Natalie Rachel: Costumier

SDP031: Evaluation

2011-05-18T00:16:00.000+01:00

I discovered whilst filling out the unit evaluationform on Thursday 12^th May that I have genuinely thoroughly enjoyedthis unit. I believe it to be the unit that I have most enjoyed in my degreethus far. I have never worked so hard, or have been more dedicated to a topicthan I have with this one and for that I am extremely proud of myself.Personally and professionally, I feel I have come a long way and have learnt anawful lot about myself.

I have been interested in tailoring since I took alevel 3 diploma in Production Tailoring in sixth form and with a naturalability and urge to do things neat and accurate, it has always appealed to myinner perfectionist so when this project came up I thought that it was perfect.Having worked on it, it has challenged me in ways that I wouldn’t have imaginedand also in ways that I had. Having never made a men’s suit before, I didn’treally have any clue as to what I was really letting myself in for but I lovedevery minute of it. I’ve learnt so many things to carry through to level 6,including skills in tailoring, general making and personal feats.

Though I have worked solidly, all day every day Ihave still managed not to work as fast as I had hoped and have managed to bequite slow in my construction. I can only assume that this is because I havenever worked with checks before so have spent a number of hours at variousstages that the checks will match up and if they don’t then going back to makesure that they do. This lack of time has unfortunately made me rush other areassuch as the pockets on the waistcoat which I feel I could have done a lotbetter. I have learnt in this sense to trust your gut feeling and take yourtime instead of worrying bout other people around you are doing. One of the mainpersonal mile stones that I will be sure to take with me to level 6 is to notcare as much about other people. Though it seems like a selfish move, I havefound myself worrying that I was much behind the other two girls in my projectinstead of just keeping my head down and carrying on with my work. Not only didthis sometimes upset me, but it frustrated me more and made me wonder why I wasso behind. By eliminating this inner competition that I make up in my head, Iwill be able to concentrate fully on my own work and present it to an evehigher standard than before.

As far as the actual learning goes, I have learnt somuch from Graham this term and what I have learnt will affect the way I workwithin theatrical costume as well as tailoring. Tailoring requires a highstandard of accuracy and neat working in order to create the sharp shapes thata good tailored suit has. By learning this standard, I can now transfer thisstandard into the work of my other costumes outside of tailoring and bring themto an even higher standard than before. This will help me in my EMP when itcomes to really showcasing what I can do. My pattern cutting has definitelyimproved within this unit as I have learnt to stand at all times in order tolook at it from above. This can help it become even more accurate than beforeas you eliminate the angle you create from sitting down at the table.

Finally, I have improved professionally in a way Icouldn’t have achieved if this had not been a project based outside ofUniversity. I have been in a situation where I have had to think about andimprove the way that I look to potential employers. I have had to deal with afitting on my own for which I thought I coped quite well, and had to presentmyself to an actor that I haven’t seen wondering around University on aday-to-day basis or one that I can easily talk to on Facebook. Being able tohave that experience really helped me prepare for the world to come aftergraduation and has also made me appreciate how well organised the fittings atAUCB are. I will also take these skills into level 6 when I have to organise myown fittings.

SDP030: Week Nine

2011-05-17T23:32:00.000+01:00

As we got given an extension, I have had a few more extra days to allow myself to try and catch up a little to where Anushka and Mary are, though I know that I will never fully catch up as I do not wish to rush. This is just something that I hope to learn in time.

SDP029: Reflection on the Jacket

2011-05-17T23:30:00.000+01:00

I have learnt more things than ever with the jacket of this project. There have been many a technique that I will need to write up as soon as I have relaxed after this hand in. And these are things that I will need to help me within EMP as I plan on making a tailored garment of some sort. I fully intend on making a tailored jacket in order to really practice my skills in this area.

I have by far found the jacket the hardest part of the project which is unsurprising but I have enjoyed every day of learning it and will continue to enjoy this work until the jacket is finished. I gain much personal and professional satisfaction from my own work and I feel I will gain greatly from this project alone.

SDP028: More Instruction and Personal Reflection

2011-05-17T23:25:00.000+01:00

On Monday, we had a short tutorial with Graham in the morning about the sleeve and how we are to go about constructing them. I fear I will have to literally go straight back to the drawing board in order to complete this sleeve and I have now come to terms with the fact that I will not even be able to start this before hand in. Though, of course I am disappointed that I had not been able to work fast enough to get this far, I have finally come to a realization as to why I have been quite so slow in this unit.

