And The Dress Is Complete!!

So I have now completed my dress and I must say I am rather pleased with the finished result if not sick of the sight of a it a little after working on it day in day out for so long. The dreaded invisible zip was not half as bad as I expected although it did take several attempts but I got there in the end and I am pleased to present the finished article....

It isn't the best quality picture in the world but it gives you an idea, I hope to get some better pictures of my model wearing it down the catwalk.

 I particularly like the buttons I have found for the cuffs as I think the cream and gold matches the dress well. My favourite aspect of the dress has to be the devore sleeves and the cuffs I think the burgundy and cream works so well together and the fabrics also work well alongside each other. It is a great relief to finally have my first Esmè Piece complete and I hope you have enjoyed following my journey through this project and discovering the Esmè brand.

Starting To Take Shape

(Image Karl Addison)

My dress is really starting to take shape now I have attached the bodice piece to      the waistband and attached the skirt pieces to the waistband. This is where I can really see the dress coming together as all the different components are sewn  together to create the structure of the dress. I am really pleased with the size as well as it fits me so I can get a feel for how it looks on. It’s also the first time I can see exactly how all the colours work alongside each other and I’m glad to say I like it I particularly love the rich burgundy colour.                                                     

As well as the exterior I have lined the interior using polyester lining to do this I used the same pattern using the bodice, underskirt and waistband pieces to create a matching shell. I attached this to the neck and back of the dress creating a neat finish. I now need to construct my sleeves and cuffs and attach them to the dress and then insert my invisible zip which I am nervous about. The final steps will be to finish of the hems of the dress and bag out(this is when two pieces are joined together and turned through to create a neat seam) the lining to the zip ensuring the inside is neat and tidy. I am not far from completing this dress now which is getting exciting as I cant wait to see the end product.

The Making Begins...

So I am now making my final design and its going well, having spent a whole day sat on a sewing machine sewing tucks into my chiffon top layer of the skirt I have vowed never to put tucks and chiffon together again NIGHTMARE!! However it was worth it as they are looking pretty good.

I have also finished foil printing the under layer of the skirt and the devore on the sleeves which im very pleased with.

So far things are going to plan although everything takes twice if not three times longer than expected but that seems to be the nature of this profession.

The Next Stage!!

Now that I have my design the work begins as I have to make my drawing a reality. After weeks of pattern cutting, manipulating and experimenting I completed my toile which is a mock up of my final design in a plain fabric.

The purpose of a toile is to test the pattern you have created and find any problems or faults and correct them so that when you make your final garment there are no problems. After making my toile I discovered there were a few problems. Firstly the under layer of the skirt which will be the star foil printed layer was longer than the top pleated layer, I amended this on my pattern. The cuffs where also not correct as I needed to turn one side in so I made a note of this and the final problem was the waistband which I had to make a little bigger.

These images show where the faults were which I had to change overall these where only minor faults which meant I was ready to make the real thing!!! Aghhh.

My final Design

 After a very hefty sketchbook of designs, samples and development I reached my final design idea, here is a painted illustration of the design.

 I am also required to Photoshop my ideas which after months of perseverance getting to grips with Photoshop led me to this version of my design with views from different angles.

My Experimentation With Surface Textile Techniques

As part of this project I have learnt various different surface textiles techniques such as Felting, Devore, Foil print and Laser cutting. Foil print is created by applying a glue to fabric in a pattern using a textile screen and then placing a sheet of metallic foil over the top and pressing it at a high heat, over 200 degrees to stick the foil to the glue. This is an example of a star foil print I created which I would like to use in my final design. 

The other technique which I particularly liked was Devore, this is a process where an acid is applied to a garment through a  textiles screen creating a pattern, the acid then eats away the natural fibres leaving a gauze like fabric and the areas without acid are raised creating a patterned fabric. This is an image of one of my samples. I would like to use this a technique in my final design.

My Current Project

I am currently creating a dress which I have designed myself as part of my fashion degree. My brief was a space and galaxy theme, it also involved ethical views and points of views.  I have been working on this since January 2011, im now in full swing of making my vision and ideas come to life by creating the dress I have designed. My customer is  Esmè a 23 year old working professional see The Esmè brand page for my customer profile: http://esme-fashion.blogspot.com/p/about-esme.html

This image was the inspiration for my final design by Stephane Guisard, I was drawn to the colourways of this image and how well they worked together.

From this image I then created a mood board to demonstrate the themes and colours I wanted to include in my garment.