Final Evaluation

The purpose of this project was to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the 19^th century fashion. I wanted to do this so I would be prepared for future projects and possible future work. I wanted to be sure that I would be able to construct garments from this era in a confident fashion making mistakes. I wanted this project to be fairly relaxed as Concepts in Context was labour intensive, I wanted to learn at my own pace yet still accomplish what I needed to improve my skills in construction yet not be distracted by all the finishing’s of a normal costume.

Through my research I was able to deepen this knowledge and I also found some pieces that I would not of expected to find. I found that by studying some garments from this period from MoDip and the museum in Winchester I was able to get a clear understanding of what was worn and also what was worn underneath the garments. From being able to see these garments up close I was able to see the finishing’s traditionally used and also see the design lines and seams up close. I really enjoyed this part of the project as I was able to get to grips with the period. I found that by beginning a project with strong primary research I had a clear understanding of this period of fashion. I will take this onto future projects next year and into my career.

I also found my research book extremely beneficial as I was able to reflect on this for help if I came across an aspect that I was unsure of. This research book will be invaluable to me in the future as I know that it covers all aspects of fashion from the 19^th cent. This is exactly what I wanted to achieve from my research as I will now be able to refer to this whenever I am working with this period.

I also enjoyed working at my own pace and being left to my own devices. I enjoyed working through complications on my own and I feel I documented these well. I am proud of the outcomes from this project as I have completed them single handed. These may not be technically sound but I feel I have gained invaluable knowledge and an understanding of both myself and costume.

I previously stated that I would like to transfer all my toille pieces onto pattern paper and that these would be greatly beneficial to me. Throughout this project I increaingly felt that this was un-necessary as I have the actual toille as a reference. I tend not to refer back to old patterns from previous projects yet look at the actual garment and the notes that I have written along side it. Hence why I have not included these.

However, in some respects I found working to my own devices fairly challenging. In previous projects we have worked alongside fellow students in the studio and have been able to compare our work and our pace of work to each other. Throughout this project I missed this social interaction and the competitive streak that sits in the studio. This has, however, made me realise that I could never work for myself! This is not only to do with missing the social interaction but I also found it difficult to remain focussed. Working alone I was forever being distracted and I feel this is slightly reflected through my work. If I had remained completely focused throughout, my toile’s would be constructed and finished to a slightly higher standard. I would have also stuck to the set time schedule that I created in my learning agreement. Even though these aspects slipped slightly, I remained to document everything in my blog and therefore remained on top of what I had to achieve in the remaining time. I think this was a really important finding for me in regards to my career as this project is about finding your feet and working towards industry.

I feel that the Self Directed Project was an interesting project for me to complete as I have learnt as much about the 19^th century as my own working style. I have learnt about what I would not want from a career yet also learnt skills suitable for my third year of the course as well as skills to take onto the future. I feel that I have made mistakes in this project that I have been able to learn from so that these are not reciprocated in next year where I will need to remain focussed throughout and finish pieces to a high standard.

I also feel very proud of the pieces I have created and in particular, the last piece. I feel that by creating this piece entirely on my own my confidence has come on leaps and bounds and I feel a huge sense of achievement when looking at this piece.

Pictures and reflections of my final toille. Late 19th Cent.

Full length front shot. Overall my toille has a lovely sillhouette that really emphasises that of the era. The strong collar gives it that 'fierce' victorian look.

With the corset creating the correct shape underneathe, the toille sits well on top.

Full length back shot. Again this image shows how nicely it fits and sits over the undergarments. I think this jacket creates a beautiful shape and I feel very proud of it.

This image shows the front close up. From here you can see that the front doesnt quite match up. This is due to my model being slightly smaller than the mannequin. If this was a toille fitting, this would be changed for the top fabric.

Back close up. I think the belt really finishes the back off. I am also very pleased at how the collar sits on the back of the jacket. The stripe really emphasises the shape of the collar and is a nice finishing touch.

A close up of the sleeve and the collar. I am happy with the way that the collar sits on the shoulders however this is one of the aspects tht I think I could have benefitted with a little help. However, I still learnt a great deal from doing this on my own. I now know this for future reference.

A close up of the sleeve. I am happy with the sleeves yet I feel that they could have been bigger at the sleeve head. This would have been adjusted by just adding more fbric to the sleeve head so that more fabric would hae been gathered. Again I now know this for the future.

A close up of the belt. This is a really nice finishing touch.

Another close up of the collar.

Like I have sid before I am very proud of my collar!

This is the under skirt. I am really happy with the shape that is created.

Even though the shape is correct it should hold a bigger shape at the back. I was not able to do this as I was unable to get the correct peticoat and I was also running out of calico. I appreciate this is not a valid excuse and I have learnt my lesson-always have enough materials and always makesure you do enough planning so that this does not let you down at teh end.

Here you can see where I have had to be creative with the calico! Overall the shape is similar to that of the picture but because it does not have the bustle type shape to it I feel that it slightly lacks the inpact that it should have.

Final reflection and evaluation on fourth and final toille

At the beginning of this toille I felt over whelmed and a little daunted. This was due to the the sheer amount of work and also my ever decreasing time scale! However, because of this it made me even more determind to crack on and really make a go of it all.

I really enjoyed constructing this whole toille from the comfort of my own home which also meant that I had to make my own decisions and judgements. Like I have said previously, I know that the garment may not be technically correct but I feel a huge sense of pride and achievement when looking at this piece, I think this is also to do with it being a full piece. I feel that by only constructing half a garment previously, it didn't feel as though it were complete. I also enjoyed that the focus of this toille was purely the sillhoutte which meant I was not pre-occupied with thoughts of facings and complex finishings.