I have never worked with checks before and not only did the suit material I got given have a check in it, but it was a very faint check that was hard to see in the right light. Adding this to my habits as a perfectionist and I have spent hours upon hours matching up the checks at various stages and checking that it all matched. Given time and practice, I will only get better at this but this is something that I will need the patience to do.

SDP027: Week Eight

2011-05-15T10:24:00.015+01:00

As Ase hasn't sent us the buttons yet, Graham has told us that we aren't to worry about buttonholes and buttons for the hand in. Consequently, we also found out this week that the whole year has a two day extension until Wednesday 18th May. I am glad that we have this extension as I really need the extra time to get further with my work however, I am becoming increasingly exhausted from working so hard on this project that I was quite looking forward to the stress going on the Monday!

SDP026: Waistcoat

2011-05-15T10:07:00.010+01:00

Yesterday, I managed to complete my second ever waistcoat. I am pleased with the overall completion though I think I could have done some things better. Having said this, I need to remember that this is only my second ever tailored waistcoat, and my first ever double breasted one. Unlike the one in DP, this waistcoat had four pockets which I feel I maybe rushed a little in order to complete them within a day but I am generally happy with the outcome.

One major hindrance I had was that I accidentally cut too far on both sides of the waistcoats inside at the side seams which caused fraying with the lining. I hesitated in how to rectify this mistake and chose to try and hand sew the fray so that it was neater. Though I think I did achieve this, I still feel that it could have been avoided altogether had I kept my wits about me when I was on the final leg of the construction.

I am pleased with the overall look of the waistcoat and especially the collar and the matching up of checks considering I have never worked with checks before.

SDP025: Jacket Construction

2011-05-11T17:17:00.005+01:00

Having finished my trousers, and working on my waistcoat at home, it was finally time for me to start construction on my jacket. This started with marking in changes from the fitting to my pattern pieces and then sewing in the darts and beginning my jetted pockets.

Matching these pockets was a challenging task given the flap I had to engineer into the top jet and the impossibility it created with matching up the top jet to both the flap and the bottom jet of the pocket. I enjoyed the feeling of success it gave as I finished each pocket but both pockets are far from pointless. I think that I could have done these pockets a bit better but starting to think about time again, I feared spending too much time on them.

I found this week that pad-stitching (especially on the lapels) took a long time to complete. It was hard to completely know how correctly I was completing the work given I hadn't done such a thing before but in the end I was really happy with the lapels that I had created!

SDP024: Week Seven

2011-05-11T16:58:00.011+01:00

Further still, my timetable is wrong. I have recently learnt that collars will not be put in until after hand in, sleeves may not either depending on time and personal time management and the lining will be partially done. This week however, I managed to complete my trousers and also start my waistcoat by completing the pockets. I was not able to get too far with this tailoring work as I had my POP essay to finish for the 9th May.

SDP023: Reflection on 5th May

2011-05-05T16:12:00.001+01:00

Today was a massive learning curve for me as a maker. In the previous post I mentioned that I consider myself a fast maker. I've always been one of the fastest in any group I've been put into and so this adds to my ever growing frustration that I am becoming further and further behind in my work than I had planned to be. Being a perfectionist in this position doesn't help as I know that I could catch up easily if I throw my professional outlook out the window and give less than 110% percent, but I can't allow myself to do this.

In a way, I think that it is good for me to be behind (though, I fail to see this side right now) as I know that I will never get everything done precisely when I want to or when I need to. Certain things will happen that will delay projects and I need to learn that these things will happen. I am also learning that when these things happen, I can't loose sight of what I still need to achieve by worrying. In this unit already, I have personally learnt to stop worrying and get on with the work at hand.

I have discovered that I need to learn to stop comparing myself to others when it comes to speed of working. I have found myself envious of Anushka and Mary and how far ahead they are which again wastes time that I don't have. I need to learn to be more selfish with my thoughts in some ways and stop thinking about other people's work so much. This would save me a lot of time in itself.

SDP022: Further Instructions.

2011-05-05T15:36:00.002+01:00

Today was a particularly bad day for me. I am usually a fairly fast and reliable worker but I find that I am working exceedingly slow on this project. I cannot work out why I am working so slow in everything I am doing but it is frustrating me which in turn makes me want to rush but the perfectionist in me won't allow this. I am still, without a doubt, enjoying everything I am doing, it is just the lack of speed at this time that I am getting annoyed at. However, after a talk with Graham today, I am told not to rush but to carry on and not worry about anything at all.

Another reason why this was a tough day was the shear amount of information thrown at me in today's session. Together with Anushka and Mary we found out about the trouser waistband from a third year as well as Graham teaching us the tricks of hemming a curved hem on a trouser leg and a neat way of securing trouser hooks onto the waistband without the hooks slipping forward. On top of this, he taught us pad-stitching for the canvas and lapel and we also started a jetted pocket sample.

