Sketch phase

Hello again,
After drawing the sketch I took a photograph of it and put it onto the computer. As you can see it is a two piece garment, a long skirt and a lace top.

The photograph itself didn't look very good to me so I started to play on it on photoshop.

I added lace, and some colour to the skirt and this  is what I ended up with.














The fabric I bought for this dress is a pastel olive green so I filled the skirt in with the closest colour, for the lace top I decided to choose a vibrant colour which ended up being a coral pink (red).

The next phase is the pattern. To make the pattern I need
my measurements. The measurements I need are the shoulder width, bust, waist, hips and waist to floor. These are the main measurements I will need to start making the pattern.

I will keep you updated as I progress with this garment. I am very excited about the next phase because it is the phase where everything you imagine starts coming to life.

My First Blog

Hello, I wanted to start this blog because I am very passionate about what I do and that is Making Clothes. Today I will be talking about my next project which is a evening dress for myself to wear at my sister's upcoming wedding. Now would be a good time to mention that my husband who also graduated from the same Uni as me, as a fashion designer, is going to be the designer behind this dress for me. Let me tell you a little about how the process works. The first step is to get inspired :) this can happen anywhere really, it happens to me when I am watching TV or walking around in the city. Once you have an idea all you have to do it jot it down or make a sketch (It doesn't matter if nobody else understands this step, you will be fine as long as you understand it). If you are in the fashion business professionally (a fashion house or a factory) the next step would be to create an illustration of the design. In business it would then go to the pattern makers so that they can make the pattern but in our case it comes to Me. I always start a pattern by drawing what the finished pattern pieces will look like in a much smaller scale. This gives me an idea as to what my pattern pieces will look like once they are completed. (Don't forget that these can change as you go along.) I start the pattern according to the body measurements of my client. After the pattern is completed I move onto cutting the pattern out of the mock up fabric. Once it is cut it is time to sew and again if you have a big business there would be different people doing this step for you too. In out case I am the one who sews too. :) The mock up garment doesn't have to have all the finishing touches done to it. Once the mock up garment is complete you have your first fitting with your client. This is the first time they see their garment come to life so they usually are very excited about it (There can be some disappointment when they don't see the colour or fabric they wanted but after you explain that it is a mock up and once the fit is perfect you will make it out of the chosen fabrics they usually relax.) When you fit the dress usually you have to do some adjustments to it on the body. Everybody has a different body shape and even if you have all the measurement you might need to make some minor adjustments when it is on your client. After you translate all the adjustment to the pattern you are ready to make the real garment. You can choose to make an other mock up and have a second fitting before you cut the real one (This all depends on how confident you are in your work, and how many adjustments you had to make in the first fitting. If you had some major adjustments to make like changing the darts to make the fit around the breasts perfectly then I would suggest having a second fitting but if you only had minor adjustments like taking in the waist a cm then you won't need a secong fitting.). After the fitting/s are complete you can start the real one and this step always gives me the butterflies because even though I know the pattern is correct and that it fits my client I worry on the back of my mind that I could have made a mistake somewhere. (I should say though, I look at this in a good way because worrying about it makes me check my work many times over.). Once the fabric is cut you are ready for the sewing. Sewing can get very frustrating from time to time because if you sew a wrong part undoing it takes time but if you check that all your pieces are where they are supposed to be before sewing than it is unlikely that you will make a mistake :). Getting the accessories on like the zip, pipping, buttons and etc. can take more time than other things so take your time. I never do the hem before I try the garment on my client for one last time (I ask them to bring the shoes with them IF they are going to wear it with heels), each fabric has different characterisitcs which is the main reason behind one last fitting. Once you know exactly where your garment length is supposed to finish (this can be the arm length, the skirt length, the jacket length or the trouser length) you can complete the hem and the garment will be ready to be handed over to its new owner after a good ironing and steaming.
Note: Ironing each stitch down separatly while you are putting the garnment together takes a little longer but I suggest that you do it because it definitely makes a difference with how the seams look.

I will be posting pictures from each step as I go through them with my own dress.