LIVE PROJECT - WEEK 4 - Design Selection

DESIGN SELECTION

We started off the week by all putting out our designs onto the table so that we could see them all clearly. We each had post-it notes that we stuck down onto other's designs to indicate the ones that we personally liked. This helped us to politely pick out designs from others that we thought would work well in our collection without hurting anyones feelings. This was very quickly done and was an effective way of seeing which of our designs were most liked by everyone else.

We then narrowed our designs down to those that were most popular and photocopied them to be put back together again. This eliminates all the designs that may not work and helps us to see clearer, where our collection is heading. These are the designs that were narrowed down from my drawings;

It was really interesting to see that the rest of my group really liked the designs that I had done the second time around, when I changed my angle slightly to fit the brief better. 

We used our range plan to help us pick out how many of each garment to include in our collection. This was pretty straight forward and we managed to do this fairly quickly without any arguments. We also put fabric swatches by our own designs to show a clearer image of what we had in mind when we were designing. When we showed our chosen designs to Iain, he felt as though they weren't quite right. He said that our designs weren't really working together as a collection and that they weren't coherent. 

We think that maybe one of the reasons that our designs aren't working together when you look at them is because we had all used different templates and all have different drawing styles which automatically gives the impression that they don't work together. 

REFLECTION

I am starting to get very frustrated with this project as I feel like we can't seem to do anything right. We're being told that we need to improve but not really being given any direction as to how to fix this problem. We discussed that maybe it would have been a better idea to split the group up so it was more manageable. We are constantly being compared to the Menswear group who are progressing much further but I think that the comparison is unfair as there are only five people in the Menswear group and there are fifteen in our Womenswear group. I do feel that we are doing the best we can while managing such a large group and that we are not being given enough credit for it. However, even though it has been very tempting at times to just give up, I am pushing on through and trying to maintain positivity and motivation. I want to do well in this unit.

These are all of the pieces that we decided on (before Iain came to speak to us). We had to make sure that we had enough of each garment to fulfil our range plan so we made plans to use certain garments and adapt them, we also had to make sure that the garments all totalled up to our 30-40 garment aim. 

We noticed that a couple of our designs were slightly out of sync, so we made notes to alter them accordingly. This design for example, was picked out because we noticed that the sleeve detail didn't really fit in very well with the rest of the designs. There was a focus on sleeve detailing but this sleeve doesn't have much to it, so I've been sent away to develop this design further.

FABRIC SAMPLES

We were given samples of the fabric that were chosen for the Bolongaro Trevor project. The top picture shows all of the samples that we were given and the picture below is of the ones that I picked out for my designs. I am very happy with the selection and I was especially excited by the Issey Miyake fabrics. There are some really interesting textures in here and I really love the mix of navy with other neutral colours.

JACKET WORKSHOP

On Tuesday, we took part in a Jacket Workshop with Alena which was probably the best part of this Live Project so far. It was so helpful and Alena really made sure that we all understood why we did things which made it a lot easier to remember. We were taught all the steps of how to cut a pattern for a single-breasted jacket with a revere collar, also complete with a lining.

-Shoulder darts not usually used in the front so dotted line shows where a 'Princess seam' would be used

-The two notches on the shoulder do not match up to other notches. These are to mark the area in which you need to create more ease which creates more movement around the shoulder. This is why the back shoulder is slightly longer than the front. 

-If there is going to be a collar, a button wrap needs to be added (2cm in this case)
-The size of the button you will use usually determines the size of the button wrap
-If you were to create a double breasted jacked, you would need a larger button stand that could be played around with on the stand
-Use the mannequin to decide where the 'break point' will be (where your first button will go)
-Measure from the bottom of the jacket and then mark this on your pattern (on the button wrap line, NOT the centre front line)
-Fold back the centre front on the mannequin to create shape of lapel
-Place either calico or paper over the lapel and draw over it (design it completely different if you wish) The curved line at the top of the lapel should be straight
-Because jackets are very close to the neck, the neck line is extended (2cm) and a line is connected though this point and then through your break point (where the button will be)

-Mark your button with two small crosses horizontally (where each side of the button will be)
-The button should be 3mm into the button wrap and the other 1.7cm should be in the bodice
-Make sure you connect a line from the separate collar pieces to the neck line
-Trace around your new lapel design onto your pattern, ensuring it's on the inside of the bodice and not outside
-Fold along the break line

-Mirror the shape of your collar to the other side of the folded line (break line)
-Notch where the top part of the collar meets the bottom part
-Measure the back neckline (8.5cm)
-Extend the break line upwards and mark the point of 8.5cm
-Use your pattern master to create a right angle (90 degrees) going off to the left of the previous mark by 2.5cm
-Draw a dotted line to connect the two lines, making a triangle shape
-Use your pattern master on this dotted line to draw a line at 90 degrees
-Mark points that are 2.5cm away from both top points of the triangle, on the last line you have drawn
-Make small right angles out of these
-Extend the top corner of the lapel past the break line by 3cm. This ensures that the collar finishes on the underneath of the coat, instead of the outside where it's visible
-Mark the end of this 3cm line with a circle. This is your Drill Point or Dill Hole
-Connect the two previous right angles to both the Drill Point (see image below) and the other to the corner of your top piece of collar

-Add lines to mark the (4cm) turn up
-Extend the top of the centre back horizontally by (2cm) to make room for a pleat in the lining
-Smooth this extension further down into the centre back (around the waist line)

FACING

-Mark a point (5cm) to the left of the CF (NOT the button wrap) to indicate how thick you want your facing
-Put in a notch to distinguish Facing from other patterns
-For the facing at the top of the back, use the same thickness as the previous front facing (5cm)
-Erase the top part of the pleat to where the bottom of the facing ends
-End this facing at the same distance away from the edge of the shoulder, use your front shoulder notch for reference

SLEEVE

-Extend the shorter corner of the large sleeve pattern by 1cm vertically and smooth this into the curved part of the sleeve (where it connects to the shoulder)
-Using the grain line, extend this by 1cm on the smaller sleeve pattern (the underarm)
-Smooth this into both corners of the curved part of the sleeve
-This is for the lining, so more movement is made

THINGS TO REMEMBER

- STAND is the bit of collar that rests against the neck
- BREAK LINE is the top edge of the collar where it will fold
-FALL is the part of the collar that falls down onto the outside
-Womens coats will go RIGHT over LEFT (because women are always right..)
-The outer part of your collar will be cut on the GRAIN
-The under collar will be cut on the BIAS
-The SHELL will have around 4cm turn up
-The FACING will also have 4cm turn up
-But the LINING will have only 1cm turn up
-The notches on the back shoulder are to mark where there should be EASE
-Make amendments for lining so that there is more room (pleat in back)

-The higher the turn up, the better
-If you are going to have one whole back piece, the pleat line must be STRAIGHT
-Linings should be drawn on the same page, ideally