You can see now why I started to burst at the seams with knowledge and emotion. I have a lot to catch up on and I don't think that I will catch back up to Anushka and Mary at this time. But I need to learn not to compare myself to others.

SDP021: Week Six

2011-05-03T16:41:00.001+01:00

Due to my lack of knowledge about tailoring when I created this timetable, from here on I feel that I will have greatly overestimated where I would be at this time of the project. Although I have done some pockets this week and also a seam or two, I have not applied (or am near a stage where I would be applying) canvas or even cutting out facings.

It is only due to this experience that I am going to say that from here on out, my initial timetable will be completely wrong and I will have to completely rethink it week by week...

SDP020: Trousers

2011-05-03T16:22:00.013+01:00

On the first week back from Easter, fresh from our fitting, it was time to start planning how we were going to construct our suit in the three weeks left before the deadline on the 16th May... only a mere two weeks away from this moment in time! We all had a meeting with Graham where he explained which bits needed to be done and when and they we were left to our own devices, only asking for help when we really needed it.

The trousers were the first and easiest thing to be done on the list so it made sense to make them to get them out of the way for other time consuming things, mainly the entire jacket! At times, there was nothing we could do apart from ask for Graham's help as we all needed to do side pockets for the trousers which personally I had never done and for which there were no instructions for... After a quick demonstration, we were once again on our own.

Following instructions on a hand out, I got along with the trousers well. I had no major problems and learnt how to achieve a button fly all by myself. This is one of my greatest moments to date on this project. I am really proud of the work I achieved on the trousers so far and didn't find the work particularly grueling on the mind but rather enjoyed it. However, I have read through the waistband part of the hand out and feel that there is nowhere near enough instruction to complete this by myself so will ask one of the third years tomorrow for help (as Graham previously advised).

SDP019: Reflection on fitting.

2011-04-20T10:36:00.009+01:00

This was my first fitting ever without a tutor with me at the time and although we still had Ase to guide us, we were pretty much on our own. I found it was very useful to have Mary and Anuska with me as I did this fitting to assure me that I was going the right way and doing the right things. I learnt that it is never a bad thing to have a list of things to check when at a fitting. Eventually I will learn and be practiced in all that I have to look at during a fitting but certainly at this time of my degree, I still have a lot to learn in this area.

Coming away from this fitting, I am a lot more confident about conducting a fitting of my own without a tutor. This also allows me to build confidence to start making garments for people of my own accord and not just for Uni... I may even make my brother a suit (or part of one) this summer.

Again, I have also learnt how to deal with something outside of the Uni environment. Though, the basis of the fitting was the same, it was slightly less formal and relaxed as I suppose all parties involved knew what their role was in the proceedings. I experienced the same feeling whilst viewing a fitting at Les Mis on work experience. It has taught me that fittings are not meant to be, nor are they in any way daunting!

SDP018: The Fitting!

2011-04-20T10:20:00.021+01:00

Yesterday, we finally managed to have our fitting! Overall, I am really quite pleased with how it went. I only had a few things to change and these were agreed with both my fellow tailors and also with Ase. Even though the fitting is complete now, I now cannot do anything more to the suit until I have a lining fabric or until I get a chance to see Graham at the beginning of next term... which ever comes sooner!

Though I have many more pictures, I have chosen these to highlight the overall silhouette of the suit from the fitting and the fit of the waistcoat. I initially thought that the waistcoat may come up a bit snug as this is what happened to my DP waistcoat, but it actually fit really well and like it was supposed to! This leads me to assume that my client for DP gained a little weight as I made his waistcoat!

Things I have to change include making the waistcoat armhole less angular to the body, changing the slight shape of the jacket armhole and making the trousers bigger around the bottom. This is most likely to do with the fact that my original actor was AWOL for my fitting and I therefore had to have a replacement. This replacement actor, George, was very willing to help and was helpful as he vocalized any discomforts he found with the suit (which happily, were minimal) .

SDP017: Week Five

2011-04-10T13:14:00.000+01:00

Based on the fact that I started this week ahead of what I'd planned, I have managed to keep up once more with the initial timetable and even race forward to constructing my suit ready for a fitting. Though we had hoped on maybe having a fitting this Friday just gone, it was not meant to be. ArtsEd were on Easter at this time, but we hope to have a fitting later this holiday as without the fitting, I am currently stuck with nothing to do but wait....

Here is my revised timetable for this week.

