Ooo la la Christian Lacroix

My next designer under study is the one and only marvel that is Christian Lacroix, Lacroix was one of the first few designers I took an interest in when I was about 13, there was write up about him in on of the very first issues of VOGUE I bought as a young teen and ever since our romance has blossomed more and more each season. 

We have to choose a visionary designer, well, a handful, of course Alexander McQueen is the first I thought of as always, by Lacroix is second on the list. I've chosen his S/S 2009 couture collection as my main study. He's collaborated with Lesage (A french couturier who specialises in hand embroidery, it's his work that is on the very first photograph on this post. Truly stunning.) But in this collection it wasn't just the detail that caught my eye, it was the different patterns and vibrant colours, all so rich and contrasting! Lacroix is a very dramatic designer and certainly one of the finest based in the beautiful Paris capital. I love contrasting black and white with vibrant colours, so it's no wonder I adore this particular collection really, especially since he managed to also fit a little tailoring in as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, but you shouldn't need my persuasion; the clothes speak for themselves. 

A step by step guide for MAXImum impact...

It's not a misprint, the title is more of a play on words. MAXI being the clue, the time has come to deliver a step by step guide on how to make a maxi skirt. (I mentioned it in an earlier post if you remember?!) 

I personally am a very inexperienced person when it comes to sewing, I appreciate it but as I've mentioned before, it intimidates me and I as a perfectionist, the thought of messing something up or it not being completely correct terrifies me even more! 

So, I think the best place for us all to start is at the beginning, ready?!

Step numero uno... 

We traced around a basic skirt block (usually made of either card or plastic) and marked all the notches and darts required. 

We then extended the skirt on the pattern paper; as it only came above the knee we made it floor length by measuring our own leg.

Step two...

Now that you've got the first draft, we traced over the pattern and marked in the darts.

We then, from the start of the dart point, drew a line straight down toward the the bottom of the skirt (repeated this for the second dart also) and then slashed back up the drawn on lines. 

Three...

This made it so much easier to close the darts from the top of the front skirt pattern piece, to close it, we had to hold the top together so it fell into place and used masking tape to secure. 

For the hem of the skirt it had to have a circular look to it, so with the slashed pieces raining free we used  the set square and placed it on a 45 degree angle and marked off the bias grain line. We were using the bias to create fluting. 

Number four...

With the new adapted pattern piece before us, to carry on with the skirt we had to yet again trace around the adapted pattern by securing it onto more pattern paper (it isn't the most economical of processes I know, but needs must and we wasted as little as possible!) We traced around and added notches where required as we went and added seam allowance. 

Key, instead of putting a grain line we approached the set square (a pattern cutters best friend) and placed in on a 45 degree angle and marked off the bias line. 

Step five...

The pattern had finally met completion, so we chose our fabric (mine being a very vibrant striped design which has a really light weight feel to it, perfect for a summers day I'm hoping) and placed our pieces on the fabric. 

We folded the fabric at yet another 45 degree angle so that it lay diagonally across the table making it easier to fit the pattern pieces ready for cutting. (Before cutting any kind of pattern piece, a quick tip, always pin pattern paper pieces to the fabric you wish to use, left loose you wont have a very accurate or reliable outcome. Better to be safe than sorry so pin accordingly!)
OH, and the waistband, we cut out two pieces on the straight grain line which was from the measurement of our waist and we also cut out the interfacing from this too leaving. 1.5cm seam allowance at the width ends. 

Numero seis... 

We then began the manufacturing process, the dreaded sewing machine was there right in front of me waiting to be pursued. When I first sat at a sewing machine, I felt like I was almost loosing my virginity all over again, why? Because it was a whole new experience, it's always going to be unpredictable no matter who you are and really intimidating first time around.
Anyway, enough of my analogies...
First we ironed out any unnecessary creases and sewed one side with a 1.5 cm seam allowance. We then ironed open the seams and over locked separately.

Seven...Usually my favourite number....


Over locking down both sides of the skirt ready to apply the zip.
We then attached the concealed zip, firstly pinning down to ensure security and then sewed onto the skirt fabric using a special foot on the sewing machine. With a 1.5cm seam allowance once again, we sewed up the side with this time a normal machine foot leaving a couple of centimetres open which we again sewed with the alternative foot.
This foot allowed us to sew closely to the zip without leaving an open seam.

Number ocho... 

