Placement Presentation

I liked giving my presentation. I felt people were quite interested when I was talking. I don't think people had given construction much thought as a career path. At the beginning of last year, nearly everyone wanted to be a designer. With a couple wanting to be pattern cutters. Now everyone seems to want to be a pattern cutter. And I think a few people have chosen sample seamstress as a future career.

Since doing this work experience, I have also got the possibility of going to a couture sample shop on Sloane Street in London. And Burberry!!! Both very exciting, I just hope I have enough time to fit them both in within my workload as I'm not doing the third year so can't do them for the 3 month placement next year.

This is the presentation I gave, but I didn't include any of the writing as I think if you put all of your writing on the slides for people to read, there's no point in you giving the presentation. You might as well just let people read it themselves. But here is what I wrote down as a guide for myself to prevent choking. I wanted to record myself doing it but literally only thought about doing it once I sat back down. Big shame!

Placement presentation

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Stuff to say

About fashion enter

At The Workshop they have a wide client base of designers. The designers send their designs to create the first made-up sample of a garment.  Fashion Enter has over 80 designers that they work with. including Asos.com, Jaeger, Coast and many others. Working at Enter Fashion was a great insight into the work of sample machinists.  I got a first hand insight into what the job really involves.

The life of a sample seamstress

A typical days duties for the seamstresses that worked here involved arriving at 8.30am and sewing. They had a 30 minute lunch break at 12.30pm and then continued sewing until 5.30pm. If they hadn’t finished or had a lot to get done they would be there after 5.30pm when I left, and were often there before I arrived at 8.30. There was a box on a table full of brown pattern envelopes filled with the garments to be created that day. The seamstresses would take an envelope and make that. At the end of the day everything that was made was hung up on a wall and sent out to the designer via courier.

My time at the workshop

I spent the first six days making t-shirts. I was happy to get stuck into sewing straight away cause I was worried I might not get to do much. While I was there I realised that  I will need a lot of practice if I want to succeed in the world of sample machinery. Once all the t-shirts were done I made bags for two days and they seemed quite impressed when I handed over all the bags I had made. They were quite simple but involved a lot more than the t-shirts so I preferred making them. As well as the bags and the t-shirts I did a roll hem on a whole roll of chiffon, which may sound tedious but I quite enjoyed it. They were all impressed how quickly I did it. On my final day I made the toile for age 6 girls shorts. The sample shorts they gave me to work from were Stella McCartney for Baby Gap but I think they may have just copied the pattern for a different company to use. They often copied patterns that designers brought in although I’m not sure what they would do with them after.

Within the building there were 8 seamstresses, 2 pattern cutters, a garment technologist and the office workers.

They were all very good at their job and had clearly been sewing for many years. One of the girls Kasha told me when she was younger she tried to make a pair of trousers and cut out the front and the back without any additional crotch pieces. After watching them machine through really complicated dresses and trousers with ease it was nice to be reminded that everyone has to start somewhere.

Group Project

For our group project we got given a bed warmer from MoDiP. I think we had the best object. We took it down the accessorize route with dressing gowns and hot water bottles. I did a lot of research for the sketchbook and created some designs. I was pleased with the designs as I felt they could be marketed well. As a group we worked quite well together. There were some issues with everyone meeting up at the same time. This meant that although I had done work at the beginning I couldn't really do anymore until I had seen what everyone else had done to make sure we were still on the same page and I wasn't doing anything someone else had already done. It took ages for everyone to meet up and it meant the designs had to be done the night before so although they look good, I ran out of time to stick them down and position them properly. Which is a shame because I spent ages creating the designs and the presentation really let them down at the end.

Pockets

I liked making the jacket pockets. I love making anything really. The workshops are by far my favourite bit of the course. I'd be happy if all we ever did was workshops.

Kaledo

I have never used Kaledo before but I'm really enjoying it. I find it much easier than Illustrator or Photoshop because when you think about something you need to do it is much easier to figure it out than other things in the creative suite.

From Now, To Then..

From Now, To Then.

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He who fails to plan, plans to fail.

To make the most of my uni experience I think planning is the key.  Something about no plan is planning to fail has been mentioned a lot. After my immense time plan for the last project I think that is where I will start for the rest of the year. It really helps to have everything clearly written down when you need to do it by, because then you can see if you don't do something on one day it's so much harder to do it the next. And it just piles up, and we all know how it feels when things get on top of you and it's really difficult to dig yourself out once you're in.

Learning Agreement

I've been working really hard on my learning agreement, I went to 3 tutorials and have re written it about 5 times. I'm hoping to get a good grade as I've put in plenty of effort. It was the first time I have written a learning plan. I love my time plan!

 

Learning Agreement

Name: Gemma Dugan

Course: FdA Fashion                        Level: 5                        Year: Two

Unit: Specialist Practice Preparation

Reference number: FSN510

Credit points: 15

Tutors: Sarah Charles, Patricia Grice

Synopsis of study

For this unit I will be undertaking a project aimed to demonstrate my ability to utilize various skills. I will be making both a ring bound booklet on drapery and create a ladies fitted jacket. I plan on doing this by attending all classes and completing all of the work set. Along with any extra work I can think to complement it. For example creating the jacket pattern on Lectra as well as a paper pattern. This project will be beneficial to me because the jacket and the draping are so varied it will allow me to display a variation of talents.

The professional ring bound book will document the evolution of my drapery journey from start to finish. Within this presentation I will be including research, development and a written evaluation.