SDP016: Preparing for Fitting!

2011-04-06T19:21:00.001+01:00

I used this last week of Spring Term to prepare my suit for a fitting. To do this, we had a little tutorial with Graham of some sorts to explain what we had to achieve before the fitting as a tailored fitting is a little different to an average costume fitting.

For a tailored fitting, you basically tack absolutely everything and press nothing. This is so to avoid cutting out again if a pattern is severely wrong as pressing is permenant and tacking takes much less time to remove than a machine stitch, not to mention that a machine stitch might damage the material.

Before tacking together however, you need to 'zigger' the edges of the trouser pieces. By this, I mean zig-zag stitch around the outside much like overlocking but not as bulky and it does not cut away any material. Tailors never use overlockers as the seam allowance is so small, there is a lot of risk of cutting it away and ending up with a smaller suit that does not fit.

We were also told that for the fitting, we will be having canvas basted in both the waistcoat and the jacket (which has three layers consisting of hair canvas, shoulder canvas and breastfelt).

I feel quite confident that this process won't take much time and Anushka and I have talked about maybe having our fitting on Friday this week if we can get hold of Ase, and if she can get hold of our actors!

SDP015: Week Four

2011-04-03T18:28:00.003+01:00

Somehow, within this week, I have managed to go from being behind in my work to being ahead. I have had to dedicate a lot of time at the beginning of this week (and the previous weekend) to the performance of Candide but now that it is over, I can fully concentrate on my tailoring.

Another thing to take into account is that I had to travel home this weekend for my Mother's graduation so I ended up travelling for most of the Friday and not getting much work done. With all of these hindrances, I have still managed to come out ahead of the original timetable.

I am pleased with the way that this week has gone, and now intend to update my schedule from at this point as I am about a week ahead of what we thought originally. This now means that the workplan that I handed in has changed significantly but I can only hope that this is ok.

If next week goes to plan with time management and arrangements, I believe Anushka and I could have a fitting for our suit on this Friday coming at ArtsEd!

SDP014: Matching Checks and Cutting Cloth!

2011-04-03T18:19:00.004+01:00

So on Thurs after lunch, I was ready to cut out my cloth. It appears that I have the hardest cloth to cut and work with as not only do I have herringbone, but there is a very faint check on top of it and the fabric is ideally too thin for what I am making. But I cannot change it, so we begin to match up the checks.

The main rule is not to place a visible line on a sewing line as you will either hit or miss the line and it will never work out. We have used the chest line on the jacket to match up and keep the line matching all the way around. On the waistcoat, we lined it up so that luckily I do not have to worry about the check with my 4 welt pockets as they fit within the 2" between each horizontal stripe!

With the trousers, we matched a blue line to the waist and continued on from then. Whilst doing so, we realised that the trouser pattern does not match up. This was a major flaw on my part, as I forgot to check that the inside leg and outside leg measurements matched up before I finalised the pattern. However, we were able to roughly fix the problem as we were laying the patterns out and I have had to cut a bit around the hem of the trouser so that I have plenty of room for change of the pattern.

Overall, I believe that I now know enough to be able to match up a check myself. Knowing the main rule seems to be the make or break of matching the checks and you must understand that you will not be able to match all checks perfectly, though of course you can get awfully close! I am pleased with how my cutting went and at the weekend I will be able to mark tack everything ready for ziggering in the early part of the week.

SDP013: Reflection on Patterns

2011-04-03T18:02:00.011+01:00

I find that with pattern work, I am continuously learning and achieving new things. Once again, I find the importance of accuracy is vital to any pattern. Specifically because I am doing patterns for such a precise and accurate form of construction. If the patterns are wrong from the beginning then there is obviously no hope in the costume fitting at all.

Personally I have learnt to draw patterns standing up as it gives you a better outlook on your work as sitting down distorts your view of the pattern. This is the main thing that I have learnt from Graham for patterns and something which I intend to bring to EMP to further improve my skills as a maker. Learning this has made it possible for me to progress further in this skill as I've always enjoyed pattern cutting.

SDP012: Finalising all Patterns

2011-04-03T17:53:00.003+01:00

Now that all of the patterns are complete, I need to finish putting all of the seam allowances on them, trace them out then cut out the patterns ready for cutting the cloth! I am pleased with how quickly everything seems to be coming along now that we discussed how close we were for a fitting. I believe it to be motivation to get as much done as possible that Anushka and I have sped ahead where we thought we would be. This is never a bad thing.

