siorai

an online journal documenting my journey from concept development to finished garment.

Saturday, April 24, 2010


















I have decided to use a shirring technique to get the fabric manipulation look i was going for. Initially I was using a straight stitch but this made the fabric lose all elasticity. I tried using a ZigZig but it wasn't much better and the stitch was too intrusive and would have changed the look of the swimsuit.
An example of the shirred fabric can be seen above.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Just talked to dean about some issues heres what he said - so i dont forget!

1. attatch the lining at side seams. Dont have a waist seam in the lining this will reduce bulkiness at stomach area.

2. dont stretch the fabric when attatching elastic

3. to try putting bagginess into the top, simply add cm at waist seam, making it more of a box shape and then gather slightly and sew into waist seam.

4. test the fabric manipulation see how much stretch is lost per 10cm for example and try to work out how much larger i need to make the pattern. use a stretch stitch such as a fine zig zig.

I need to get working on the bodice in Gillians next class!




Fabric samples

I was looking for fabrics which once combined would give a feeling of oppulence.

Oppulent; ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish.

My concept has a darker side too it aswell so i plan to do some fabric contrasts which reflect this.

FYI: these aren't the fabric combinations here, this is just a documentation of price, store bought from etc. I am looking forward to playing around with them and hopefully coming up with something i like.




some photos of my second sample. i'm much happier with how this ones looking.

changes i've made
1. 4cm off the waist which could have possibly been too much??
2. i have elasticated and coverstitched all edges for this sample and it has come up really nicely.
3. changed the legline

changes i want to make
1. i think the scooped neck needs to be wider.
2. possibly change the shape at her bottom
3. as you can see in the last image the underarm on one side is quite distorted, i brought the other underarm in 1cm each side but i still think it needs to come in more.
I need to make these changes to my pattern.



I went fabric shopping yesterday, it was great i spent literally hours in fabric stores in the city. I was looking for fabrics for my capsule collection. I thought it might be interesting to start looking at fabrics early on in the design stage rather than freaking out about it right at the end. My idea when looking for fabrics for the capsule collection was for them to appear oppulent! There are lots of rich colours, cherries and burgandys and then I included pretty ditsy floral prints which for me evoke a late 1800's girl in the country feel. The image shows a fabric which i couldn't get a sample of as the print was in panels. It was sooo beautiful and the quality was amazing! I looked for creams and off whites aswell. One of my favourites in fact is a cream silk cotton voile! I'm going to try to make fabric manipulation a strong element in my collection.
I also collected a few trims and buttons and I found myself drawn to things in gold and creams! This button shown was one of my favourites.







Thursday, April 15, 2010

sample 1.

some photos of my first sample. i'm not lining or doing finishes on this one, i just wanted to see what the shape of my pattern was like. as you can see its not great. the first image shows the waist seam which looks too big. i was worried about excess fabric under the arm and at the back as shown in image 2 but gillian assured me that once elasticated it wont be an issue. Image 3 and 4 show my pattern pinned at waist - Gillian said something about not sewing the final waist seam this way so i'll have to remember to find out the proper way. Last photo shows side view, I dont like the gather at side seam or the shape of length of leg, even with the 1cm elasticating allowance it's still too long! so lots of changes to make, back to the drawing board!


Followers