Evaluation

          Having come to the end of what has felt like a very brief unit, I feel like I have gained a great deal and achieved my goal, which I set myself at the beginning of the project in my learning agreement. I feel considerably more confident in my own ability as a maker and believe that I can now comfortably look at a garment and break it down in order to see each individual stage of making and know how to replicate it in order to make the same garment again from scratch.

I’ve extremely enjoyed making for the costume store as I feel like I have learnt a lot of invaluable lessons from each garment that I’ve made which will continue to remain as routine practise when starting any new project.

For instance I’ve learnt how important it is to check over your pattern pieces before you start making to make sure that they all fit accordingly to save on hassle and time later on. This I learnt with my shirt collar piece that was initially far too large and caused unnecessary headaches right near the end of completion, which was not a nice way to finish the piece.

For me the most challenging garment to make for the costume store was the 18^th century breeches and purely because of all the different features and elements of construction that they entailed. I think the breeches were the turning point for me as when I begun making them I felt out of my depth and very insecure about each process and what had to be sewn and how. This all changed half-way through however when something clicked and I got into the rhythm of it and felt confident enough that I was on the right track to continue without asking for assistance.

The Victorian blouse was the most enjoyable garment to make as it was the last piece that I was making for the costume store and meant that I could apply all that I had learnt so far in the unit and put it into practise. Once we were given the sample blouse to copy from, I deconstructed it and knew exactly what needed to be done first and noted all of the later stages of construction. This was a very gratifying feeling and a great way to finish the unit.

Having said this however, the blouse didn’t come without its problems. Whilst making the blouse I had my biggest learning curve of all which will be something I will value indefinitely. Whilst feeling very stressed over other work pressures I rushed the most important part of the blouse, which was the pleated organza on the front. In a bid to get ahead I thought I could skip several steps in order to get the same results but quicker. Of course I was wrong. In the end I ended up with wonky, uneven pleats and burnt organza. As frustrating and upsetting as this was, as soon as I cleared by head and gave it another shot I realised how important it is to take your time as you really cant rush the finer details or cheat patience. The results I achieved the second time round, I’m really pleased with as I did really take my time because I wanted it to be as neat and as perfect as I possible.

Running alongside the costume store, Breathe at times did make me feel like I had my work cut out for me. Every time I really got into making for Breathe and progressing with a piece, I felt like I had to put it down again and continue with the costume store. Because we only had one day a week and one evening session a week on Breathe, there wasn’t enough time to make a whole costume, which would have been nice, however I did get to silk paint and shirr fabric, which are both techniques I’d never experimented with or used before.

I really do feel like I’ve developed so much as a maker and come so far in such a short space of time. Each garment I’ve made represents the stages I have been through in order to get to where I am now which is a much more confident and independent costume interpreter. I’ve learnt valuable lessons and processes along the way and feel like I can tackle future projects head on without feeling out of depth or inexperienced which is exactly where I wanted to be at the end of the unit.

My finished Victorian Blouse

Here's is my finished 3rd and final garment for the costume store:

A few minor alterations to the original blouse that we were copying from have had to happen but I don't think that this has effected the overall look of the blouse at all.

My main alteration has been due to the silk organza and the early disaster i had with my first attempt at pleating. The replacement organza that I was given was very sheer which meant that when it wasn't pleated and layered several times you could see straight through it. This meant that where my button stand was supposed to be organza at the top where the pleats are, i had to to one long one in the white ottoman and then cover the top half again in the organza. I did this because I wanted to maintain the continuity of the blouse even though at first glance it doesn't look like there is organza covering it at all.

This also meant that where my collar was supposed to be two pieces of organza I had to make a collar insert out of the main fabric as you would have been able to clearly see the scruffy seam allowance which is usually hidden on the inside of the collar. This did make putting the collar on much trickier as the fabric became slippery and difficult to handle and meant that the finer and smaller details of sewing didn't turn out as nicely or neatly as i would have liked.

