First Fitting for Couture Evening Gown

I had my first fitting with my lovely model Sammie last week. I fitted her into the bodice for the underwear of the evening gown which turned out to be pretty successful!


The bodice fitted perfectly except for a slight alteration on the bust and lowering the chest line to make sure the underwear will not sit higher than the top dress.


Unfortunately I didn't have time to photograph Sammie in the net petticoat as well as it is proving massively time consuming to finish! Gathering is NOT my friend. I didn't realise quite how long and challenging it would be to gather 27 widths of nets to fit on 9 widths!


But in general it was a good fitting and its just time to get a move on now!

Mary Stuart - 2011

As part of a collaboration with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama we worked on the costumes for their production of Mary Stuart.  This particular take on the play took traditional shapes and styles from the Tudor period and updated it with a modern twist, and simply using black, white and red throughout the production. 


We constructed traditional Tudor doublets for the male characters, but used leather and zips as opposed to the traditional fabrics and fastenings.
Leather was a completely new fabric for me to work with, and proved a big challenge especially when it came to fitting the garments, as obviously the toile fabric had different qualities to the leather, and the zips minimized movement.

Advanced Tailoring Project (2010)

Another second year project was to design and construct a tailored jacket taking inspiration from architecture of our choice.  We had to translate the shapes/lines/textures of buildings into our work and used advanced tailoring methods to create a fitted jacket.

Pantomime Dame 2010

One of our second year projects last year was to design and create a pantomime dame costume.  I was given Nurse Nelly from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves pantomime.

The design idea was inspired by 1930s nurse uniforms translated into the traditional pantomime style.  The costume consisted of a fitted blue dress with exaggerated, gathered sleeves, red and white gingham bloomers, a white PVC apron with a flashing belt, a red-sequin lined blue cape, and a tall blonde wig with novelty earrings.

Couture Doll Toiles

So now I finally have my smaller mannequins, I can start constructing the dress toiles to fit them. 
I have begun by creating a basic bodice block which I can transfer to a paper pattern so that I have a starting point with each outfit. 


Cutting the basic block on the stand turned out to be pretty simple - it was just getting the darts right and making sure it was as fitted as I could make it, which was harder as the mannequins are solid rather than polystyrene so pinning things is a bit of a challenge at times!


Once I had cut the basic block, I put it on to a paper pattern and re-drafted it in calico.  I then fitted it on the mannequin and made a few small alterations to get a better fit.  Once altered, I can draw up the final paper pattern.


Next I'll move on to shaping each of the blocks individually for each dress and generally working on each small toile.

Professional Practice Logo

I had to create a logo as part of my Professional Practice module, to feature on business cards, a website, a compliments slip etc.  I wanted to keep it pretty simple, in a classic black font, so, here it is...!

Underwear Bodice Toile

Last Wednesday, I began altering my basic block to create the bodice to the underwear of my full-scale dress. 
This included:
- Shaping the bust line
- Adding length from the hip-waist to create a more flattering fit
- Moving the side seams further towards CB
- Adding a horizontal dart to the bust to create a 50s shape


After shaping, I re-cut the bodice in more calico and prepared it for a first fitting.  I sewed on my boning channels using cotton tape and added ridgeline, to be replaced with synthetic whalebone later on.