Finishing line!

I have officially crossed the finish line!!! After last weeks fittings with the models i had a lot of alterations to my bodices. All my skirts fit perfectly which i was very happy about but i knew all the bodices would need fixing up just by looking at them on a mannequin. I had help from my lecturers with fixing up each of my bodices which i am so grateful for!

Eventually every one of the bodices was altered. Some of the binding was changed along the top of a couple of bodices because the fabric had been shot to bits with all the work that we had done on it in the process of fixing it up! I really like how each bodice looks now as it ties in more with the other garments and it is a lot more sturdy along the bust which i was definitely happy about because i was fretting that the models boobs might fall out as they were walking down the runway.

I picked up my labels which look fantastic and they are exactly what i wanted. My range is portrays femininity and i thought it would be cliché to have my label in script text so I decided to go with an arial text. Although my is feminine it still gives some edge and i think choosing a bold text brings out that edge.

What makes me tick!?

Many things have made my little yet creative brain of mine tick over and over about fashion. Ever since i was a little girl i have always wanted to become a fashion designer. It has been a dream of mine and a vision to see my label up there amongst the other fabulous designers of the world. I remember writing 'Fashion Designer' on a piece of A4 paper with colourful pencils of little images and names of fashion capitals across the world back when i was 17. That piece of paper has been stuck on my bedroom ceiling for 5 years now and every time i go to sleep i look at it and hope one day my dream will come true.

My collection is all about the shape of a woman's body. I find that the curvaceous look is very feminine which i have sewn through each outfit. Each bodice is a soft pastel colour which is in crusted with Swarovski crystal beads. The structural skirts compliment the delicate bodices against there architectural shapes and soft de lusted tones. The two jackets i designed were to make an impact with manipulation of fabrics. One jacket has gathered ruffles protruding out of the top of the armholes and the other has a smocked back which is my favourite out of the two jackets. Some of my other favourites are the smocked skirt and the angled skirt.

Different things inspire me like the way a certain fabric will drape or a particular colour. Trends can make a huge impact on creating designs because if you want your designs to be trendy and "in" for that season. Some of my favourite designs like the silhouettes of Dior, the fit of Chanel or outrageous costumes of Galliano can create a wave of inspiration flow through me.

My inspiration came from a designer named Antonio Berardi, God's gift to woman. His work emphasised the curves of a women's body. He had a strong connection with his mother and always had an eye for passion. I found similarities with the designer and was instantly in amazement of his stunning work.

I would love to see my designs walking down the red carpet at any high end premiers, whether it be for movies awards, sporting awards, fashion shows and fashion awards, seeing my clothes in movies or just someone wearing out for a memorable night. It would be an honour to have well-known women who are absolutely fabulous in every way!

Two weeks!

Two weeks to go and i think i am making some progress! I have completed a number of outfits and have bagged them up so they don't get dirty. These outfit are as followed

1. Skirt 1 (sew hanging tape and label)
2. Skirt 2 (sew hanging tape and label)
3. Skirt 3 (sew hanging tape and label)
4. Smocked skirt (sew hanging tape and label)
5. Overlay skirt (sew in hook and eyes, sew hanging tape and label)
6. Frilled Armhole Jacket (sew hanging tape and label)
7. Smocked Jacket (sew hanging tape and label)
8. Bodice 1 (sew hanging tape and label, tighten back, fix centre binding)
9. Bodice 2 (sew hanging tape and label, tighten back)
10. Bodice 3 (sew hanging tape and label, tighten back)
11. Bodice 4 (sew hanging tape and label, tighten back)

I have decided that when i have finished all garments i will fix the minor problems, insert the labels and hanging tape.

I now moved on to tackle the wedding dress! My lecturer helped me put the base pattern onto cad and we also worked out the three layers and the fullness of each skirt in cad. I had a gathering ratio of 4 to 1 which meant a lot of gathering! We also put on another pattern which was for my other skirt that i was waiting on starting as my fabric hasn't arrived!

I then put the patterns onto the plotting machine which marks out your patterns for you. A much more easier way when you have huge patterns! I then had to cut out my tulle for the wedding dress which is very tedious and annoying! After two days i had finally finished cutting out all of the tulle for the wedding dress and was ready to start sewing.

Sewing the wedding dress is a massive job! I sewed the first layer on to the base which made me realise how much time this is going to take me as it took me half a day to complete! I woke up fresh this morning and arrived at Tafe at 9:30am to continued with my wedding dress. As i continued sewing each layer on the dress it was getting heavier and harder to sew. I left Tafe tonight at 7:30 leaving my wedding dress with only one layer to be sewn on. However, the bottom layer was collapsing under the middle layer so it wasn't creating the fullness i wanted. I decided i would leave my questions until tomorrow to be answered, hopefully it would be an easy solution.

I still haven't heard anything about my fabric which i need for the other skirt which is a bit concerning. Hopefully it will be arriving on Wednesday which will give me all of Tuesday to complete my wedding dress!

