|
Term 1
Weeks 1 & 2
(29 January - 11 February 2006)
Making up my mind
I had a lot of trouble deciding what to actually do for my personal project. I had all these ideas running around my
head and no way to choose. I wrote all my ideas down and cut most of them (all bar four). I quite liked the "Homofaber" area
of interaction as you get such satisfaction from making something all by yourself, as opposed to just going out and buying
it. I settled on a dress, "making my own formal dress would be great!" I reasoned. I have a formal to go to at the end of
the 2006 year and another one in 2008 provided all goes well and I wasn't going to pay many hundreds of dollars for a dress
I half liked, when i could make my own exactly like I wanted it, and probably heaps cheaper too. I drafted up a first sketch
to work on.
Week 3
(12 February - 18 February 2006)
New Resource on Design
I was improving on my first sketch a bit in Multimedia when Ms Millard saw what i was doing. I explained about my
personal project and wanting to make a dress and she suggested a great book: "Fashion Design Drawing Course" by Thames and
Hudson, which was conveniently in the school library (Call No. 741.672 TAT). This book was incredibly useful. I should mention
I'm not very good at drawing the basic human doll to design the dress on top of. The doll for the first sketch was a joint
creation between Leesha Chan and myself. This book very useful in that, it not only provides a basic outline for drawing a
human body, but brings in artist's wooden dolls in different poses as well.
Week 4
(19 February - 26 February 2006)
New ideas, maybe too many
I had a look back at the fashion design book and the picture of the Egyptian wearing a robe just inspired me. I
changed the first sketch to include like a gathered in bit around the torso with a silver ring just in between the breasts.
Then on Tuesday morning mother had left a spotlight catalogue on the breakfast bar. (She'd been looking at curtains again.)
I found this great looking fabric called "Dancetime Satin" which came in a stunning variety of colors. The description was:
Perfect for evening wear or on costumes. I also went through several back editions of "New Idea" over the weekend and cut
out some of the dresses and fashions that caught my eye in hopes there might be something good i can pick up and use later.
We had a personal project lesson on Thursday, during that i threw out half the magazine cuttings as they proved to be unuseful.
I stuck in two that were really interesting, and commented on them. I found a fornal etiquette guide ( http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21667.asp), i left the URL on the top of the page when i stuck it in so i'd remember to add it to the bibliography. It really helped
me with my design, there were a few things i had to change before it classified as a 'Formal' dress. I also completed
two more concept sketches. Then when i found i had nothing to do, I stuck in some more of the magazine clippings, the larger
ones and commented, also taking some ideas. I finished a third concept sketch for the week and began to mentally plan my trip
to spotlight. Friday i went and saw Ms Shanahan at lunch break and discussed materials. She suggested it would be a heck of
a lot easier to make my dream dress if i had patterns similiar to my design already made. She also suggested i make the cloak
bit first because it would be a nice introduction and it will be so much easier to make than the dress.
Week 5
(27 February- 4 February 2006)
The trip to Spotlight
I didn't get to Spotlight on the weekend, even after i spent so long planning my trip. And I didn't work on my project
much because I had to check the stuff at Spotlight. So Friday i went to home economics at lunchtime and talked with Ms Shanahan
and stored my material that'd been sitting around my room (now stored in the staff area). That bunch of material was perfect
for the sleeves, its a black lace with silver bits.I did get to Spotlight Friday night, I got there as soon as i could after
fetching someone (Eren) to go with me. And I'll just mention that he hated it and isn't likely to follow me into Spotlight
again any time in the near future, unless under threat of death. I checked out all the materials that were listed on
the formal etiquette site and price checked them. I eliminated some either because i didnt like the texture or they were way
too pricey. I have been very very lazy this week. I did, however choose two patterns to help me. McCall's M3681 B & McCall's M3853 A & E, but the latter can only be bought over the internet because its "Out of Print".
