Pleats – detailed view

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Reversedbox pleats, other side of the pattern Front, back and side views

FIRST TOILE - Reverse

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Front View Back View Reverse box pleats - detail

FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION - Pleats

NEW PATTERN HALF TOILE

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6 box pleats on the front, 6 box pleats on the back Each pleat is 8 cm wide 7 cm equidistant between each other 3 cm distance from CF and CB, on each side respectively 3 cm distance from side seams on front of the garment 2.5 cm distance from side seam on back of the garment

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Front View Back View Pleats detail – front of the garment

FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION - Pleats NEW PATTERN - HALF TOILE • • • •

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2 wide box pleats on the front, 2 wide box pleats on the back Each pleat is 24 cm wide 9 cm distance from side seams, on both sides of the front and the back 11 cm distance from CF and CB

Front and back views of normal box pleats and reverse box pleats (on the wrong side of the garment in this instance)

FINAL TOILE • • • •

Front and back view of the final toile 2 reverse box pleats on the front, one on each side of the CF 2 reverse box pleats on the back, one on each side of the CB Pleats are 8 cm wide and have been shaped through a 5 cm long stitch line

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TOILE CRITIQUE The garment fit is right, however the waistband seems to be slightly too large The skirt is a bit too long , would look better if approximately 20 cm shorter, falling right down the knee The toile has been made in calico, therefore final fabrics have to be considered and evaluated Also the possibility of adding a print along the side seams or on the waistband can be considered and further explored

THE WAISTBAND – Heat-transfer print • •

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The fabric chosen for the waistband is the same white lycra used for the cropped top These pictures represent the various stages of the printing process

As the sheets were only available in size A4, it was essential to be very careful and precise when the pattern required to be printed in two stages In this case the pattern presents a visible white line in between the two print applications

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The process had to be repeated three times before the achievement of the desired effect Although the waistband patterns had to be cut twice for the outside and the interior of the garment, only one front and the two sides of the back skirt had to be printed

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

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Front view of the final prototype The skirt is high waisted and sits on top of the hips The final lenght allows the skirt to fall right underneath the knees The fabric chosen is a bright yellow syntethic blend of polyester, elastane and nylon, suitable for its ability to maintain a structured shape and neat silhouette alongside a smooth texture and pleasant touch feeling The characteristics of the fabric required the hem and the internal seams to be left raw. No overlocking had to be applied The waistband is made of lycra and is characterized by an internal facing which was essential in order to maintain the interior of the garment neat and clean On the back of the skirt a 20 cm invisible zip allows the garment to be worn

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

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Back view Zip and back waistband detail Front waistband detail

THE OUTFIT