Week 26 - Skirt 3

Making

As no-one was offering to decide or buy any fabric this week, i brought in my fabric file and as a group we decided to use clear plastic. I asked everyone how many metres they wanted before i went out and bought it.

As we had a workshop in this weeks lesson i took the oppurtunity to speak to tess about how best to use this fabric, although i had already decided i wanted to work on shape as the plastic was quite stiff and held its shape well.

I did my normal experimentation and melting the plastic was most successful but i didnt want to carry this forward as i had tried this out on the chiffon on dress 2.

I also carried out research to gain more ideas....



D&G

Abbey Lee Kershaw for I-D magazine

Richard Nicoll

In the workshop we discussed putting in pin tucks to gain some texture into the fabric, also creating many pockets to hold photos was an unusual idea, we also discussed trying to print onto the plastic, i have previously done some printing onto plastic so this is the idea i carried forward.

I did some tests to see how long the iron needed to be left on, i also used weekly supplement magazines for the prints as these types of magazines don't have the ink sealed on them.

I created my own home made heat press, baking paper for the bottom layer, i tested and found it worked best plastic first then magazine on top otherwise the heat wouldnt set it enough and it peeled away once cooled, finally another layer of baking paper on the top.

I left the iron on for a good 5 minutes over each page, as it took alot to set the print.

After hours of printing the 2 metres i used warm water and a sponge to rub the paper off leaving the print underneath.

As the print was so successful i didnt want to detract from this, after along time of deliberation about what shape would best, from a skater skirt, a layered skirt to a plain pencil skirt, i  pattern cut the basic skirt block, taking it in towards the bottom to give a really fitted shape.

As the plastic wouldnt sew on my machine at all, i stapled the shape trogether, i then made a waistband using the instruction sheet from trouser 2 and stapled that on, but when on the body i felt like it was missing something so i began playing around with different shapes, see pic below.  I settled on the right hand shape as i felt it mirrored and accentuated the curve of the hip.

I cut a slit up the back from the centre bottom upto the zip to give a sexier,  more feminine feel, stapled in the zip and to give it a better finish, i bound the edges in a lilac as i felt this complimented the print and brought out the colour and fun of the garment.

Improvements;

The whole technical side of this was a disaster, i considered it may be difficult to sew but i never considered it wouldnt sew at all, when i tried to sew it the sharpness of the needle cut into the plastic, tearing it. I tried to get around this problem by melting the seams together, but this proved very difficult keeping to the seam allowance and in some places it peeled apart once it cooled. To attach it together i had to staple it.

The thin plastic also ripped easily, trying a different gradient of plastic may prevent this.

Also, i was told it may have sewed together using a teflon foot, this is something im going to try.

Other Findings;

How well did it work as a garment?

This by far is my favourite garment and material to work with! I know the rest of the group hated it but i feel i produced an innovative, quirky garment. I loved how well the print worked, and as a garment it worked really well other than the problem of the staples. This is an idea i feel i can really develop and if i could overcome the technical sewing problems i feel it would be a really strong garment. This is something i definately want to develop for my final piece.

Is it fashion?

Personally, i think it is fashion as it has all the elements of a fashionable garment, interesting print and shape. From showing it in class it had peoples attention, people were curious and interested and i think a big part of fashion is the shock factor, making people sit up and look. On the other hand i understand its not a garment you may find readily on the high street and i feel it would be considered more 'fashion' if it could be sewn together in a more traditional way.

What was the fabric?

plastic

How much did you use

2 metres

How much did it cost?

£2p.m

where was it sourced?

Fabric world, Shepherds Bush

FINISHED GARMENT