My research will consist of historical influences. I plan to go to Baths Fashion Museum to collate primary research. Two Madeleine Vionnet dresses are currently on display, which should be a great inspiration to the draping element in my work. To complement this I will also explore past and present trends by using trend forecasting books and journals, including Peclers and Bloom.

My development will comprise of experimentation with drapery. I am going to use one picture as my inspiration. I am also going to try out using different types of materials to see what distinctive effects can be created. Along with this I will experiment with how I drape in correspondence to the grain line. Madeleine Vionnet has inspired me to do this, as she was the first person to cut fabric on the bias.

I think there could be many challenges to overcome. My biggest concern will be assembling the book. I want it to look professional and seamless but struggle with more advanced computer skills such as Photoshop and Illustrator. I plan to overcome this problem by doing the things I struggle with by hand and scanning them in. Although I want this project to look as good as it can I do not intend to shy away from processes I am unsure of or unfamiliar with. I intend to construct some of the illustrations in Kaledo. I haven’t used Kaledo before but think that the outcome will look very effective. I will triumph over this difficulty by allowing myself time to practice the diverse techniques that can be achieved with Kaledo. To arrange the layout of the pages so the book looks professional I am going to gain inspiration from magazines such as POP.

The second part of my assignment is going to take the form of a ladies fitted jacket. For this I will create a paper pattern with eighteen pieces. Once this is done I will cut out the pieces in the appropriate fabric, lining and interfacing before sewing them together using the industrial machines. Although it sounds very simple when put like this, it is easy to make mistakes. I will overcome this challenge by concentrating and checking to make sure all of the pieces fit together and I follow a 1cm seam allowance throughout the sewing process.  Throughout the project I want to remain as meticulous as when I started. To ensure my collar is aligned and comes together in all the right points.

These two projects are very different. I think this is one of the main attributes they hold. The jacket is very regimented and instructions need to be followed step by step where as the draping can have as much creative direction as I deem it to need. Completing these projects will demonstrate that I can follow instruction and use my own intuition. Both qualities will benefit me in future careers.

Learning Agreement Timetable

Learning Agreement            Group Project            Jacket                        Booklet and Draping            Garment Technology            Other

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1 Commencing 4/10/210	SPR briefing	Create pattern for jacket	Finish pattern for jacket				Write 1stdraft for LA
Week 2 Commencing 11/10/210	Group Project brief	Lay plan by hand and diamino Cut out pattern	ConstructjacketFashion Show meeting – goodie bag ideas	Learning agreement tutorial Show 1st draft	Show moodboards to Karen Meet group for project – 12.30		Write 2nddraft for LA
Week 3 Commencing 18/10/210	Learning agreement tutorial Finish LA Research and knitting samples for group project	Construct jacket	Finish constructing jacket	PPR Lecture	Design workshopMeet group for project – 12.30	Group Project Research	Make Presentation Re-do jacket draft Group project research
Week 4 Commencing 25/10/210	PPR Lecture Show finished LA Research past and present trends in peclers and bloom	Lectra and pocket samples	Lectra and pocket samples Read POP for layout ideas Research Tracey Emin and Natasha Kerr Tweek LA Research street knit	Make jacket pattern on lectra (double breasted?) Research Francoise Dupre, Rachel John and Donna Wilson	Deadline – Learning agreement Kaledo @ 11.00 Design Workshop Put stuff together for jacket book!!
Week 5 Commencing 1/11/210	Practice on Kaledo Do book jacket!	Lectra and finishing off Finish book jacket	Deadline - Jacket Peer assessment	Group Project Start skbook – possible target markets	Intro to garment technologyFinish possible target markets
Week 6 Commencing 8/11/210	Do title page and historical influences Start putting research into sketchbook	Recreate photo in draping (take photos!) Finish putting research into sketchbook	Experiment and develop draping IT with Jamie	Trend and contemporary design influences Group project	Garment tech – high street shop analysis	Go to Bath Fashion Musuem
Week 7 Commencing 15/11/210	Fabric sourcing in London Group project Kaledo – do front page Go to MoDiP	Pattern for drape	Make drape toile IT with Jamie	Kaledo page layouts	Garment tech – the fashion tree Lessons cancelled Kaledo page layout	Research of drape and selected design? Booklet pages	Finish any drape stuff from this week? Booklet pages
Week 8 Commencing 22/11/210	Develop chosen designs and influences into additional ideas/mini collection Booklet pages	Draping – further development – finish dress!! Group meeting	Draping – further development IT with Jamie Dress and booklet pages	Group Presentation	Garment tech - globalisation	Contemporary industry pages for booklet	Start putting booklet together
Week 9 Commencing 29/11/210	Put booklet together	Draping – further development	Draping – further development IT with Jamie	Finish final design for drape Promostyl presentation in main lecture theatre @ 1.30	Garment tech -QC day	Put booklet together	Finish putting booklet together
Week 10 Commencing 6/12/2010			Deadline – Booklet and pattern

Learning Agreement            Group Project            Jacket                        Booklet and Draping            Garment Technology            Other

Pattern Cutting and Lay Plans

Today I finished off my jacket pattern. On the first day I accidently put my break point on my center front line instead of the placket line. It was only 2cm away from where it was supposed to be but that mistake I discovered at 3.30 meant I had to start from scratch and set me back 5 hours. Nightmare.  

But all caught up now and cut out. Can't wait to get started on making the jacket tomorrow, sewing is actually what I live for.

 

I really want to make the jacket on Lectra as well just for extra practice and hopefully marks but I'm not sure I will have time. I think I might go on thursday morning and try to do it because I'll only be sleeping otherwise.