Back from shopping!

I'm just coming back from some shopping.
I bought awesome shoes, a lining fabric (black white and red) for my class project and a Navy Blue dye. I got the the black cotton pique fabric yesterday, to make a Hot short (no I didn't come up with the name... the teacher did!) for my class.
The other fabrics come from Taiwan (Thanks Faye!) It's a really nicely textured cotton linen blend. I will use it for handbags with printed fabrics and jackets!

Yesterday evening, I also order some silk chiffon and china silk to make this Guy Laroche dress to go to the Fashion Night Out.
FNO is actually on September 8th and I will have to dye the fabric (that's gonna be a first for me!), so... I'm not sure it's gonna be ready.

I'm so excited!

Draping Class, Final Project

So here is the dress I created for my finals.
I had to make a showstopping dress Leighton Meester (Blair in the Gossip Girls tv series) would wear for the MET Costume Gala 2011 in New York.
First, Thanks to our teacher for this final. It was a really nice and intersting project.
Well, for the story, the actual gala was in may and she was wearing a little black dress by Louis Vuitton!

I searched for everything she's already been wearing on red carpets and the least I can say is that she's really fashion forward. She's been wearing a whole lot of different styles. So I had to be imaginative!

After an afternoon of looking at her and her looks, I ended up with this inspiration (I don't remember what show it was!) and sketch:

I was thinking about using chiffon and leather.
But the next day, and after seeking advices from DH and one of my classmates, I knew it was way to casual for her...
I like the sketch though, so who knows, I might end up sewing that for myself one day.

I had to find another idea, looking at all the 2011 fall fashion show.
The trends I was interested in for her dress included: plunging V-neck, sheer fabrics, pleats, leather and, why not, orange!

Here are some of my sketches, mainly inspired by Vera Wang Fall 2011 Collection

You can see the plunging V-neck is a really strong inspiration... as are the sheer fabrics!
I'm also fond of sheer maxi-dresses. I'd like to sew one for myself. I'm amazed on how my taste have changed since I entered the fashion design program and started following the couture collections and fashion magazines (Thanks Julio!)

Ok, sorry, we're not here to speak about my fashion taste.
So back to our subject, the winner was a shorter dress, as Leighton seems to be fond of them... and I didn't wanted to buy loads of fabric!

So here is what I made, out of taffeta and chiffon (you'll recognize the sketch):

I love the back!
On the other hand, for the front I would have preferred a more dramatic top, to better match with the bottom. I should have done the lapels wider, to get a look closer to the sketch...

I'm not really happy with the finishing. I know I'm able to do something much nicer. But I did pick a dress kind of too hard for me in the amount of time I had.
I finished the dress at 8.45pm for a class finishing at 9pm! Ouf
It was kind of like in Project Runway.

My biggest regret?
I wasn't there the day of the party when everybody had to turn in the dresses. So I still haven't seen the dresses the others have done. Some where already looking awesome. Tomorrow my friend is gonna show me the pics he took. I can't wait!

Flat Pattern 1, Final project

Finally the classes are done and I have some free time. So here is my final project.
The goal was to use a basic sloper size 8 and modify it to get the design we wanted. You can see my inspirations on the previous post.

I'm not fond of the front look, but I think it's mainly because the mannequin has a cup size way smaller than the sloper...

Beside that, if I had to redo it I would:
- use a heavier fusible interfacing so the collar would stand better
- use a stiffer fabric, this one was really annoying to press (it was becoming clumsy as soon as it was warmed under the iron)
- I would make the set-in collar a bit higher
- I would like the back opening wider and larger, much like the sketch.

But yes, I'm not easily happy with what I'm making. The good point though is I did everything from start to finish for the first time: I started with the sketch, then making the pattern to finally sewing it.


Here are some other students dresses:

Nice, isn't it?