I found adding the seam allowances to the patterns a very surreal experience having not had to do it since sixth form due to the way costume teaches us. The actual action of doing so created no problems at all, except for when I started to think about things too much and getting myself all confused. This is my only fault at times, when I think about things so often that they no longer make sense. Still, I managed to copy out my patterns a good four days earlier than originally planned and Graham, Anuhska were all ready to cut out for Thursday 31st March!

SDP011: Finalising Trousers

2011-04-03T17:40:00.002+01:00

When drafting out and adapting the trouser block I came across problem after problem surrounding the measurements and had no idea how to get around it. I knew what to do and this was not the problem, but it was applying these instructions to, what seemed to me, a pattern that I had drafted wrong.

It appears that I had not drafted it wrong but it was just being a little awkward. The waistline was 3" bigger than it wanted to be and this included a dart which was much to big to be correct (this must have been a misunderstanding on my part with the instructions, though Anushka's created this big dart too!) The seat line was 2" smaller than would be desired and the width of the trouser just looked out of proportion.

Graham helped me sort out the problem and together we took measurements out of the waist and the width of the trouser as well as adding a little to the seat.

After having such a productive and pleasing unit so far, I knew something troublesome was coming my way and in a way I was glad that it was the trousers that created the hiccup. With the exception of the breeches I made in the previous unit, I have never made a pair of trousers before. Always sticking to the female form, I never really thought about making a pair of trousers when the beauty of a flowing pretty dress was an option! So, this task really made me think about the shape and size that a trouser pattern needs to be and what it should and shouldn't have.

It also made me realise how much I have left to learn, and this is always a good thing. I love to learn new things and techniques so I look forward to what else 'trousers' can bring to the table.

Once these trousers were complete with fish tail back and a slimmer leg, it was time to put on the seam allowance to the pattern and complete it along with the others.

SDP010: Calico Toile

2011-03-30T22:37:00.034+01:00

On the evening of the 28th after the Candide performance, I quickly made up a calico version of the jacket and the waistcoat fronts so that I could pin it on a mannequin and check the design lines. I also asked a second year actor (Joe Emms) to meet me and try the jacket on a person with similar measurements to my actor. If the suit fits Joe at the end of the project, I may get him to model it for some portfolio photos.

I am really pleased with the toile on Joe as I felt it fit relatively well. Although the sleeves aren't in the jacket at the moment, the silhouette lays flat and in an elegant fashion. I'm not sure if I want to change the curve of the hem however as I think it is edging too far up towards the waistline.

When the jacket was on the mannequin, there still wasn't a lot to change. I was glad to see that I was right about the neckline being too high so I will have to bring that down about 1cm. I have also slightly tapered in the top of the jacket opening so that the edges wouldn't be at an angle to each other. I a glad that we had to do this toile as it has made me more confident about cutting out my fabric and I have an idea about how my suit will look when it is being put together.

The one major problem I had with the jacket which I guessed would be a problem was the armhole. It looked far too small on the pattern and indeed I will have to make it a little bigger than it is at the moment. The average armhole should be about 21"/52cm so I will just make it about that big.

I am pleased that I predicted this to happen from looking at my pattern as it shows that my pattern visualisation is getting better at predicting problems and identifying how to fix them. This is something that I am eager to develop on.

I am really happy with how my waistcoat went. I have nothing to change from the original pattern that I created except just bringing the neckline about 1.5cm higher at the very front. I also chose to draw the collar on when the calico was on the mannequin so that it would be easier to imagine the collar in place. I am happy with the work that I have completed so far.

The next job was to add the changes to my paper patterns, once Graham agreed with the style and silhouette created, and then to add the seam allowance to the now finished patterns. I found these jobs easy to do, having no problems or queries. However, I always underestimate how long these tasks take to complete...

SDP009: Week Three

2011-03-28T19:29:00.011+01:00

Last week was very hectic and not much work was completed when it came to the tailoring project. This was because the performance of Candide was today so I had to spend all of my weekend and also the Monday of this week helping the supervisors a little but manly finishing off my costume for the performance. The POP lecture on Tuesday also took up most of the day and so I had little time left to work on tailoring though I fully intend to catch up next week.

The only change I made this week was on the Monday where I had already finished my basic blocks and so there was more time for Candide in the afternoon.

SDP008: Adapting Patterns

2011-03-28T19:11:00.018+01:00

After Graham and I were both happy with the blocks and I had asked him what some of the lines meant so that I knew what I had completed, I had to adapt the patterns of the jacket and the waistcoat.

