Where Fashion Meets Fantasy: WEEK 24

Dress 2 - Making

Charlotte bought the fabric in advance this week, giving us more chance to experiment. We have tried to stick to using the different types of fabric asked of us, with only wool and denim left, this week we used a simple black chiffon.

My first idea was to continue developing fraying of materials that i have used on quite a few on my past garments, i experimented with fraying, bleaching and burning the fabric. On reflection fraying and bleaching were the least successful so i carried through the burning technique.

From past experience i knew chiffon was a nightmare to try and pattern cut, as i wanted to carry on building my pattern cuttings skills i paired the chiffon with a navy leatherette.

I used the basic bodice blocks and worked with dart manipulation, i cut and closed the basic darts and moved them to the side of the bust (see pic)

On reflection i wish i had cut the front on the double to avoid the seam line down the centre front, as i think it looks more professional.

Back cut on the double

As i wanted my dress to have no sleeves or top part, i cut away the top part of the bodice and cut in a sweetheart neckline

Instead of using the chiffon how it is best used, in a draped form i tested the fabric in bleach as i thought about dip- dying it, i then burnt the fabric, this presented me with a really exciting and interesting outcome, the chiffon jumped up and charred giving a texture i had never seen before.

I spent 2 days burning mostly my fingers, as well as the 2 metres of chiffon, intended on creating a puffball skirt with the chiffon.
I used a long strip of leather around the inside of the bottom of the skirt to create the gathered puffball look.

Before sewing it all together i tried out different shapes, on reflection the one shoulder design is my favourite but i went with one alot like the top right with a halterneck

Improvements;

Firstly, i ran out of chiffon to create the fullness i wanted for the puffball skirt, as i gathered it more to make it fuller i quickly ran out, i need to consider this in future.

Also i needed to test and work on the tension on the machine as the stitches didnt sew smoothly, thesy created a bubbled effect, see pic.

The top bodice part of the dress came out alot bigger than orginally intended, making the fit quite poor on top, i didnt realise at the time but i feel now this happened but i cut away the top part of the basic bodice block, i cut away the darts from the shoulders that make it fitted, i know now i need to add darts into the top somewhere to regain the fit lost.

Finally, to enable the model to walk easier in the skirt i should have used elastic instead of the strip of leather to sew the chiffon onto at the bottom, i firstly tried a running stitch all the way around, which created a lovely gather but it wasnt strong enough to hold it and and kept breaking. I solved this by using the leather strip.

Other Findings;

How well did it work as a garment?

I dont think it worked great as a garment, as it turned out alot too big on the top around the bust and when i put it on the body it was alot shorter than i expected, it was wearable but the fit was poor.

Is it fashion?

Yes i feel it is fashion as it can be worn, i think it is more of a party type of dress, i think if the design was developed it would work well as a fashionn piece.

What was the fabric?

Chiffon and navy leatherette

How much did you use

2 metres of chiffon and half a metre of leatherette

How much did it cost?

chiffon £3p.m

leatherette £3 for half a metre

where was it sourced?

chiffon - southend

leatherette- shepherds bush

FINISHED GARMENT