The waistband was then attached to the skirt, but only once we'd ironed the interfacing on to the necessary waistband piece.
We stitched once length of the waistband with ow the interfacing on, 1.5 cm seam allowance (as usual) and stitched both width's leaving one length untouched for now.
We then chopped down the 1.5cm seam allowance to 0.5cm because no body wants a bulky waistband (go figure.) We then turned it inside out and pinned the right side of the fabric to the wrong side of the skirt and stitched on the waist band, again with that trusty 1.5cm seam allowance.

( I hope all of this isn't too complicated to understand because I know I've got lost once or twice but it's only natural to be baffled by what you don't know, they reassure me it only gets easier with time and practise though...)

The waist band was then ironed in half and then top stitched the waistband to the skirt making sure there was a few centimetres left off for the button hole.


Step nine...


We hemmed the circular hem by over locking and the folding the 0.5cm hem twice.
Then, we ironed this in place and stitched over 0.5cm.

Last but not least, step ten...


We created a button hole stitch in the leftover waistband with a button sewing machine and then sewed  on the button.


Now we all know what it takes to make the trusty maxi. As soon as they're available, photographs will be uploaded for evidence.

Adios. 

Dame Vivienne

Inspiring. A word that not only describes the designs you see before you but also the woman behind the fabulous line that makes british fashion so beautiful, Dame Vivienne Westwood. As beautiful as the clothes she makes.Vintage is always in fashion and never is anything but chic whether that be the clothes you wear or the person you are. Ask Vivienne, I'd say she truly is the living example of genuine beauty, effortless style and ageless fashion sense.

Your Country Needs YOU!!! Well, my course needs me too keep calm and carry on anyway...

Keep Calm And Carry On... Five words that I am constantly repeating to myself over and over at the moment. Not because I find it a cute phrase or anything amusing like that, genuinely because if I didn't I think I would have cracked by now!

However, fear not, they're helping. We were given our grand final deadline on Monday at college, my heart was racing, palms became moist and a dizziness came upon me (sadly I could not blame the glorious sunshine or a possible heart attack as I knew either would be too easy!) Nope, it was the upcoming deadlines and stress about to descend. Luckily for me I cope best under pressure, if it's a slack environment I am a slack worker and in this industry being laid back is not an option, and I am learning this fast!

Something that has reassured me however is, and I can not believe I am saying this after what feels like a life time, my pattern cutting classes. I am finally, touch wood, getting the hang of this brutal situation. Maybe it's fate, maybe it's a passing phase or maybe, just maybe, I've managed to kick myself up the rear end and decided to just get on with it.

Who knows.

What was quite nice, was the feedback I received for my post earlier about making my shirt (don't worry it's still not finished, I haven't changed that much just yet!) Anyway, it was a real confidence boost hearing from one of my readers that they found the post interesting because to be perfectly honest I had no idea what on earth I was writing about, I don't know what I'm doing in the lessons and find them intimidating, so writing about it was even harder. So I thank you, that small encouragement gave me a positive push in the right direction. FORWARD!

By forward I don't only mean in the direction sense, I also mean literally, I moved on to my next practical dilemma, the maxi skirt - this is currently pending.

But also onto the mini dress, well, slip dress but I think mini dress sounds better and reminds me of the swinging sixties. I'm really trying to stay focused with this and I'm really hoping that it inspires me for our final show as I am currently in limbo with that situation and have no idea where I am going with it.

The pattern of my mini dress was pretty straight forward, I'm looking forward to the outcome as it's in camo print (already this has given me the idea of maybe using a little Vivienne Westwood inspiration for my final piece, give it a little punk couture flare to it maybe?! We'll see...) But for now we're going to learn to walk before learning to run and get the mini dress sorted, to do this I thought since you enjoyed the first pattern cutting post, I'd follow suit with the dress, but this time it'll be more in depth.

These are a few images of the first step to a slip dress, this evening I cut all the pieces out ready to be assembled tomorrow in lesson so I'll be sure to keep you posted.

As long as I Keep Calm And Carry On with this we shall have ourselves a fashion show in June, lets just hope I don't loose it at last minute. But just as reassurance, I've never been very good at letting people down so it would be a shame to start now.

 These are the maxi skirt patterns above, I'll update on this with the finished product as soon as it's completed. My sewing ability makes me nervous so I'm pretty slow at starting a new task sadly.

All the above are the pattern pieces for my camo mini dress, they are hard to read and I am sorry for this, my blackberry doesn't capture detail as well as I wished!

Confessions of a shopaholic... (The catch is, mine is male!)

Before I went back to college I worked in the high street fashion store River Island, my job description was a Menswear Sales Assistant. The title doesn't sound particularly important nor does it sound exciting, but I can honestly say it was one of the most eye opening and frustrating positions I have ever experienced! 