As I am doing the double-breasted waistcoat, I decided to get a male mannequin and some masking tape to help mark out how far over I wanted my double-breasted waistcoat to go. I felt that this was the most useful way of figuring out how long to have the waistcoat front pattern and it certainly made the job a lot easier than guessing. I was glad to have the mannequin there later again when I had to double check length and neckline of waistcoat as well. I think that the mannequin really helped me imagine what line was going where and in a sense it was similar to cutting on a stand.

Creating the design lines on the jacket just involved moving the breakline to create a different lapel and drawing in a new hem. I am very pleased with the lapel and hem that I have created though I think that the neckline looks a little high at the moment and may cut into the neck. However, we will see this properly when I cut it out in calico and test it. I look forward to seeing how it goes tomorrow!

CIC: 18th Century Costume

2011-03-28T16:47:00.000+01:00

This was probably my most challenging costume to date, not due to the technique but emotionally; it completely drained me. I have never gotten so stressed over something so trivial but I think it worked alright in the end. If it weren't for the stress and the fact that I hadn't finished it in time for assessment I believe I would be more proud of it. But as it is, I am disappointed that I handed it in incomplete, but I suppose we can only learn. What's done is done... and I still have a beautiful costume to show from it!

Would definitely work with my actor, Nick, again. He was enthusiastic, cheery and easy to contact. Never missed a fitting or meeting and wore my costume effortlessly :)

SDP007: Tutorial with Graham

2011-03-23T21:27:00.021Z

Today, Anushka and I (Mary is still on work placement) had our first formal tutorial with Graham on his return from America. We went over general stuff and then he looked over our work seperately. My tutorial sheet can be seen in the appendix of my pattern folder, but here are some of the highlights:

we will be using standard theatrical seam allowances which means that there will be no inlays on any of the patterns. This will make it easier to alter for different actors to wear and creates less work in the long run. Although I find the bespoke way of tailoring just as interesting, if not more, I am glad that we are using the theatrical way of making as this is where I plan to work after graduation so it is of much more use to me than maybe the bespoke knowledge is.
from this tutorial, we found out the the jacket is the most complex piece that we have to achieve (as we have already completed the waistcoat once) but the trousers are by no means an easy ride either. I fully understand how much work I have let myself in for and can only hope that the fear of not completing the task will not only spur me on but also help with my time management. I will really have to test myself in order to get motivated and working in the spare minutes I have between any other commitments in my diary. I feel a little worried at the moment about the amount of time that we have but Graham assures us that we will get it done. So I can have trust that he knows what we're doing.

The personal advice he gave to me about my work was very helpful and Graham pointed out a few things to get on with my patterns. By the way that my tutorial went, I believe that I have done well in the basic blocks which I was happy about so think that my pattern drafting skills are developing further as I had nothing to correct where I had gone wrong.

Graham helped me solve my previous jacket pattern problem about the chest and the seat line being the same, and I then happily carried on with my work. I am pleased with how this tutorial went and have no developmental comments to add.

SDP006: Week Two

2011-03-19T20:02:00.017Z

Because I was on work placement in the last week of my Candide project, I was able to obtain a 9 day extension for my hand in, extending it from the 2nd March to the 11th March. This also meant that I decided to dedicate all of my time to finishing that in my first week instead of half-heartingly starting this tailoring project.

Therefore, though this is technically 'Week Two', it is actually 'Week One' in terms of where I'm at.

I have completed everything that I've wanted and needed to this week so I am very happy with my time management at this stage. Time management is something that I really need to work on as it is the thing that lets me down the most on this course.

I found the workplan quite hard to write originally as I have no idea at the moment how I am going to make this jacket so how do you plan for that? The workplan that I'm to hand in will most likely change dramatically and probably every week due to learning more about the process.

SDP005: Tutorial with Adele

2011-03-19T19:41:00.060Z

As all three members of our team missed the unit brief due to either work placement or the meeting with Ase Djarf at ArtsEd and because I was the only team member left in Bournemouth for the week, I decided to have a tutorial with Adele to talk about what we were advised to hand in, what we have to complete and what other work is needed to be done.

The tutorial was very helpful and I'm certainly glad that I organised it.

