Project: Pattern Making and Fabric Construction

   I finally got the chance today to create my garments pattern for my upcoming project assessment. From my designs, I have chosen to design and create a poncho like shaped garment, but it has no arm holes, hence it is rather restricted and relates really well to my theme of animal cruelty. Not to mention, the textures are very juxtaposed, but again relate to my themes of animal cruelty and textures by using a very thin, dense velvet and faux fur. I have still chosen to continue on with my mono theme being orange, however the shop didn't have the exact orange I was looking for, thus I had to pursue on and make the best of what I had. So today, I got help from Duncan who specialises in pattern making, so my pattern was relatively easy considering that it didn't need sleeves or pockets. However, the only struggle was that I wanted my garment to slightly fold inwards towards the waist and then flow out at the bottom, similar to an A-line skirt. He taught me how to use a pattern master to its full extent which was very helpful and perhaps even more so than when I went to a specialised pattern cutting tutorial evening because I got individual help and advice on how to construct my piece. Nonetheless, we managed to get a stabilised and suitable pattern which met the majority of my criteria and it then gave me an incentive to crack on with the making of my fabric. (Apologies, due to the lighting you can't properly see the outline of my pattern but you can see the indentations)

    I really wanted to enhance the aspect of textures for my garment, but this made it a struggle for Duncan and I when it came to pattern cutting because my technique would shrink and manipulate the pattern, hence the garment would be completely wrong. However, I decided to manipulate my velvet fabric first and then cut the pattern around it, which seemed to work very well considering it had lots of lumps and bumps from the stitching. On top of this, I tried to keep the pleat lines as even as possible, however I think the slight distortions made it look more fitting towards my theme of animal cruelty because they all look slightly tattered and beat up. Furthermore, the next stage would be for me to add the fur and the zip, so hopefully I should be almost finished by friday and then I can perhaps consider to make an accessory piece alongside the garment to make it look more of a collection, rather than a solo piece. If I could have done anything differently, I would have liked to had experimented more with different shapes and manipulations for my garment, considering that my book is following up a textiles standard rather than design. Despite this, I think it came out really well and I'm excited to see it when it is complete.