National Theatre Blouse Planning and Evaluation

Proposed Time Plan (25.04 - 04.05)


I have given myself a week and a half to produce the blouse for the National Theatre due to their being two three bank holidays during this time frame, not allowing me to be in the studio. I am hoping this will be enough time as it is quite a complex piece however the pattern is given to us already drafted.


Monday (Bank Holiday)

• Planning for week  
• POP Essay

Tuesday

• Cutting out pattern from top fabric and marking necessary lines
• Start pin tucks on blouse

Wednesday

• Finish pin tucks of front of blouse
• Sew on braid onto front across and down middle
• Button Stand on Back

Thursday 

• Start cuffs and collar, pleats, sew on braiding, sew together and turn through 
• Sew together front and side piece with braid in the seam.

Friday (Bank Holiday)

• Blog

Saturday

• Essay

Sunday

• Essay

Monday(Bank Holiday)

• Blog

Tuesday

• Create placket in sleeve
• Gather cuffs and shoulder
• Sew Front and backs together
• Start sewing in cuffs and collar

Wednesday

• Finish cuffs and collar
• Hem bottom of blouse
• Mark and sew button holes and buttons

Actual Time Record of Progress (25.04 – 08.05)

Monday (Bank Holiday)

• Planning for week
• POP Essay

Tuesday

• Cutting out pattern from top fabric and marking necessary lines

Wednesday

• Pin tucks on blouse

Thursday

• Started Cuffs, sewing on braid
• Pleating fabric for cuffs and collar, had to tack in place and produce extra pleats.

Friday

• Tacking Pleats

Saturday

• Blog
• Essay

Sunday

• Tacking pleats
• Essay

Monday (Bank Holiday)

• Essay

Tuesday

• Sewed cuffs together, bagging out to finish
• Sewed braiding across pintucks

Wednesday

• Middle braid of front
• Completed cuffs
• Tacked lace at side of front
• Decided on undergarments for next toile

Thursday

• Completed Collar
• Button stand
• Sewn together front and side and back
• Gathering stitches in sleeve
• Placket in Sleeve

Friday

• Over locked seams
• Attached cuffs and collar to blouse, machined and the slip stitched
• Pinned Hem
• Tacked undergarments to corset on mannequin for next toile

Saturday

• Tacked button holes and machined
• Sewn on Buttons
• Sewn hem
• Machine in sleeves

Sunday

• Blog

Time Frame Evaluation

My time planning these past two weeks was unfortunately hindered by so many days away from the studio in a short amount of time, as well as not anticipating the amount of time the decorative elements of the blouse would take. Having this limited time in the studio and our guiding technician away ill for a few days seriously impacted my time keeping.
 I spent extra time cutting out and marking the fabric at the beginning, as I wanted it to be as accurate as possible to help achieve the best finish I could. The pin-tucks were another very time consuming process that I felt I should not rush, as the lines had to be straight and precise as well as each pin-tuck being produced separately. I was very pleased with the end result although each set me back a full day to complete.
The pleats for the collar and cuffs were one of the most time consuming processes as, instead of just steaming the folds into place, I had to tack the length of each one individually to maintain a crisp look, due to the nature of the fabric I was given. This paired with the pattern piece for the pleats being too small put me behind on schedule by at least two days.
I found with this garment each process took longer than I had planned for, with the need of it to be as accurate as possible and to the best of my ability. Obviously being the first time I have created this garment, and without instructions, I had to spend time considering my process and changing my plans, working out what would be the best way to put the pieces together, during my process of construction. 
I feel I could have possibly stuck to a  full weeks making time, in the studio, for the blouse if I were to produce it again, however this time round I feel I had too many opposing factors to have been able to keep to the time frame. I have worked almost solidly on this blouse when I could from the day I started, so I do not feel I could have shortened my working time on it with out changing some of the contributing factors, like the fabric and pattern.

1852-6 Toile Final Evaluation

I was very pleased with the silhouette and half wished I had the time to create it as a full toile.

I am glad I chose to make the sleeve out of muslin in the end as I think light cotton would have looked too strong against the rest of the muslin. I think the bell sleeve compliments the wideness of the skirt well and helps to balance it.

Initially I was worried about the muslin flounces lining up but in the end they looked good and straight.

