THOMAS WILLIAM CHALMERS WORKSHOP JOURNAL H00107509 E10 TA
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INTRODUCTION Welcome! This is my workshop journal in which I detail the exploration of my trend inspiration, design development and creation of a product, taking inspiration from Japan, workwear and propaganda.
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CONTENTS TRENDS RESEARCH & ANALYSIS 6
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT 14 PATTERN DEVELOPMENT & TOILE PROCESS 22 PRODUCTION PROCESS 28 4
PRINT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT 34
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TRENDS RESEARCH & ANALYSIS The trend that I have chosen to develop my designs from is based on Japan, workwear and propaganda. Japan has been heavily influencing menswear designers across the board including their own variations of prints including the likes of Christopher Raeburn in his SS15 collection among others, this is a trend that is reaching its peak and will no doubt continue into the following AW 15/16 season for many designers. The fact that war is very current in present day I had decided to investigate propaganda as a strong message for my collection, particularly as we think of it as a thing of the past yet it is in fact still very current, both real and fictional including the most recent Hunger Games promotional material in which propaganda is the format in which they are promoting the upcoming film. Not only this the George Orwell book, 1984, has come to the West End in London. Combining this together it is evident that propaganda shall be significant as a trend and will have a place in upcoming trends.
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
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PATTERN DEVELOPMENT & TOILE PROCESS
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My original thoughts when it came to designing the boiler suit is that it would be initially sewn as to separate items and then attached to create one piece as can be seen from the image seen opposite. I was able to create the kimono silhouette of the top through adapting a shirt block with the use of Winifred Aldrich’s ‘Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear’, however adapting the shape for the underarm to curve softly instead of having a sharp corner as can be seen from the diagram also seen opposite. Along the neck and down the sleeve there is a separate piece that is drafted from a small piece from the front and a larger section of the back as to have a singular piece that goes across both the front and back rather than having another unnecessary seam.
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As mentioned, it was originally thought that I should create this boiler suit as two seperate pieces from the shirt and trouser blocks, however from toiling the two pieces it was difficult to match the exact circumference of the waist at both the bottom of the top and along the waist of the trousers. The fit of the seperate toile garments were almost well fitted however the top section was a little tight compared to the trousers so I placed the pieces together and adapted a whole piece, (one for the front and one for the back) which made the fit for the top larger as the waist of the trousers slowly curver into the underarm of the sleeve so as not to overtly alter the fit of the garment. I had also altered the design slightly in regards to the legs and underarm. I had been limited by my fabric lengths available in that I wasn’t able to cut 2 fronts as well as 2 backs so I split one of the legs to create an asymmetric effect which can be seen on the following pages.
* The sketch opposite is not an accurate representation of scale and dimension
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PRODUCTION PROCESS
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1. Closed seam attach yoke to fronts and backs; 2. Closed seam attach orange length on right leg; 3. Secure down overlocking on said seams; 4. Attach orange strips to chest pockets; 5. Sew in pleat into chest pockets; 6. Fold down and secure the top of chest pockets; 7. Attach chest pockets; 8. Attach trouser pockets; 9. Open seam CB of garment; 10. Overlock front trouser seam; 11. Attach fly piece to right side of garment; 12. Attach right side zip into garment; 13. Attach left fly piece into garment; 14. Secure left side zip into garment; 15. Secure the left fly piece down, curving
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to the CF; 16. Secure the CF of trousers up to the zip; 17. Attach side seams together; 18. Secure in-seam of trousers; 19. Attach rib to hem of trousers, lock stitching one edge first and turning up to overlock together; 20. Overlock sleeve edges; 21. Fuse waistband; 22. Attach waistband onto garment; 23. Attach patch onto the reverse of waistband on right side; 24. Attach under collar to garment; 25. Sew together facing pieces together; 26. Fuse edges of top collar; 27. Overlock edge of facing; 28. Sew facing into garment; 29. Anchor the collar; 30. Blind hem the facing and cuffs.
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NOTES There was a a separate patch attached to the front of the waistband according to step 23. This was in order to cover the fusing from the underside of the garment. From hindsight I could have made the waistband long and a little wider at that particular section so as not to have an extra small piece to the garment. Another option would be to extend the fly piece on that side higher as to accomodate this feature and would require less sewing and would be quicker to apply to the garment.
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PRINT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT The idea of having a Japanese inspired print I thought would be a really interesting print and having experience in doing free hand print design I thought it would be a perfect experiment. I researched various elements of traditional Japanese art and have tried to imitate various elements from temples and houses to trees and mountainous terrain. I have mixed the composition of these on the following pages for inspiration. Developing this further to the trend I intend to hide slogans into the print, perhaps with the words “Buy me” and “Feel me”, to take an idea of subliminal messaging of propaganda.
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“WEAR ME” “BUY”
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“FEEL ME”
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“BUY ME”
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THOMAS WILLIAM CHALMERS HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY BA F4 SUMMER PROJECT AUTUMN/WINTER 2015/16 46