Where Fashion Meets Fantasy: Final Garment - 22/4/12 -Explore materials ft1503

So this week we get to create our own piece in our own fabrics, made up from taking the most interesting / successful parts of past garments and developing them further into a well put together final garment.

I knew straight away i wanted to develop my plastic skirt as i loved how the print looked and felt that if i could work out how to sew as opposed to stapling it, it could be a very exciting outcome.

I looked back through my past work for ideas, i think the idea of splitting the trousers into 3 worked really well, as it gave me the chance to experiment and come up with new shapes, i followed this through and split my skirt pattern into 3 for my final garment.

Final skirt pattern for dress

The feedback from trouser 3 was i should have interfaced the denim to hold the shape better, i loved how the shape looked and with the plastic being thicker i think the idea may develop and hold better.

Measuring for cowl back

Finally, although my jersey dress was a nightmare, the cowl neck was a success on its own so i may put that into my final piece.

Below right is the first attempt at my dress, I have learned a cowl neck only drapes well with soft flowing fabrics as when i have measured and cut in the same way as the jersey dress it doesnt hang properly, although i do think the way it holds it shape in leatherette is quite interesting i dont feel its appropriate for what im trying to achieve here. Instea i have decides to keep it simple but well done so i have cut it out in the bodice.

The above left picture shows the flowing side panels i had, i decided these wernt working as i have learnt from skirt 3 that the plastic is useful at holding its shape so i im going to rework the sides with this in mind.

Zip put in using zip foot

I managed to overcome one of the major problems from skirt 3 of not being able to sew the plastic, i changed the needle using a fine 70 needle as well as the teflon foot, im very pleased as this is the reason i chose to reuse the plastic.

I tried overlocking the inside seams where plastic meets leather to gain a cleaner finish but you could see the overlocking stitches from the outside making it look messy to overcome this problem i bound all the inside seams which in my opinion works a 100 tines better giving a much cleaner finish.

Inseam pocket sewn on, inside view

A strength of the plastic is its see through with this i used abother skill i have gained through the module and did another inseam pocket to fit the bodice,i thought this was an unusual design feature as most pockets are found in the bottom part of a dress i also bound the edges of the pocket to make it more visible from the outside.

Finally to finish off the garment nicely, i used the art of manipulating fabric book for inspiration, i attempted a flounce in my garment detail file, and thought it would fit well with this garment, following the instructions i have put a flounce around the neck

Improvements;

I am frustrated as just as im putting the finishing bits onto the dress the front darts on the front bodic have began to rip, although i feel i have massively developed this idea from the original dress 3 taking it from being stapled to fully sewn, i still feel theres room for improvement on the sewing aspect.

Also, although know i no how to insert a zip correctly, i still need to carry on practising this on different fabrics, as the leatherette has bubbled up again around the zip.

How well did it work as a garment?

My aim for this final garment is to introduce the printed plastic into a more wearable garment which i feel i have achieved well. I teamed the plastic with the leatherette as i wanted to use fabrics that work well together .
I had already decided to work to the plastics strengths, one being that the edges dont fray so i decided to leave the edges raw so you can see the cutting lines, this is also why i put it with the leatherette as it works in the same way.

Is it fashion?

Yes, i am suprised at how 'normal' the dress has turned out, when using an unusual material i expect the end result to always look unusual, but i feel this garment has turned out looking very wearable like i wanted it too.

What was the fabric?

Plastic

Leatherette

How much did you use

1 metre of leatherette

3 metres of plastic

How much did it cost?

leatherette £4pm

Plastic £2 pm

where was it sourced?

Fabric world, Shepherds Bush

FINISHED GARMENT