Men go on and on and on... about how women love shopping and can never make up their minds, well boys you've been bubbled well and truly!

I foolishly went out and met a few of my friends shopping the other weekend, now, because they were guys you expect the shopping experience to be like a fad fashion season, i.e a quick in and out turn around with only the necessaries and as little money spent as possible. Well, that's how I have always described or thought of a shopping trip for a man, HOW WRONG I WAS!

I met my friends Josh and Danny in the store TK.Maxx, I haven't known the boys very long but had pretty much made up my mind as to how they personally look at fashion etc. The decisions being that they avoid it publicly, but they can't fool me, inside it is obvious these boys are more vein than your average diva! I sware, Beyonce must make up her mind faster on her tour wardrobe or red carpet events faster than it took Josh to choose a simple polo shirt, a pair of jeans and couple of T.Shirts!!!

It was ridiculous, and underwear! Don't get me started on men and their intimates! That was like listening to a pair of old women moaning about the price of fish.

I personally spend a fortune, far more than I can afford anyway on my underwear so naturally  £15 for a set of Calvin Klein shorts seemed quite reasonable. Apparently not!

When men shop they shop with two things and two things only, their pockets and their sex drive. I'm sorry to sound so crude but it is true, it isn't about style or natural taste anymore with men, with anyone for that matter, it is about whether or not it'll flatter the figure, show off their assetts and make it easier for them to approach and chat up girls/guys over the weekend!

And don't deny it boys because I've experienced VIP behind the scenes material straight from the horses mouth.

I wish this wasn't the case.

I chose Josh a really lovely Donna Karen New York, deep purple, polo shirt with a really simple collar and loose fit, he would have looked great due to the deep colour shade on his skin and purple is naturally attractive to women as it psychologically gives off the impression of warmth and passion. (But I wasn't sharing that one with him once he turned me down...) Men don't think outside the box with fashion and how they look, some do but its a rare sighting to see.

Boys, you need to learn that it's not what you wear it's genuinely how you wear it. Luckily Josh and Danny do dress quite well, as do most of my male friends but that doesn't mean they don't get it wrong occasionally.

The lesson I learnt from my shopping trip with the boys is this, don't think about what is around you, think about what you see in front of you with your clothes.

Natural style and good style at that is hard to find in guys....

And a tip for you boys, a girl wont notice you if you look like all the others at the bar now will she!

Food for thought. 

Showing your true colours!

I'm not slagging anybody off with my title, the truth is I didn't know what to call this post and it was the first thing that came to mind! Why? Because I'm showing you some of my college work bellow.

College are encouraging us to blog more about our own work as well as every one else's. The truth is though, I really don't like sharing my work that much when people know it's mine.

It's so nice when friends and family come into our home and compliment my work without knowing it was I that had created it. There's a sense of satisfaction knowing that they genuinely appreciate what you've done and aren't just telling you for telling you sake! Plus, I hate receiving any kind of compliment or attention of any form as I never know how exactly to take it, or what on earth I 'm meant to do with it. It's an awkward situation to say the least. I'd rather dote over others than have others dote over me, I think that is why I enjoy blogging so much because I know people are reading this and appreciate it but I don't have to look at or speak to any of you in person while you browse! It's definitely a win win situation.

Anyway, bellow are some images of my work, I 'm not going to go into too much detail about them as I want you as the audience if you like to use your own imaginations to figure out where I'm going with everything or where it may have come from...

Bon apetite!

My own personal designs for my fashion figures that I shall later design on to. 

This is a textiles sample inspired by a jelly fish and made using a wash away material and various coloured threads.

Shape manipulation of again more jelly fish as well as some manipulation on the stand.

Hand drawn red Indian taken from the image to the right hand side.

A piece of hand stitching taken from the back of the Emanuelle gown warn by the model in the Corrine Day photograph that inspired my first chosen theme Anorexia.

Living the Dream Agyness Deyn

Agyness Deyn, a peroxide blonde Model from Manchester. A.K.A Laura Hollins is possibly my leading lady when it comes to a style icon, she is the representative of my Androgyny for women at the moment.

It was actually the Deyn boom in 2007 that opened my eyes to the perfect style for me, I was still at school and finding it really hard to fit in and figure out who I was, I was always listening to The Smiths, The Clash and a band called the Jesus and Mary Chain and had no interest in the usual high school girl things such as teen gossip magazines, Orlando Bloom and make-up! Which was just unheard of in our high school as every pupil was female! P.E was always awkward because I only ever wore sports bra's due to the fact I wasn't born with the beautiful gift of a fuller figure, even now my bra size is basically the equivalent of a bumble bee's backside!