My actual tutorial sheet can be found in the appendix of my pattern folder but the brief listing of what we talked about are as follows:

hand in requirements are this blog, pattern folder and the 3-piece suit. I am a little worried at the moment as to if we will get the suit completed which I raised as an issue. Adele advised we concentrate on the waistcoat and jacket and then maybe hand the trousers in unfinished. Though I would be disappointed by this, I am glad that the issue has been addressed so that she is aware of the time constraints.
alongside this project, we have to write our own learning agreement which includes what we are to hand in and a 500 word piece about what we will learn as a result from choosing and completing the project that we have - this is due in on the 24th March. Not much was said about this matter at the tutorial but I found the handouts on blackboard very useful so there was no need to elaborate in my tutorial.
Adele suggested I start adapting the double-breasted waistcoat in my own time before Graham gets back instead of waiting for him to help. I think this was a valid point which I should have thought about myself. I think that I am fully capable to be able to adapt this pattern myself by now so I'm not sure why I didn't think about doing this earlier. Though I do have a bit of spare time now that I have completed my basic blocks, I still have quite a lot of Candide work to finish whilst there is this dip in activity for tailoring and I also have prior commitments to family and my learning agreement to write.
I was glad to raise another issue of portfolio photography for this suit in this tutorial where I was advised to take photos before I send the suit off. I now will have to think about who would fit the suit which I am making but this is not a vital point at the moment.

I gained a lot from this tutorial in terms of general information we needed to be told. I have also thought that as there is only three of us on this team that it might be best to create a place of contact somewhere on the internet for all of us to see. I have since created a Facebook group for the project so that all three of us can post useful information there and pass it on to the others in the group.

SDP004: Drafting the Blocks

2011-03-19T19:08:00.006Z

As Graham is away until sometime mid next week, he has left us to try and complete our basic blocks for the waistcoat, lounge trouser and lounge jacket. He has expressed that we may find parts difficult but we should try our best. (I later found out that the instructions that he gave us were made and written for already experienced tailors!)

I have now completed all three blocks as best possible and am really pleased with how well I think I have done! I had no problems whatsoever with the waistcoat pattern but this was to be expected as I have completed this pattern before.

I next started the lounge trousers with which the only part which I found confusing was the dart at the very end. One problem I overcame however, was the lack of measurements given to us by ArtsEd. In order to create the trouser width I looked into the average measurements in Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear by Winifred Aldrich and got a width from there. The rest of this pattern went smoothly without any other problems and I gained confidence in creating this pattern again when needed.

The lounge jacket pattern by far was the trickiest. Before I started I decided to sit and read through it and highlight the parts which seemed a little less familiar. One instruction in particular caught my attention straight away where it assumed I knew what 'one seam' was. As we were working in centimetres but the instructions were in inches, I emailed Graham to query this but once I received his speedy reply, I was ready to start my pattern! I didn't have any major problems with this pattern though there were parts where I had to sit and think about what I was going to do. Again, a major problem I did have resolved around the measurements. As I had no difference between chest and seat measurements, I could not figure out how to complete the side seam on my pattern so left it in order to ask Graham in my first tutorial. Though I managed to complete the rest of the pattern fully without help, I still had a few questions to ask Graham when it came to why certain things were there on the pattern to help me fully understand what I had completed.

I am really pleased with how I have done with these patterns as I only got stuck on a couple of parts and I liked that it challenged me at times as it made sure that I was paying attention to the instructions instead of getting ahead of myself and assuming I knew what was coming next.

I look forward to adapting them when Graham is back! :)

SDP003: Reflection on Meeting

2011-03-13T22:47:00.016Z

From this meeting with Ase, I have learnt new ways both personally and professionally with how to interact and advertise myself to potential employers and co-workers. Having this fitting, and indeed working with a company outside of the university, has made me think about the way I present myself a lot and I found myself maybe standing a little straighter and acting calmer than I perhaps was. I now feel a lot more confident with dealing with a party outside of AUCB and feel that I can react well to this situation.

I have learnt that you need to be prepared for meetings that are vital to your project, be ready with questions for the designer/supervisor. I found it to be very useful to get everything you can out of the meeting as you never know when the next one may be. And certainly if you have all of the information from the one meeting, you may even exclude the need for another meeting entirely! I will certainly bring these new qualities and outlook back into uni for meetings for my EMP next year and in preparation for going into my chosen profession.

SDP002: Meeting with Ase Dwarf

2011-03-13T22:24:00.004Z

On the 7^th March, myself and Anushka went to the wardrobedepartment of Arts Ed to meet with Ase Djarf. This meeting was set up to discussdesigns, measurements and to provide the fabric and lining.

We will be making three suits between us (one suit each) tofit a student there at the Arts Education Schoolin London. Weare being commissioned to do so, so we will not get to keep the suit at the endof the project. Contrary to my original belief, these suits will be made forthe costume store and not for an actual performance at the school.

Ase chose the designs for the suits based on the book Men’s Clothing and Fabrics in the 1890sby Roseann Ettinger, but she was very vague about style choices so this givesus less strict obligations to stick to. Only three things came up that wereimportant: she wanted two single-breasted waistcoats and one double-breasted;the lapels on a couple of the designs were too large for what she would like;and, the trousers must be easy to alter.