I feel I did extremely well considering I had very little help from tutors and that the mojority of this project was simply draping on a stand (the only thing I pattern drafted was the sleeve head). This was not due to their not being help available but it was just due to me working from home. On reflection however I feel that having a tutors input would have helped and would have helped move some stages on quicker. This has been a big learning curve for me as I have realised when help from tutors is essential and where it is appropriate to make my own decisions. From this my confidence as an independent maker has really grown and I feel I am able to tackle any garment systematically to produce a sillhoueete that is similar, if not the same as what is intended.

Working from home has also taught me to be very resourceful and encouraged me to work more efficiently in a smaller area. This all helps towards the third year as we will be in the smaller studio. This also encourages a more professional and controlled working ethic as I have learnt not to sprawl all my equipment all over my room! It has also taught me to plan ahead and to make sure I keep note of what I have to do and what materials I need. I have stated previously that the back of the skirt isnt quite long enough as I had run out of calico. If I had planned this correctly, this would not have happened-again a tip I have learnt, just in time for third year!

Overall I feel very proud of this piece and I feel that by process of elimination and by using knowledge that I have gained in the past two years I have produced a piece that is similar to that of the picture I was following. I feel that I have really progressed in this project not only as a maker but I have matured in my working style. I have just got to remember to stay on track time wise and then everything else should fall into place!

Finishing touches!

Right. Last few bits before hand in!..

I stitched down the CF so that all raw edges were hidden. I have  also hemmed the bottom of the jacket and  hemmed the skirt to the best of my ability (due to the shortage of calico at the back-!) I have also simply turned over the bottom of the cuffs so that they have a neat edge too and I have also slip stitched the belt to the jacket.

I have also stitched up the back of the skirt to the best that I can (due to their not being a fastening I have had to leave to top open to allow my model to get it on and off.

All that is left to do now is to take some photos of Immie wearing the toille tomorrow!!

Constructing the skirt!

I had great trouble with the skirt initially as I was limited with the amount of calico I have left. I have more than enough to fit around the waist, the trouble was with having enough to create enough width at the bottom of the skirt.

The picture that I am follwing shows a simplistic A-line looking skirt that has a bit of full-ness around the bottom. It also appears to go out slightly at the back, created by a bustle. Unfortunately, the peticoat I have chosen to work on does have a slight bustle but does not have the fullness that I require. I am going to just have to make the most of what I have and be creative. Like I have said before, use a little 'artistic liscense!!'.

I began by trying to pleat the fabric around the waist but this made the skirt far too bulky at the top. I then laid the fabric out and folded it in half. I then measured from the top corner half of the waist measurement (as the fabric is folded in half) and then drew a diagonal line from this point all the way down to the oppsite corner creating a large traingle shape. You can see that I have had to add some fabric in here as I did not have enough for the width and it still is a little short.

I then draped this onto the stand and it seemed to work well however was still not quite right. I then worked from this line and created one similar that had greater width at the bottom and this seemed to work better. I now need to sew this up and hem the skirt and it will be done.

I have left half of this seam open as otherwise it cannot be taken on and off. If this was a real garment it would have a seam similar so that a fastening could be used. However I am only creating this piece like a pattern piece so this is un-necessary. Likewise, I have not created a waistband as again, this would be un-necessary.

Constructing the collar..

Today I began working on the main part of the collar. This began with, as you can see, a piece of calico that I simply draped on the mannequin. I made sure this sat flat against the back of the mannequin and also on the front. To create these big pleats over the shoulder, I gathered the fabric until it sat in the correct place. I then pinned it in place and marked on the design lines on the front. This piece stretched over half of the toille as I seem to be running out of calico and have to be fairly creative when cutting!

Front.

Close up.

Side.  

Pictures of the main collar constructed in a double layer of calico with no decoration.

I then worked on the decoration. For this I simply marked out lines that were 1cm away from each other and stitiched them with black thread. This is just to signify the fabric decoration tht is in the picture as I am not able to do much more decoration due to lack of time!!

I then went on to create the smaller part of the collar. I created this much the same as before by laying calico onto the mannequin and cutting a piece to the correct shape. I then cut these out and stitched them to another piece of calico so that they were substancial enough to sit on their own.

I then hand stitched the collar onto the toille to secure it before machine stitching it.

The collar!

I will not secure down the CF by turning it over slightly and stitching it on the machine. This means that all edges will be secure and look neat for hand in on wednesday.



Sleeeeves!

I began by looking at some of my research on how to create the correct sleeve shape and came accross this pattern from the Janet Arnold books:

From this I cut s shape similar free hand on a scrap of calico to see if it would have the correct effect. With a bit of gathering around the sleeve head and then tapering the side seam so that it is narrower at the bottom, this shape was created:

I am happy with this shape, however I will add an extra layer of calico underneathe to pad out the sleeve head to make the shape more exaggerated.

From here I used the sleeve pattern from my first toille as a basic shape for the sleeve head. I then made sure that the sleeve length was correct by checking my measurement sheet. I then cut this out of calco with an extra top half of the sleeve to pad out the sleeve head. I then gathered the head, stiched the side seam and put in on the mannequin:

So far so good!!

I then took this sleeve apart to document the pattern onto some paper then used this as a pattern piece for the other sleeve. I then put them both together and pinned them onto the mannequin.

I will go back to these if I feel that the shape is incorrect but for now they seem to be fine!