While I was busy not fitting in, Agyness Deyn was busy making a name for herself as the new I.T girl, I can honestly say I was so relieved by her arrival, she gave me so much confidence and reasurance that it was okay to be the tall and pale, skinny girl in the class with no tits and short hair that only ever wore a fedora, skinny jeans, a shirt and boots. It became a style, and suddenly, it was acceptable for me to look like that at school! It was crazy to think that the publicity of one girl changed my life completely!

It's taken years for me to accept how I look and the fact that I will always get some form of abuse for it, but, it's helped me realise that there is style in looking different!

Androgyny is something far more magical than the usual girl next door image that Miranda Kerr and Poppy Delevigne sport so well! It's cool to be different, and its even more so when you've got the confidence to boot!

Agy will certainly be inspirng me on a practical basis with my designs and I can't wait to share them with you all.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all!

Sewing, it isn't my strongest skill if I'm being honest...

Sadly, our course at college isn't just about design and research (as much as I wish it was!) It is also the obvious, a course where as young designers we have to learn to construct and sew garments.

I have never been a practical person, in life and when it comes to skills! I'd rather take my chances on less time consuming and demure aspects of fashion, I think this is why I'd rather be a forcaster or editor because I wouldn't be trapped inside for most of my day, which is probably a dream world as they probably spend their day sat a computer and in intense meetings where as at least designers would be doing something creative with their day!

Anyway, we've made a fair few things this term, I am ofcourse, massively behind as always but I am for sure catching up as fast as I can, we've got three skirts and a shirt done, well, should have done, at the moment my first skirt is complete and my maxi skirt and shirt still cut up in pattern pieces! How my lecturer is still standing I will never know, she must have the patients of a sin when it comes to me and sewing that is all I can say, as I am not going to lie, I have been avoiding it as much as possible since September, which is silly I know. It's a confidence thing though don't worry, I'm not lazy I just don't want to be rubbish at something I'm passionate about.

I realised, or rather, my lecturer hinted that she hadn't seen much of my practical aspects of work on my blog, I didn't have the heart to admitt I was purposely not publishing it on here because I really didnt want to! Who wants to read about the many steps of making a straight, knee length skirt...

But, she had a point, so in my mind I thought I'd meet her half way, so, I'm not going to bore you with my skirt don't worry, instead, no surprise I'm sharing my 'How to make a shirt' steps instead.

Probably because I'd wear a shirt every day of the week if I could! While putting the shirt into action I decided that if I was to become a designer, I'd specialise in tailoring! I really love Paul Smith for women when he does suits and blazers etc, I think if I was to become a designer I'd like to be a combination of Paul Smith, Gareth Pugh, McQueen and just to send you complete of guard Coco Chanel or Valentino.

A small studio where we made beautiful and unique tailoring for men and women that was chic, unique with a really urban and extreme edge to it at times!

But for now, I am in my college building, in Cheshire trying to make a shirt out of vile pink fabric I found...

Here are the first steps, Pattern laid out on the bench. Pretty straight forward and not very exciting!

Enjoy.

...To be continued...

Androgynous Beau.

This is possibly one of the most striking yet beautiful pieces of photography I have come across with my research into Androgyny once again, his physique and cheek bones stand out a mile away for me and I think that that is what is so beautiful about him in my eyes. He lacks all curves and femininity that a woman possesses yet just to look at it, he has such a delicate frame that it does look beautiful in the same kind of way you would call a woman beautiful. I wish I could find the photographer so I could encourage you all to explore more of their work, but I just can't! I do know however the photograph was published in I think I.D or Dazed and Confused magazine! I've gone into basing my final designs this year on Androgyny after starting on Anorexia at the beginning of the brief ironically, when I saw this image I thought it was the perfect example of the two combined. Just look at the bone structure of his torso, his ribs are almost as defined as the pleats in the fabric! I'm not suggesting for one minute Anorexia is beautiful, because it isn't, I suffered from Anorexia for a large part of my teen years and it's brain washing, but when I look back at the heart breaking photographs my mother has I never realised how deformed and frightening my body had become. The wonderful thing about this image though is that it is just photograph, Anorexia is a reality I wouldn't wish on anyone, this picture to me just felt like the perfect example of the two linked together in one person. (Hopefully he is just naturally thin though) Anyway...

Enjoy.