This first image shows the first suit to be made. Ase would like this one to be in a cream stripe fabric which she currently has not gotten round to buying yet.

She has noted on this one about the lapel being too small for her uses. I believe Anushka is very interested in this design although we both worry at the moment about when the fabric will arrive.

This suit is to have a single-breasted waistcoat and will be made for the actor Dayle Hodge.

Here is the research image for the double and single-breasted waistcoats.

All waistcoats will have four welt pockets.

This suit will be made from the brown herringbone wool and will be made to fit an actor called Karl James-Wilson.

It is the suit to have the double-breasted waistcoat.

I am really interested in making this suit as I really like the design and the fabric and wish to challenge myself with the double-breasted waistcoat as I believe it will help further my skill.

Ase really likes the curve of the lining inside this suit and thought the the collar and lapels were the right shape on these two images. She mentioned maybe adding the braid detail to the lapel edges and pockets to refine the design. I believe time will dictate whether this will be achieved.

This is the brown herringbone fabric, it also has a very faint check over the top of the herringbone and is quite thin for a suiting material.

Here is the third and final suit image. As you can see, all of the suits are pretty much the same, though this third suit will be a mix of this image and the same image as before.

This will have a single-breasted waistcoat and to be made in a green check wool.

It will be made for an actor named Johnny Goodard, by Mary.

Here is Mary's green check fabric for the last suit.

I think that the meeting went very quickly and was a little vague in places but I am now getting excited about the project. The next step is to create the basic block patterns which I am looking forward to do. I think that the designs are simple but I am very pleased to be doing the double breasted. Though I would have been happy to continue my studies repeating the waistcoat that I achieved at the beginning of the year, I believe that doing the double breasted waistcoat will enhance my skills as well as practice the ones that I have already obtained. After this meeting, although apprehensive, I am happy with the way that the project is going and my choice of fabric, design and actor.

SDP001: First Thoughts

2011-02-25T17:22:00.001Z

This week, I found out that I am on the ArtsEd Tailoring project. I am really happy that I am on this project as I honestly had no other idea what I would have wanted to do! Tailoring is where I am wanting to specialise at this moment of time and it was the very obvious but very fortunate choice.

I look forward to enhancing the skills that I achieved in DP with waistcoats and can't wait to start learning about the tailored jacket and trousers.

As a group, we don't really know what we are doing yet, the only information we have is that we will each make a 3-piece suit for Arts Education School in London.

I hope to excel to my best potential in this unit as I thrive on precision and accuracy.

The other two girls on this project are Anushka Tay and Mary Clarke.

DP: Eval

2011-02-23T18:12:00.000Z

Overall, I was really happy with everything that I produced for this unit and was over the moon when I received my first ever 1st for this project. I don't think that I have ever felt as content with another project than I had with this one, and obviously it all paid off in the end. Let's hope that I can produce work to such a high standard as I make my way through this degree.

Peace out!

DP: 19th Century Waistcoat

2011-02-23T18:06:00.000Z

Although I have previously learnt a little tailoring and achieved a Merit in a Level 3 Fashion Diploma in Production Tailoring that I completed in my A Levels, I was really excited to learn how to make this tailored waistcoat. It was everything I expected and I loved most aspects. I feel that I did quite well on it, though there are always things that I would do again.

I tailor made this waistcoat for my close friend Antony Bridle, who is studying level 5 Graphic Design at the AUCB. Due to fashion these days however, and the fact that it is 19th Century, it is a little short when worn but that's just a case of modern fashion.

DP: 18th Century Corset

2011-02-23T17:58:00.000Z

I thought I would make my blog more interesting for a moment by looking back at the work from this academic year so far. My first project which lasted up until Christmas was called 'Defining Practice' where we got to further our skills within our chosen paths of either design or construction. As I chose construction, I was taught how to construct an 18th Century corset and also learnt how to construct a 19th century tailored waistcoat.

I found the corset so interesting to make, and though I had made a corset last year for a different project, I was able to really practice my skill and make it the best that I could. I had to make this corset to fit a standard UK women's size 8.

2011: clean slate

2011-02-23T17:43:00.000Z

So, I've decided to now use this blog for my academic purposes exclusively as it will become one of the main parts to my upcoming unit 'Self Directed Project' (or SDP as I will refer to it as). I therefore made a decision to delete all posts before this one in order to give myself a fresh start and also to ensure that there's no reason for me to be sued from mentioning anyone without permission :)

Oh, legalities...