Team work

We had to write a mission statement today which led to the naming of our brand Re-Find. We’ve decided to centre it on fashionable eco-friendly clothing and incorporate recycling into our packaging.

I think we worked really well and produced a strong piece of writing which conveyed our intentions clearly and effectively. No criticism during a mid-day crit.

We’ve now decided on areas of design for the team members:

Womenswear-

    Casual- Carmel

    Outerwear- Heather

Menswear-

 Katie

Children’s wear-

    Girls- Jade

    Boys- Christie

Lingerie-

Eleanor

Because of the new idea of eco-friendly fashion we’re now looking for similar companies in the fashion industry. This will be work for the week ahead, along with some branding ideas.

Branding project

Today we were put into our groups for the branding project. In my group are; Carmel, Christie, Eleanor, Jade and Katie.

At first we looked at each other’s branding research and discussed how branding is used differently at the separate market levels. Low end brands such as those on the high-street do not brand in an obvious way. We talked about how customers wouldn’t want to wear something with a cheaper brand printed on it; therefore these garments carry the company name on hidden tags. Some company’s like Next and Gucci are lifestyle brands who produce everything from clothing and interior furnishings down to towels and dog accessories.

High end labels can brand in discreet ways, for instance the Ralph Lauren logo, and also more obvious ways such as the Louis Vuitton print. 

We had a talk on branding from Colin Reid which I found really interesting and made plenty of notes from.

For tomorrow we need to have looked at some stores from our chosen market level. My group decided on the lower end of mid-range so I’ll be looking at Karen Millen and French Connection today.

Getting the hang of this CAAD thing...

After a little problem I had with layers (everything was on one layer!) I realized it was quicker to start from scratch and do my flats again. It was surprisingly quick after I'd had all of this practice doing the first lot. So here are some screen shots of where I am at the moment, adding colour and fabric swatches that I scanned in.

I traced the flats from original scanned drawings, tracing in a colour other than black makes it easier to see which bits I've already done.

With so many layers its good practice to lock ones you're not working with to save anything altering on a layer you aren't using.

Uh oh ...Module Evaluation

Even though bits like this seem a chore they really do help once they're done as it makes you ask yourself questions and it becomes it clear how to improve next time. I find writing essays and things like this quite difficult at times because I struggle to put my jumble of thoughts into words, but here goes.. my module evaluation:

My initial inspiration for this module was Victorian menswear. I chose this because when reading up on the subject, I found I liked some elements of menswear at that time yet wanted to create a women’s shirt. I thought it would be an interesting twist that perhaps others in the class wouldn’t be doing. I feel my design development was neat and well set out; I added more annotation than previous projects as this is an area where I sometimes need to improve on. I definitely need to work on adding colour to my designs to communicate my ideas more.

I enjoyed the makeup part of the project as I am confident with pattern cutting and am improving my sewing skills. I needed to make two toiles as the first one made with a shirt block was not fitted enough and the sleeves were too loose.  I think the most successful part of my project was the final garment as the visitor from Phase clothing company said it was a possible runner up in the final viewing. I was told the fabric and colour choices worked nicely together, I had an appropriate amount of detail and overall the shirt was well made.

I think the weakest part of this module was my portfolio work i.e. moodboards, in contrast to this being the strongest part of my last project. I found it difficult as my fabrics were changed during garment manufacture, so what I originally wanted to be pinstripe was a floral patterned fabric in the end. My colour pallet altered as a result of this also so all of my boards needed to be redone later on in the project.

I liked having a live brief and contact with a professional at the end of the project, it was a good experience to have a different person’s opinion on my work and it also gave me some encouragement to work harder in the coming projects.

Final presentation

Yesterday was the deadline for my steampunk project. Two representatives from Phase clothing came along to see the finished garments and give feedback on how well we had answered the brief. 

Once we had set up the room with all of the mannequins it looked really impressive, you could tell the whole class had worked really hard. It was nice to see and appreciate each other's work as I had been so focused on my own garment I hadn't seen many other shirts being made up.

The feedback I received was mainly positive, it was mentioned that I could have made a singular collar as opposed to the double one on my garment. This could have been worn up and starched open at top like in the image below.

Other than that I was told the fabric and colour choices worked nicely together, I had an appropriate amount of detail and that the shirt was well made. All in all it was a good experience to have a different persons opinion on my work and it also gave me some encouragement to work harder in the coming projects.

Image from premierclothing.com

How CAAD is coming along..

I haven't ever been one for computers especially when doing art work and designs but I'm really getting the hang of Illustrator! We've been having weekly sessions on Adobe Illustrator and its part of one of our current modules so I'm trying my best and apparently its paying off. According to my teacher Gemma, my flats are looking accurate and professional so she was pleased when she checked how I was doing. 

  

Two designs, four flats... probably more than four hours work but remember I'm still getting the hang of this!

Next I'll be adding the fabric swatches and buttons etc.

New Purchase....

I've had a slight lack of motivation since Christmas so I decided to treat myself to a gorgeous mannequin. It took two days to come but it was worth the wait, I love it and it has definitely given me a boost with my work!

Its beautiful just stood on its own but I wanted to experiment a bit so I grabbed some fabric I had lying around and began pinning. I'm a perfectionist with my work and I like to plan things carefully so it was difficult just making something up on the spot. When I have time I'd like to try something like this and make a pattern from it as opposed to pattern cutting straight from the beginning of garment production.  

Nearly Done

The Steampunk shirt is nearly finished, just the buttons to go on! Here's how its looking so far....

I had a slight problem when inserting the piping on the sleeves as I attached it to the gathered organza first when it would have been easier to sew it to the more stable, cotton part of the sleeve. Other than that blip everything has went smoothly since the toile stage. Should finish it off tomorrow....

More photos

Starting in my proper fabrics....hope I don't make any mistakes!

Much Better!

The toile from a different dress block has worked! Much better fit on the body, I slimmed down the sleeve too so the volume at the sleeve head is more pronounced. Only minor changes need to be made such as scooping out the neck a little to make the collar sit nicely and correcting some stitch lines for the final garment.

The first attempt....

And now...much better!