Week 6
(5 March - 11 March 2006)
Lazy Week
Ok, I will admit to being
lazy this week. Monday was sports day (and it produced the marvellous butterfly inspired design that probably won’t
be used but still looks pretty). I’m thinking of getting both the patterns, but its more the money factor, and I can’t
decide on one. There were several events on this week that distracted me from working on my IB Personal Project. The week
hasn’t been very productive. I did try though, I sorted out the pattern pieces for the cape at lunch on Friday, but
lunch just wasn’t long enough.
Week 7
(12 March - 18 March 2006)
Everything Clashes
I was intending to venture
over to the home economics area at lunchtime and continue with trying to get the cape finished, but we are now doing ice-skating
in Recreation Physical Education and we didn’t get back to school until the end of lunch on Friday (We had an injury
and had to wait on some ambulance personnel). I tried a few more sketches, but none of them looked any good and I got frustrated
with my lack of artistic talent and screwed them up. They made for a lovely game of waste bin basketball. I shall make sure
I work harder next week
Week 8
(19 March - 25 March 2006)
The Week it made
Sense
When I was planning this
week out I totally forgot that I was going to the Clipsal 500 Thursday to Sunday. I was thinking of changing my design, the
top is just too hard to find a decent pattern for. I was spending many hours thinking about it with no conclusion. Then Wednesday
night I was lying in bed and something clicked and it just all came together nicely in my head. So I quickly got up and wrote
everything down. And that meant I could finally set an idea in concrete and put it into motion.
Week 9
(26 March - 1 April 2006)
The Pattern Appears
I finally bought that pattern on Wednesday. McCalls M3853. It was $18 so i got mom's help with the funding. Big plug
to the ladies at Simply Fabrics (260 Magill Rd Beulah Park) they were really helpful and gave me some fabric samples (which
they helped me choose). I also stopped at the hardware store and picked up some paint samples (some assorted cards and two
books) like the fashion book i looked at to start with suggested, and i have come to the conclusion that most of the reds
and dark purples appearing in paint aren't very attractive. The other thing i found slightly useful was Simply Fabrics have
a handy "Fabric Buying Guide" which i will include on the project page of the website (its bright pink). I decided on Velvet
or Velveteen for the corset and Satin for the skirt. I have some lace which i scored off a relative for the sleeves.
Week 10
(2 April - 8 April 2006)
Color Sketching
Nothing much got done this week. Except that i drew up a colored sketch of exactly what I felt the
garment should look like and attached the corresponding material next to it. I missed out on our IB lessons Thursday because I
had to attend a funeral.
Week 11
(11 April - 15 April 2006)
Change of Pace
This week was a short week due to the Easter Weekend. Because I spent the most part of this at my dad's house it was
more about informing everyone that I'm making something and getting their support as well as showing them how they can track
my progress and encourage me. But i was also informed that the event I was going to wear the dress to is actually in
Week 6 or so of Term 2, about 6-7 weeks closer than I'd allowed for (I estimated I'd have until at least Term 3) so I'm going
to have to speed up the whole process if i want to get it done on time.
School Holidays (April Holidays)
Week 1 of Holidays
(16 April - 22 April 2006)
Major Advances on the Project Scale
This has been the best week yet for this project. Thursday i figured out exactly how much material I'd need. On Friday
I went with my grandmother into Lincraft in the Myer Centre and checked what they had in stock and how much it was so i could
estimate roughly how much the material would cost me in total from each store. Saturday I went to Clovercrest Spotlight
with my mother and bought all the material except the lining, plus the zips and the cotton. I'm also going to see my grandmother
about some glass buttons (she's a button collector) instead of the 'Frog Clasps' on the front of the corset. Decided against
ribbon because all the ribbon was really cruddy and would've made it look tacky.
Week 2 of Holidays
(23 April - 30 April 2006)
Sorting and Cutting
I started sorting out the
material and pattern pieces on Tuesday, I got the top cut out and put it in a bag to keep the pieces together. My mother put
her sewing machine in for a service at a place in Unley. We still haven't got it back yet. I also cut one piece of the skirt
cut out, but i got confused with the whole selvage-selvage versus selvage-fold thing. Focus is on the corset and skirt at
the moment, accessories come later, because i need something to wear to this formal in Week 6.