I've really enjoyed making this blouse and didn't find it too challenging at all as i was able to get on and complete it without having my tutor their to instruct me on things that I wasn't sure of. All of the alterations I had to make due to the organza were all near or less my own decisions which I think demonstrates a better understanding of construction and a bigger belief in my own abilities which I didn't have at the beginning of the unit.

Jester Breeches

Jesters Breeches!.....

Here are the breeches I've been working on for the Jesters. I'm really pleased with how well the fabric has turned out, I think it looks fantastic and represents the design really well.

I think I will probably have to puff them out more with netting on the inside at the waist, as the shirred fabric has caused it to pull in more then I anticipated despite making allowances for this.

Shirring Fabric

The next step towards the trousers for my Jester design is shirring the silk fabric I painted in the previous session. Before doing this however I've already backed the silk onto calico for more support.

'Shirring' is technique I've never used before, but from what I've seen it creates wonderful results and is going to be perfect for adding volume and texture to the costume. 

This technique is achieved using shirring elastic on the bobbin when you sew and noromal cotton or polyester thread for the top stitch and machine like normal.

Because there are so many stages that I need to complete first before i can actually make up the trousers I'm hoping that when it comes to finally assembling the trousers It's going to be quick and straight forward as the pressure is on and the work load is high!

Today when I was using the elastic in the machine I was getting extremely frustrated because the elastic kept snapping or coming out as a stitched which made the whole experience a bit of an ordeal! I think the reason for this however was  because i was winding the elastic up too tight onto the bobbin so when it was passing through the machine when I was sewing it was too tight so it snapped under the tension.    

Learning Agreement

Patience Is A Virtue

Today, In a bid to get ahead and keep on top of all my different projects I made a complete mess of my silk organza and have had to start again on a new piece of silk organza.

Despite knowing how important it is to take your time when making the pleats, as they all need to be exactly the same size, I thought I could beat the system and cheat. Oh how I was wrong.

I'm frustrated with myself for this as it was a stupid mistake to make because I was well aware of how patient you needed to be for this part, especially as its the main detailing on the front of the blouse.

Having marked all my lines I simply machined all of the pleats without going to the iron after each one to press it and make it straight. Instead I waited until the end when I pressed the whole thing in one go, burnt the fabric and wasted a perfectly good bit of fabric.

This has been a big learning curve for me as I've experienced first hand why it's important to take your time and not rush as I have wasted money that wasn't budgeted which is unprofessional and wasteful.

Final garment for the costume store

Victorian Blouse

I've had a very productive start for the third and final garment for the costume store. 3 days in and I've already made up the sleeves and put my darts in the front and back pieces. I'm feeling really positive about the blouse as I've looked at the sample and noted how each part is made and in which order they'll be made in which fills me will confidence as I know I cant get on and make it on my own instead of waiting on my tutor for instruction which is what I was like at the start of SDP.

The most time consuming part and the part that needs the most attention is the pleats on the front of the blouse. Each pleat needs to measure exactly 2cm in width and line up with the pleats on the other side of the button stand. I'm looking forward to this challenge as I'v never pleated anything on a garment before and I want to keep up the good standard of work that I believe I've maintained well so far. 

Collar Workshop

In today's evening  Breathe club i ran a workshop on how to make the Jester's collars. The session went really well and meant that a lot of progress was made which took a lot of pressure off, as up until today I felt like I was going to be responsible for making all 7 collars as well as a pair of breeches which added a lot of stress. This however was not the case and i felt a real sense of achievement tonight after a volunteer thanked me for showing her how to maker the collar which she really enjoyed as well as how to use an industrial sewing machine which she'd never used before.

Sessions like this evening have really spurred me on and made me want to get more involved and work hard to make good costumes for this project as it's for a really good cause and inspiring group of people who are all going to really benefit from having costumes designed and made for them.