Photos!

I decided to take some snap shots of my finished garments! Some show the details of the beading and the smocking, and other show the shapes of my structured skirts...

Frilled Armhole Jacket

Bodice 1 with Skirt 1

Side profile

Smocked Jacket

Bodice 3 with Skirt 3 (my favourite)

Side profile

Wedding Dress Bodice

Side profile

Bodice 4

Smocked skirt

Side profile

Overlay Skirt over Smocked Skirt

A Month!

Today is a month exactly until the parade and this information makes me slightly nervous! When i say what i need to do out a loud it doesn't sound like a lot but i know it is the beading that is going to kill me!

The rest of my beads that i had ordered have arrived which is fantastic as i was getting a little bit worried about them! I really need to start putting my wedding dress on CAD so that i can cut the patterns out and starts sewing that up. I have completed a smocking piece that needs to be inserted into the winged skirt and the tulle/georgette skirt i haven;t even thought about as i still don't know how i want it to fall yet! All these decisions which now i wish i had planned a little earlier because thinking is a time consumer as well these days along with ripping out my hair and crying! All i need to do is stay positive and then i know i will get it all done in time. I am very much looking forward to relaxing when the parade is done and over, and when all my work has been handed up.

Progress

I continued on with the binding for my smocked jacket. I had one of the lecturers helping me as it was very tricky trying to get the biding onto the 1cm seam allowance. After the binding was sewn onto the armhole i pressed all the seams. One jacket down and one more to go!

I then started on my other frilled jacket which i thought was going to take me longer as it had a collar and a completely different lining method to the smocked jacket. I was hesitant to begin this jacket but once i got started it was a hard as i thought! I had already sewn the jacket and the jacket lining together, so the next step was to attach the collar and the sleeves. When i sewed the sleeves to the jacket i realised that i forgot to insert the frills into each armhole! I started unpicking and then gathered up the tulle and silk organza which was then pinned and sewn onto the top of the armhole. Once the sleeves were sewn in i had to sew and bluff the hem, then pull the jacket out and sew the sleeve hems together, and presto, Another jacket finished!

I cut out pink, cream and oyster coloured binding and pressed four pink strips so they were ready to be sewn onto my pink bodices. Manually binding is a pain in the bum but the binding went on so much better than sewing it through the binding machine! I ended up binding the top and bottom of two pink bodices with patience, a lot of patience!

I had to buy another role of silk Georgette because i didn't have enough of the original colour that i had already cut out to make the overlay skirt. Once i had cut out the new colour of the silk Georgette i sewed french seams and gathered the waist ready for the waist band to be sewn on. I pinned the overlay skirt onto the mannequin so that the fabric could sit overnight so i could get the hem even.

I had to sew the hook and eye tape which i finally arrived onto my bodice but i didn't know what method i had to use. Luckily Tafe is open during our "holidays" and one of our lovely lecturers was coming in so i decided to leave it until then. Once i knew the method i sewed the hook and eye tape in straight away and couldn't believe how easy it was!

I am very excited looking at the garments that i have completed which makes me feel like i am working at a good speed. I have completed three skirts, two jackets and one bodice which is in crusted with Swarovski crystal beads!

Break Down!!!

It was by far the most worst day yet i was to encounter. It was a shocker!!! I had run out of beads over the week end and couldn't find any over the week end as all the places were closed who stocked them. Come Monday morning i was running around all morning buying more beads. I then had to find this wholesale flower shop which was very difficult to find nether the less i found it! I had my first photo shoot so i was desperately wanting to get everything finished on time and deep down i knew that i was pushed for time. I had completed majority of my beading so i began on my binding which i thought was going to be easy. Turned out that every binding machine that i tried didn't want to cooperate with me today as it kept messing up over and over again! I was so ultimately frustrated i left in tears to my photo shoot with my binding half completed. On the way there i realised that i had forgotten to take my skirt with me so i we could only photograph my bodice which wasn't so bad as we got some beautiful profile shots. I felt terrible rocking up at the photo shoot so unprepared so i was hoping my next photo shoot i was prepared for anything!

After having a good nights sleep i was hoping today was going to be a better day than the last! I finished the hem on my second skirt and continued on with my third skirt. I cut, fused and sewed the waistband, and even sewed the zip in perfectly! I then tried the skirt on and noticed that the bottom half of the skirt wasn't as stiff as the top layer so i decided to sew some boning into the side seam which made it stand out perfectly the way i wanted it to.

I decided to give the binding machine another go as my lecturer offered to help however, we had no luck it was still not cooperating at all! I now have to complete all my binding manually, absolute nightmare!

I then finished off the hem of the third skirt and continued on with the smocking jacket. I had to wedge the centre back side and neck seams into the centre front side and neck seams then pull them out and press. I then attached the sleeves to the jacket and decided to try it on, and was very impressed with my work! I still had to bind the armhole of the jacket but decided to leave it until i could advise my lecturers.