Term 2
Week 1
(1 May - 7 May 2006)
Tacking it all up
This week I managed to get the rest of the skirt cut out and tacked together all but two sides which i pinned and left
for Open night in Week 2. During the tacking process i pinned everythign together, I got sick of having to find pins in the
bottom of the tin, so the sewing kit now includes a styrofoam ball as a pin cushion so that my hands are preserved a bit.
I still need to buy lining and "boning" which has also been called "stiffening" several times, leaving me in great doubt of
its real name. The progress may seem small but I feel I have learnt a lot just in getting this far.
Week 2
(8 May - 13 May 2006)
NMHS Open Night
Open night for The Niorwood Morialta High School was Tuesday. I did my job over at the debating exhibit (that didnt really
go too well) and then went down to the library to the IB Personal Project display and tacked the other two seams of my skirt.
I also gave a few talks about the IB and the personal project to the prospective students of 2007 and their parents. I wasn't
going to, but i got lonely sitting in the background working and getting ignored, so i shifted up front and kept going. Thursday
morning in our IB lesson i stuck in all my dockets and figured out my costing stuff. I can see im going to be in debt for
a long while after this. The formal is looming closer and closer so I'm really trying to hurry things up a bit. But at least
i have mom's sewing machine back in decent working order now.
Week 3
(14 May - 20 May 2006)
All Acquired
Monday of this week was a pupil free day. I made the trip into Spotlight Myer Centre and bought my lining and stiffening
(yes, i found out it IS called stiffening after all), which is apparently iron-on stuff. But also, the computer broke so i
didnt get to update this website in a while. Wednesday night i cut out the stiffening for the top and skirt waistband, but
i was ill on Thurday and Friday so thats as far as i got.
Week 4
(21 May - 27 May 2006)
Starting to really worry
On Sunday I ironed the stiffening to the other material, checking how it went on some scrap material first. I also got
the lining cut out. Work will be less frequent soon because there are musical rehearsals all this week from straight after
school until about 5:30pm. All that needs to be done now is tacking and machining. But because the bodice is fitted I have
to tack it and then try it on to check it fits before I sew it all together as it may prove difficult to alter later. I am
quite concerned about the dress not being finished by D Day (Week 6 Friday, June 9) and I don't know what I'm going to do
if it's not finished by then. I got the zipper on the skirt now though. Every step is progress.
Week 5
(28 May - 2 June 2006)
Musical Week and Evil Gathering
Musical Week. All day everyday pretty much, working on Pirates of Penzance. I'm trying to fit a bit of dressmaking into
each night after i get home. I sewed the two gathering threads into the waist of the skirt and gathered it to the right size,
then when I'd half tacked it I hadn't been tacking it well enough so I had to take the tacking thread out. Then I got halfway
through a second time and discovered I'd broken both my gathering threads and it was slowly ungathering itself. I had to pull
both the tacking and gathering threads out and start over again. It was so frustrating, thought dress making was going to
be relatively easy. I re-sewed the gathering thread and gathered the skirt to the right size (68cm incase you were wondering)
and announced my hate of all that is tacking and gathering. Friday iI pinned the waistband on ready for tacking then Saturday
I started sewing after painstakingly tacking and unpicking for ages because I'd gathered the gathers into pleats with my awful
tacking. I managed to sew it semialright, but there were several places where I'd sewed the middle of the skirt to the waistband
along with the top in a fold and I had to unpick those parts theremachine the whole thing again so it had one continuous thread.
I folded the waistband over and pinned it ready to be tacked after I unpicked the other tacking thread. Saturday I tacked
the waistband and sewed it. It didn't turn out too bad, I was just grateful I didn't have to pull it all apart again.
Week 6
(3 June - 10 June 2006)
The Week of The First Judgement
Tuesday night I folded the waistband over and sewed the sides so i could turn it out the right way. When I turned it
the corners got stuck so i used a blunt needle to push them out. Wednesday night I got the hem pinned to the right height,
which was basically me standing on the kitchen bench turning around like a microwave plate while my mother stuck pins in me.
