For the final presentation of my work we have an exhibition at the college where we get to showcase our work. On the exhibition space I have a mannequin showing my circus garment and two boards that feature design sheets that have been professionally printed onto a roll. On my designs sheets I had my design development drawings of alternative designs to show my development of how I got to my final outcome. Also on the sheets I put some of my primary research imagery to show my starting points for this project, on the sheet with my final design … Continue reading FINAL EXHIBITION

After completing the final stages of constructing my garment, I had time to reflect on what I had produced and whether it achieves what I set out to do. I looked back at my circus primary imagery I got from Gandey’s circus and the mood boards I had put together, to see if my garment presented the theme of the circus. Although I was happy with the construction of my garment, because it resembles a circus tent, I felt like the decoration was lacking the glitzy, over the top nature of the circus, my prints appeared to be too flat. … Continue reading WEEK TEN- FINAL GARMENT COMPLETED

I had designed my garment with the idea that the petticoat underneath would support the garment and create the shape, however it didn’t work as I wanted it to. As you can see from the images below, when the overlay was placed over the top the hula hoop was still visible and created a tube like shape rather than a tent triangle shape as I had wanted. I tried using the overlay without the support underneath but because there was so much fabric it weighed the dress down. My solution for this was to find an alternative way of adding … Continue reading WEEK NINE- CHANGES IN MY ORGINAL DESIGN

From the paper pattern I had created I cut my panels out of the real fabric, I cut 3 red cotton panels, 2 sublimation polyester panels and 6 white cotton panels. I pinned them all together and placed them on the mannequin to check they would work, once I was happy with the fit I added the prints to the panels before they were all sewn together. This was my favourite bit of the making process because the prints add depth and texture to the boring panels, bringing them to life. I used the techniques: Sublimating Machine zig stitching Applique … Continue reading WEEK EIGHT- CONTINUING CONSTRUCTION

The Petticoat I constructed the petticoat that goes under the dress to add structure; a hula hoop is fitted to the bottom to make the dress fly out. I started off by cutting a large piece of cotton and pinning the hula hoop to one end of it, then I placed it on the mannequin to see how long I wanted it to be, once I did all the measurements for the length I sewed elastic onto the top so it would sit just above the bust. I had some difficulty when fitting the elastic because the hula hoop was … Continue reading WEEK EIGHT- CONSTRUCTION OF FINAL DESIGN

Reverse applique For the zig zag pattern on the final design I wanted to test different ways of doing it, one being reverse applique. I did this by sewing a piece of red fabric onto white fabric, then stitching the lines of the pattern and cutting some of it out exposing the white fabric underneath. I like how this technique adds depth to the pattern; however it was quite time consuming and didn’t produce the straight edges I wanted. Normal Applique For this technique I cut triangles out of red fabric and sewed them onto a white background, it was … Continue reading WEEK EIGHT- FINAL TESTS

Hand printed samples (Acrylic + Gouache) I did some hand painted samples mid-way through this project however they weren’t very successful because I used calico, therefore for these samples I used 100% cotton. I printed out templates of a star and polka dots, in a range of different sizes, then used them to draw my designs onto the fabric. I then used acrylic and gouache to see which one would perform better, they both worked really well with the cotton, the colour was bright and you could see brush strokes making it look like an actual print which I really … Continue reading WEEK SEVEN- PRINT MAKING SAMPLES

From the three final designs I did at the end of week six, I chose my favourite one and expanded on it until I got my very last design.  I chose this design to expand on because it had the most unique shape and structure, of all my designs, making it more of a structural piece rather than a wearable garment. I explored alternative ways of making this garment through experimenting with a range of different things I could add. I played with shortening the length and adding details around the neck of the dress. I also looked at adding … Continue reading WEEK SEVEN- FINAL OUTCOME

After doing many thumbnails for the individual themes of structure, colour and movement, I combined my favourite ones and got three designs for each. I reflected on these designs and decided I wanted to focus on structure and colour for my final outcome, I have drawn three final designs, one of which will be my final outcome. From these initial designs above I refined them into 3 main final ideas, shown below.  My final subthemes In my final design I want to use print, colour and structure, I won’t be focusing on the theme of movement because it contradicts structure, … Continue reading WEEK SIX- DESIGN DEVELOPMENT TO MY FINAL OUTCOME

WEEK SIX- STRUCTURE, COLOUR AND MOVEMENT I dissected my theme of the circus into lots of different subthemes that I could explore through doing thumbnail designs. Structure- looking at the structure of the tent, metal rods, wires, support systems. Exterior decoration- the circus tent, stripes, colours, what attracts your attention Interior decoration- layout of the tent inside, zig zags, colours, fabric, lights Movement- the actors movements, trapeze, fabric movements, crowds Colours- costumes colours, what colours do you think of when thinking about a circus? Prints- costume patterns, repeating Lights-equipment used, reflecting off the costumes Costumes- what is the specification for … Continue reading WEEK SIX- STRUCTURE, COLOUR AND MOVEMENT