The production of this toile I found enjoyable but still challenging. Working with muslin was a new process for me as it is a delicate fabric which is something I have not worked with on a large scale before. I learnt a lot about its qualities of manipulation and its difficulties, in terms of fraying and loose weave. I had troubles with hemming/finishing, the toile being finished to a relatively neat standard but not completed as it would for a final piece, as the muslin moved and stretched a lot under the sewing machine. I over came thing by being careful and taking my time when sewing, pinning and holding the fabric in place with extra care.

The end shape of the toile I was quite pleased with and think it is a good representation of the design given with the pattern. As the fabric was of a light nature I spent extra time creating the right undergarment shape, and although this set me back more time than I had planned I think it benefited then end result. Creating the lining of the bodice I found easier this week, as I am now getting a feel for creating the right shapes as defined by the pattern and keeping the fabric smooth, and it did not take me too long to complete. The skirt however was more challenging, purely because of its sheer length and the amount of fabric required for creating the cartridge pleats the whole way round.

Due to the few set backs I had in the week with this toile, mainly the finishing off of the previous toile from the week before, I had a bit of a struggle with keeping up to date on my proposed time frame. This was much aided by taking the mannequin home with me enabling me to finish over Easter and have a fresh start for the summer term. I also strove to get as much work done as possible in the studio and I feel my late nights there paid off. As I was struggling with time I decided to leave out the few small decoration elements of the piping around the neckline, armhole and waist, which I was disappointed with but could not fit it purely for a presentation factor.


 If I had a chance to produce the piece again I would have liked to spend more time on being more accurate with the flounces on the skirt. I had trouble with the bottom length and it ended up being slightly uneven on its attaching seam. I was not happy with this but due to the time frame had to leave it. If I had more time I would have produced a new layer for the flounce, as I think the strip I was using had become slightly stretched so was not even. Overall I was very pleased with this toile, I feel I've learnt a lot about working with an alternative weight of fabric and also my capability of picking up my speed when in a working environment.  

1852 – 56 Toile Development Evaluation

The process of production of this toile got off to an easier start than I had anticipated, the bodice lining I found quite easy to produce as I had already developed my skills on the first toile. I marked the neckline and muslin stitching lines in black tape so they could be seen through the top layer of muslin. The muslin was quite a challenging fabric to work with because of its loose weave and tendency to fray, move and slip a lot. I overcame this by taking my time when sewing but with the small time frame in which to produce my toile it was not as neat as I would have liked.

The cartridge pleats were a technique I had not tried before but was pleased with the end result. I put time into getting them spaced evenly and thought a lot about the process and the amount of fabric required before starting and this ended in only having to do one draft of the skirt which I was pleased with. The flounces however I had misjudged, making the muslin the same length as the skirt. This mistake meant I couldn't gather the fabric so I had to create another length of each to gather onto the cord which was a costly mistake and took extra time to complete. The technique of gathering the flounce on the cord was specified by the pattern so I stuck to this and it worked well over the very long length of fabric and normal gathering may not have, it also didn't have the added risk of the thread snapping which was useful. My only concern was the volume of the flounce, at first I though it may not have been enough, although once complete I think the skirt is quite an accurate representation of the design, the overall volume of the fabric creating quite a stunning effect. The flounces of the skirt have a very small overlap of each other, this is because I kept to the historical pattern, which probably had this small overlap to save on fabric. If I was making the piece for theatre I would have made this overlap much larger to allow for movement in the costume and to make sure the supporting calico was not seen.

This is my first cartridge pleating sample. I produced this with 1.5cm gaps between  stitches and without wading. I realised the length of the stitch did not really effect the size of the gather but made the pleat deeper in width. The sample was made just with washed calico to see how the pleats would form.I found the pleats on this sample a bit too thin compared to that of the design so decided to try backing the stitching with wadding. 

This is my cartridge pleat sample backed on wadding. I reduced the depth of the pleat to 1cm between stitches to reduce the bulk that would be created where the skirt is button hole stitched onto the bodice. On my skirt I applied a layer of muslin over the top, incorporating it into the stitching. I was pleased with this sample and used this process to create the cartridge pleats on my skirt.