I measured all the places she'd pinned and the average was around 10cm. I took all the pins out and re-pinned the whole thing
at 4cm, then folded it up another 6cm and pinned that so it was all nice and neat. I had to fold sections over one and other
now and again to make it all even. I started stitching the hem but only got to about 6 inches in. Thursday morning in IB lesson
I sewed until my finger looked like a main road surface and then some, and in all that time and work I only got to the second
seam before I had to leave the blue sub-school staff area. I picked it up again in Mr Dama's classroom during recess and got
to about the third seam. I couldn't do much more until I got home that night, but by bedtime I'd gotten to the middle of the
third and fourth seams and mom had briefed me on sewing a hook and eye on and I had both sides of that tacked on so it was
in the right place and didn't move.
Formal Day
(9 June 2006)
The First Judgement
I thought this desevered a seperate journal entry. Formal Day. Damn good thing we had a Pupil Free Day. I spent the whole
morning finishing the hem and sewing on the hook and eye. Then i had to iron the hem and waistband to get all the creases
out and make them sit flat. All that was only just finished about two hours before the formal was ment to start. Then I still
had to deal with hair and make-up, which takes hours in itself (and it doesnt help when theres a phone call every ten minutes
"Where are you!? Hurry up! We're ment to be there soon!"). I was late gettin to the partner's house so that made us later
for our lift to the Stanford and we ended up having to walk two blocks due to a lack of carparking space. There were photos
being taken everywhere, so we got stopped at the front door and again upstairs. there were eight at our table, probably around
one hundred total. There were awards for "Best Dressed Staff", "Three Stooges", "I'm Too Sexy", "Best Dressed Student", "Perfect
Couple" and "King and Queen". I know we got a few votes but half those forms didnt get collected so there was no chance of
getting one. There were so many lovely outfits too. There was also a slight problem in the fact that i kept standing on the
skirt hem and I had to be really careful of where it was in relation to everything else. When it was pulled straight out it
was longer than an armspan. The suggested next life for it is as a parachute. There were group photos and couples photos,
but you had to pay for them and there were plenty of photos from other cameras anyway. It ended around one in the morning.
Thankfully I didn't spill anything on it or get any rips. But since I didn't get the velveteen top finished I had to wear
a different one, and that top was truly a nightmare. Even though I'd taken it in it kept slowly creeping down and I was pulling
it up again all night. A few people complimented the outfit. Also, because I had Satin elbow length gloves i could rub them
against the skirt and use the static to zap people.
On Another Note:
The skirts next appearance will be at a "Formal Junk Food Crawl" in Week 8 on the Saturday (June 24), hopefully with
its counterpart, the Velvet top. Formal Junk Food Crawl is basically just dressing up in the best clothes you have, and in
them, a whole group of people go to every junk food outlet they can between 7pm and 1am or 2am the next morning, buying one
thing at each.
Week 7
(10 June - 17 June 2006)
The couple of days after
Monday was the Queen's Birthday Holiday, a good time to catch up on everything. It feels like they put the entirity of
everythign that matters throughout the year into one big two and a half week block. So Monday I got every overdue assingment
done. My goal for the next two weeks is to get the top finished. Then If I get time I want to make some sleeves and a cape
for it, if i can get the funding that is.
Week 8
(18 June - 24 June)
Formal Junk Food Crawl
Ok, so maybe nothing got done on the personal Project this week. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and none acually
doing it. There's still a lot of stuff I need to finish in the way of school work though and plenty more coming in because
reports have to be finalised. I wore the skirt to the Formal Junk Food Crawl that was mentioned earlier and now everyone wants
something similiar, it was a hit. I wore an open backed grey glittery top with it because it had sleeves so it could hold
itself up, unlike the last top. The photos from the St. Pauls Formal are on the internet now too. They can be found
Here.
Update: 2008
The Skirt appears at yet another Norwood Morialta Open Night, alas, still without it's velvet top. The velvet
top should hopefully be a holiday project for after final exams.
|
