siorai

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

Sunday, May 30, 2010


Some photos of my final fabric and pattern pieces.
I ended up making full front and back pattern pieces instead of having them on the fold because as you can imagine the fabric is so thick that a fold will lead to excess fabric.
I am trying to figure out the best way to cut my pattern pieces without wasting fabric and i'm going to have to cut out the shoulder 'straps' separately as they wont fit, but i guess this is ok as it minimises fabric wastage.
I noticed today, when looking at my initial fabric sample how much more ruched i have made my fabric..
I think because the shape of the swimsuit is so simple it is really important that the fabric manipulation is dramatic!
Will post final designs and illustrations over the next few days.
x

ragetrade photoshoot


I thought i would upload some photos from my ragtrade photo shoot. as you can see it went really well :)
I used my toile as I am still not finished my final swimsuit ... eek!
When designing my swimsuits one thing I was trying to achieve was emphasis on the hips and waist and I think the model shown here really compliments the swimsuit as she is a more 'curvaceous' shape than the model at sample review.


Monday, May 24, 2010

Toile no 4.



Heres some photos of toile number 4. I had made some adjustments to the pattern and wanted to check them out. I have since made some more adjustments and am tossing up whether to make up another one??
changes I have made...
added 2 cm in length to the body, hopefully this is enough to ensure that the shirred baubles (I dont know what to call them) dont stretch and distort out of shape as they did on my sample.

smoothed out the side seams at the waist slightly

taken 1cm off the neckline, armholes and leglines because I am using binding now instead of the twin needle.

made the bum slightly more 'cheeky'..

Procedure



I thought I would get some photos to document the procedure but it really is so simple - it took me less than an hour to sew this toile up. Its alot more time consuming though with my shirred fabric as I'm sure you can imagine!
X

Saturday, May 22, 2010



I didn't get the swimsuit finished on Wednesday like I was hoping and I can't believe its already Saturday eek time is getting away from me!!!
I did get all of the fabric finished though and it looks really beautiful.
The below image shows an ingenious idea I had late on wednesday night which turned out to be really stupid and wrong and meant I spent an hour and a half unpicking!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Todays the day... I am going to almost finish if not actually finish my swimsuit!!! It will happen! I will definatley not get overwhelmed by the giant mass of work i have to do, instead i will focus on my swimsuit and get it done! yay i'm already feeling productive!
x

Monday, May 17, 2010

TEXTURE

This first image shows the bodice part of my sample swimsuit - which had the shirring that i most liked! (other parts lacked the handmade look that this has)
With such a simple design the design feature really is the texture and its important for it to look as luxurious and handmade as possible.
This photo shows how the shirring looks in the wool (for the final swimsuit) I love it! but it uses alot of fabric and means I need to get more! below are some photos off the process - I shirred along lines drawn in chalk 4 cm apart!
The most interesting texture is created when you fold the fabrc in different diretions as your sewing it, rather than just letting it gather.


Sunday, May 16, 2010

I need more fabric!!!

soo yesterday I intended to start and finish my swimsuit.. as always I underestimated how long it takes to do! after five hours of shirring my fabric I discovered there is now not enough to make the swimsuit!!! ... and I have already recieved an extra metre of fabric. i would probably need at least another metre and a half of fabric or I could unpick it all again (as I did on thursday - the first time this happened)
what to do!?!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

Sample Review!!

Photos from sample review. I was happy with how the sample looked but there are a few changes i need to make if i want to be really happy withe the final swimsuit! the back looks good, i like the curve of the back, but i want to change the way it sits on the bum - i want it more 'cheeky' but lower at the side of the leg.

I'm changing the neckline curve to be a little wider - less U like and more circular. also in this photo you can see a definatle difference between the top and bottom half of the swimsuit to combat this i am losing the waist seam - it is adding unnecessary bulk and can hardly be seen through all of the fabric texture. I am going to sew a piece of elastic to the inside at the waist to make sure it really hugs at the waist! I much prefer the more organic looking texture on the top half of swimsuit and will recreate this for the final.


Some photos of the sewing of my toile. it has stretched alot and is quite misshapen which i'm pretty sure is all down to the shirring. for the toile i only lined the front but i will line front and back on the final swimsuit.


Just some photos of things which took my fancy recently.

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