The front of the bodice was another challenging area. The pleats from the shoulder took along time to get looking right as they were unevenly paced on the pattern and with the gathering at the bottom of the bodice the line of the pleats was quite important. The nature of muslin is quite unforgiving so I had to work carefully and managed to achieve the right shape. This was aided by the interesting sewing lines that connected the muslin to the calico lining underneath. Although it was a slight challenge to make sure it was hidden the seam did more than I thought it would in aiding the shape of the pleats to stay in place. A useful technique that I may use again in future pleating of delicate fabric.

The sleeves I found to be the most challenging part of this toile. This was mainly due to getting the different layers to work together and working out how to adapt the pattern to fit my specifications. Scaling up the pagoda sleeve was a bit of a mathematical nightmare but I overcame it with patience and perseverance! Getting this to sit well with the engagante sleeve underneath, which I had to find a pattern for, involved lengthening and reshaping the under sleeve, and then getting them all to work as one piece. This technical element I found stressful at the time but once complete I realised how much it had progressed my thinking and confidence in my problem solving.

This is the engagante sleeve and under sleeve. I had to extend the length of the under sleeve to ft my purpose and also extended the length and width of engagante from the pattern to introduce more volume to try and match that of the design.

I had also experimented with creating the over-sleeve in a light cotton, (unfortunately no photos) as the muslin I could not get to work initially, it was looking too messy and uncontrolled.. I found this looked too heavy and strong against the rest of the dress which will all be muslin. This made me try the muslin again and I managed to get it looking good with some tweaking so I was very pleased with that as it kept the piece looking delicate.

1852-6 Toile Planning and Evaluation

 Proposed weekly plan (04.04 – 10.04)

Monday

• Finishing first toile as set behind from previous week -

1. Tacking over sleeve
2. wadding sample
3. apply decorative strip down front
4. mark hem with wadding lines
5. mark hem lines
6. tack belt, over sleeve and collar
7. make pattern from back of skirt
8. final photos

Tuesday

• morning – obtain correct underwear from costume store, sew onto mannequin
• POP and blog tutorials
• complete bodice lining
• cartridge pleat sample and start skirt
• start drafting sleeves

Wednesday

• finish drafting sleeves and cut from top fabric
• make up sleeves
• complete top layer of bodice in muslin

Thursday

• put bodice pieces onto paper for pattern
• complete flounces on skirt
• sew skirt to bodice

Friday

• Evaluation and photographs

Actual Time Record of Progress (04.04 – 10.04)

Monday

• Finishing First Toile -

1. Tacking over sleeve
2. wadding sample
3. apply decorative strip down front
4. mark hem with wadding lines
5. mark hem lines
6. tack belt, over sleeve and collar
7. make pattern from back of skirt
8. final photos

Tuesday

• Underwear –

creating extra frills for skirt, adding padding to skirt to get right shape

• Tacking skirt and crinoline to corset to hold in place
• POP and blog tutorials
• Researched engagante sleeve
• started lining of bodice

• Cartridge pleat sample

Wednesday

• Finished lining of bodice
• Haberdashery for muslin and washed calico
• Drafted under sleeve then adapted to make thinner and slant more to be more fitting
• Drafted Pagoda sleeve
• Drafted Engagante Sleeve
• marked cartridge pleats on the top of the skirt, muslin on top and wadding
• cut sleeves from top fabric, finished including hems

Thursday

• put sleeves together
• Started back and side of muslin top layer of bodice
• sewn through cartridge pleats to gather
• started to measure out and make frills for skirt
• hemmed calico under layer of skirt
• hired out mannequin to take home to continue work

Friday (no studio)

• realised had made mistake with frills, so had to repeat creating them to double length
• sewed on frills to skirt
• Completed front top layer of muslin on bodice

Saturday

• Copied bodice pieces onto paper
• Sewed sleeve into bodice
• Pulled in cartridge pleats of skirt and attached to bodice with button hole stitch

Sunday

• Evaluation and photographs

Time Frame Evaluation

Sourcing correct underwear for the shape of the skirt was not as straight forward as I had anticipated, the design with the pattern stated that the undergarments were made of lots of layered and starched petticoats. As the costume store is limited I had to substitute the multiple layers of petticoats for a large round crinoline, with a layered flounced petticoat on top, to soften its edges. This worked well but did not quite have the shape that I wanted so I had to spend time creating and adding extra calico flounces to the petticoat, as well as padding out some areas with wadding, to achieve the more rounded shape I wanted. Doing this extra work to the underwear I hadn't anticipated as I had previously seen what I wanted from the costume store and thought it would be suitable so did not factor in time to alter it.

Skirt took longer as I hadn't anticipated including the muslin in the first layer of cartridge pleats to create the first flounce. I didn't loose too much time on this as it took a long time to mark the spacing for the stitches so I just marked the calico then left it to one side until I had the muslin the next day. Another element of the skirt that put me behind on time was creating the flounces, I had made a mistake with the measurement so when I gathered them along the cord they only had enough length for half the skirt. As I basically had to re-do the flounces again, adding the extra length this cost me double the time.

Simple things like hemming the muslin on the flounces and the sleeves also took much longer than I thought, as it is quite a difficult fabric to work with.

I was pleased with my time management of drafting the sleeves and bodice layers, I feel I worked efficiently in these areas and although the mathematical element, of scaling up the sleeves and altering some of the shapes, was challenging I stuck to it and managed to get it finished relatively quickly for the task.

One of the most time consuming areas was the skirt, mainly because of the mistake I made, but generally working with that amount of fabric is quite challenging and takes a long time to complete something, like the hemming of the different flounce layers, for the whole length.

As I was able to rent the mannequin from the studio I feel I managed to get the piece completed without too much stress. Having the extra weekend and bank holiday made a big difference and allowed me to complete the toile to a standard I was happy with.

I feel I have learnt quite a lot of technical skills on this toile production and feel my time management and focus on working is getting better. On the next part after Easter I feel I may need to try to stick more rigidly to my time plan if possible, however as we only have three days of the week in the studio due to bank holidays this might be an impossible task. I will have to consider changing my time frame for the remaining three weeks, to get a reasonable time frame to work to.

1852-6 Toile The Beginning

This is my second exploration into cutting of the stand.  I am interested to see whether the skills I have learnt in producing my first toile will be transferable to this one, being of a different silhouette and using different construction methods.

This pattern for a muslin dress I have take from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1. It represents quite an iconic shape of the 19th century for me and I am excited to start making it. I am going to start by draping the lining of the bodice and flat drafting the skirt and under-sleeve. On top of these I shall add the muslin layers in which the decorative elements of pleating comes in to almost every area of the dress.

I was pleased with finding this crinoline and feel it is a very appropriate shape for the period. It sits quite low at the back but this can be improved on with the adding of extra undergarments. As a basic under structure I think it is a good width and has the appropriate sort of volume I wanted for this toile. 

The second stage of constructing the correct silhouette for my toile was adding the flounced petticoat and then adding extra calico flounces and padding  underneath the existing ones to make it perfect. The images here are after I completed my alterations to the shape, I concentrated on rounding off the hips more to help the cartridge pleats of the skirt stick out. The extra flounces were for volume but also to create a more even shape down the shirt and to soften the bottom of the crinoline that was showing beneath the petticoat.

I was very happy with the resulting work of padding out the undergarments, especially as it took roughly a whole day in the studio to complete. It was quite a labouring process but the final result and the shape it will create for my draping was worth it.  

1820 Toile Final Evaluation

This 1820's toile came to be more challenging than I had originally thought. The basic construction of the bodice and skirt was quite simple and just needed a little common sense and relating back to the cutting on the stand classes at the beginning of the year. It was however the decorative elements that took a lot of time. I had not anticipated how demanding they would be and although I produced the patterns quite quickly the construction and experimenting to get the right form was quite time consuming.

I found the week of construction of the toile very stressful, this was mainly down to not anticipating the time that I would have to spend on other activities and classes, like our Candide performance and POP lectures. I feel I have done well to produce what I have in the time and am pleased with what I have produced, although I am disappointed to have finished a day later than my original time frame as this will have a knock-on effect into my next week and new toile. 

I have learnt a lot about time management and being flexible, and am striving to use my time in the studio as best as I can with not being able to take the toile off the stand. I have learnt that I need to be better prepared in terms pre-buying the fabric I am going to need, and not waiting until the day, as this held me up on one occasion, although I managed to fill the time, it was not the most efficient or logical was of working as I had planned.

In terms of skills I have learnt more about relating a pattern to cutting on the stand and using the grain lines and proportions as well as the reference image to work out the size of each piece. I really enjoy the process of building it up and being governed by the fabric, finding an exciting way to work. I have also found that going away and coming back with fresh look really benefits my ability to see the design lines more clearly and judge if something is out of place.

Overall I have enjoyed the experience of my first toile on the project and have learnt a lot about improving the way I work as well as drafting skills. The main points I shall try and improve on in the next week of drafting shall be to record my changes as I do them, in written and photographic form so I can see how it was before and after. Planning ahead is also very key and trying to keep to the working frame I have created as much as possible.

1820 Toile Development Evaluation

The creation of the 1820s toile was challenging but all problems that were presented I managed to overcome. Initially it started well and i found the front and back of the bodice reasonably easy to form as it was a simple shape and related almost directly to the cutting on the stand classes that were taught at the beginning of the year. It was decided in my tutorial that the main inspiration for the cutting comes from the draw images themselves using the accompanying pattern as a guide and not as a strict rule as to how the pattern should be shaped.


The front panel of the skirt threw up a small issue when i realised the pattern piece presented with the drawing of the dress had a curve in the waist line towards the back but a straight hem. I tried to achieve this with the skirt and managed it although my pattern piece has a slightly more sloping hem due to the more modern proportions of the mannequin. 


The black tape the can be seen on the bodice was my placing guide for the lattice decoration. It was effective to get a clear design line and was useful when cutting the decoration on the stand as it could clearly be seen through the calico. I created the lattice decoration on the bodice first by draping it and then developing it with flat drafting. This was very effective as I achieved the basic line and lay of the fabric and then refined the complicated shape flat and put it back to the stand to shape it. I was pleased with how intricate the decoration looked and it became more delicate than I had expected as it was drawn in the reference image.

The next challenge came with the back of the skirt. As the design does not have any description more than its colour, I had to look at the fashion of the time and see how the fabric may be brought together at the back, whether it be pleating, gathering or cartridge pleats. In the Cut of Women's Clothes 1600 - 1930 book it states, 'Until the late 1840s the bodices and skirts were usually attached to each other by gauging. Gauging is the method used when a large amount of fullness has to be drawn to s small space...a series of running stitches are made...The threads are then drawn to the requisite size.' Waugh. N. (1968) pg. 149. This I related to the gathering technique. 

Originally I used standard medium weight calico as I had for the rest of the toile. I followed the pattern quite closely to try and achieve the same sense of fullness as in the design. The toile stated that 11 inches of fabric had to be gathered into 2 inches at the centre back. I found this did not work with the fabric i had chosen. The draping of the back of the skirt was also effected and the skirt didn't sit in the folds as it draped as I wanted it to. It was suggested in my tutorial that I may want to use pre-shrunk and washed calico, as this has a much lighter and malleable drape. I was also shown another method of gathering that is much flatter and gives a neater finish that normal gathering. It involves zig-zag stitching over a length of strong thread, securing one end and then pulling the thread to gather the fabric.With this fabric and new technique I was able to add and extra 15cm of fabric at the centre back onto my pattern which created a better drape and more volume.

First attempt with medium weight calico.

Developed piece with pre-shrunk and washed calico and 15cm extra with the new technique of gathering.

After I had drafted the sleeve I realised, looking at the width of it in comparison to the pattern reference, that it was quite wide. This made me re-evaluate the size of my arm hole which I had drawn in without any real though to measurement, going on the reference image rather than my taken measurements. To adapt this I redrew my armhole to a more appropriate size and applied this to my sleeve pattern, also reducing the cuff size to less than suggested. This achieved the much thinner, sleeker shape that was required. I really learnt at this point that I need to be aware of defining how I am adapting the reference material, to a more modern body shape, rather than trying to follow it exactly. Once I had readjusted the sleeve and it fitted well, I had a better grasp on my boundaries of alteration of the patterns and how changing and bending different elements of the pattern works towards a better fit the shape I am working with rather than just sticking to what is given. Later I also changed the shoulder to sit slightly lower to achieve the more sloping effect. This had a knock on effect, also improving the shape of the space between the lattice decoration and the collar.


After completing the sleeve I created the top sleeve decoration. This was one of the biggest challenges. I drafted it flat using the sleeve head from the pattern drawn already and then flat drafted the rest. It fitted well in the armhole but the tendrils looked tangled and unflattering. It took a lot of patience and perseverance to finally get it right. I began to understand from this that some elements just require time and small adjustments to achieve what is needed. 


Overall I found the decoration the most challenging aspect of this toile. This was mainly because it was very fiddly and not only did i have to achieve the right shape but also proportion to my piece. I used the reference pattern quite a bit but I found it proportions were not applicable to my toile so I spent a lot of time redrafting the lengths to achieve the right volume and form. 

 
Once the main decoration was complete I decided to experiment with how the piping that is seen in the reference image would work on the garment. I found the smallest piping cord I could and used it to edge the collar and belt and inserted it into the seams on the back as shown in the reference image. This worked really well and brought another element of texture to the toile, as well as getting a better grasp of what the piece would look like if finished. It also showed that the edge of the lattice decoration is piped so I attempted this although the result was not satisfactory. I think the piping I used was too heavy and it would have to be really thin to be delicate enough for the intricate pattern piece.

I have applied my sample here to see the effect of the piping, it is definitely  too bulky and clumsy and would have to be much thinner to keep the same delicacy.

The design of the lattice was too intricate to bag out with the thickness of the piping so I just sewed it around the edge. It is not a neat finish but gives an element of what the piping may look like.

I also created a small sample of what the padding at the bottom of the skirt may look like with calico and wadding. I did not have time to pad the whole thing but it would have been interesting to see how it would have effected the drape and sit of the hem line. I think it may have made it much stiffer and less flowing which i think would have been a shame.

The width of the padding I followed from the reference pattern. 

1820 Toile Planning and Evaluation

Proposed Time plan

Monday 

• Candide Performance
• Start Bodice and refine bodice

Tuesday

• POP Lectures
• Complete front of skirt and start back 

Wednesday

• Complete back of skirt
• Flat draft sleeve and cut out.
• Draft top sleeve

Thursday

• Drape lattice decoration transfer onto paper 
• Decoration samples
• Start to transfer toile onto paper

Friday

• Finish transferring toile onto paper.
• Sew up toile
• Photographs

Saturday

• Write up notes and evaluate, photos onto blog.

Record of weeks time frame and evaluation
Monday 

• Candide Performance
• Started Bodice

Tuesday

• POP Lectures and discussions
• Refine Bodice
• Start front of bodice

Wednesday

• Started decoration
• Started back of skirt
• Piping samples

Thursday

• Reproduced back of skirt in washed, pre-shrunk calico, adapting pattern
• Drafted Sleeve and start sleeve decoration
• Transferred bodice lattice decoration onto paper 

Friday

• Transfer toile onto paper.
• Adjust sleeve pattern
• Sew up toile

I had a lapse in my time schedule this week, this was mainly down to not anticipating the time required for the production of Candide on Monday and also the amount of time the POP lecture and seminar would take in the afternoon on Tuesday. I started as soon as i could and grabbed moments in the first two days to work but it was not enough to keep up to date with my plan. I was further set back by finding, Wednesday afternoon, that the medium weight calico i was using was too thick and rigid and did not drape smoothly as i wanted for the gathering in the back panel of the skirt. As i did not have any lighter fabric to hand I had to improvise my time (and as i could also not find an available copy of drafting a historical sleeve instructions) I decided to start with the lattice decoration of the bodice. I was pleased with how this turned out as i cut it on the stand to achieve the right shape and curve over the bodice and only had to draft it once. I managed to get the lighter fabric, pre-shrunk washed calico, for Thursday and so could carry on with the main construction. The lighter calico was much more as i had anticipated, and draped smoothly, and because of its thinner weight I also managed to get and extra 15cm of fabric into the gathering giving the back of the skirt a much fuller look. I found getting behind schedule quite frustrating and stressful, knowing it will have a knock-on effect on the rest of my project if i didn't manage to get up to date. Overall I have enjoyed creating this toile and feel it is a nice warm up to the next which may be more challenging. It has given me a good insight into my time management and I have learnt that i must be prepared in advance to keep to schedule.