Last minuite ammendment to the project:

Yesterday I gave my presentation which lasted twenty minuites in total with time for questions from the audience. I am currently writing up an evaluation of the presentation. Before I hand in the project next week on the 16th there are several things I have left to do and these are:

• Research into an Eco-friendly clothing range/ business and compare it to the clothing in my range.
• Find out opinions on my range from the target audience which is teenagers.
• Get a box to present my project in a suitable way ready to hand in.
• Go though it all adding more post - it notes with my reflections on the project. 
• Print out my presentation and evaluation of it.   

Furthure more evaluation:

I am still working on the evaluation writing up a page for each clothing item and writing what I acheived throughout this project not only in terms of skills directly involved with making a clothing range but also additional skills that I can take furthure in future projects.

The dress:

My family friend kindly agreed to try on my dress and it fit :) 

Evaluation:

Today I have been evaluating my project I have a lot to do and know what I need to involve just have to write it all up which is time consuming.

Evaluation:

Now I have finished my entire clothing range I need to scrutinize my planning, method and result. I want to find out what went effectively and what did not work out quite as I had hoped. I would also like to get some pictures of people wearing my clothing range and get some feedback from various people.  

Finishing touches plus one more item:

Today I have altered the neckline on the jumper, so now it is not as wide and fits well on my shoulders (overall the jumper is still enormous though!). I have closed up the majority of the large holes.  And I have used wool to sew up parts that were not connected firmly due to me originally using  sewing thread.

Before:                               

                                                                             After:

                                                                         

                                                                            Before:

After:

                                                                  

Before amendments:

                                                                     Final jumper:

I have also sewn up the hem at the bottom of the dress and there was a whole on the side so I fixed this. 

I had a bit of the floral material left so I made a summer crop top which I am quite pleased with. Considering I did not follow a pattern or YouTube video I am happy with my little creation. 

                                              Shoulder bag in the left of the picture

Eco thoughts:

The more I think about my clothing range the more I realize that it is in fact eco-friendly. We hear about the exploitation of workers and the mass pollution that clothing factories make, so if everybody made their own 'DIY' clothes this problem would not arise.With this in mind, I have bought material from a local sewing and knitting shop which has benefited them, and I have bought wool from John Lewis which although a chain store, does not exploit its workers. People shop at places like Primark for cheap and fashionable goods. However, Primark does exploit cheap child labour which is completely unethical. I think creating one's own clothing not only gives the person a unique and beautiful wardrobe but also helps the environment and is cheaper.

Plan:

I have decided that instead of making a pair of shorts as planned in my original design I will improve upon what I already have done. This includes fixing up the neck line on my jumper and touching up the dress by possibly adding a trimming or ribbon to the edge of it. I also need to sort out the hem on the bottom to shorten it slightly and make it much neater. Unfortunately the dress does not fit me so I will need to find a model!

Two more items finished:

I have now hand sewn and completed the body con skirt and the floral dress. I am pleased with both. Although the dress is too small, it turned out quite well. I thought I would never finish and so am chuffed that I actually have. The skirt I would actually wear out which I think is quite an acheivement. Next I am going to find someone that the dress will fit and take some pictures of the final items. On my origional plan I was going to make a crop top and I still do have some material left over, but I can not spend any more time using a sewing machine as it was too frustrating, so it will have to be done by hand which may take too long.  

Solution:

After getting both my grandma and my friend to check out the sewing machine I gave up with it. The tension wasn't right and the back of the material was not being sewn properly. So today I went to the school's D.T department and borrowed a sewing machine for about an hour and a half and got the bulk of my sewing done. I will hand sew the rest of it at home which I would have had to do anyway as part of it is too thick for a sewing machine. I was pleased with my progress today. It was the most productive session I have had using a sewing machine. Some of what I did was not very neat and there are sections that I will need to unpick but overall it went well.

Devil sewing machine:

I have wasted so much time trying to get this thing to work and it will not. My friend came round yesterday to have a look and what ever she tried did not fix the problem. I have looked at numerous YouTube videos none of which have helped in the slightest. I do not know what to do next....

Shoulder bag:

I had another go at using the sewing machine and it still did not work, so my friend is coming round to try and fix it this afternoon. Mean while, the pouch I made when my Mum's friend showed me how to use the machine i have made into a shoulder bag. With some knitting wool I had left I made the strap and I found some Velcro in my Mum's sewing box that i have hand sewn on. So far in my clothing range I have a festival look jumper and a small shoulder bag. Hope fully the dress I am making next will work out well.

Sewing machine fun!

Today I borrowed my mum's friends sewing machine. There are no instructions and it very old! I got a quick demonstration and it looked okay to use, but when I got home it only worked for 5 minutes and then it jammed up. I somehow managed to fix it but it jammed again. I also thought it would be a good idea to start with the dress instead of practising before hand, this did not help me to develop my skills using the machine in order to make the dress perfect. The front of my work looked fine but then when I turned it over there was a big mess of thread. So I unpicked it all. I spent absolutely ages trying to make it work and wasted so much thread. It was so frustrating and I was getting nowhere. To overcome the problem I decided to have a break and come back to it later. If when I go back to it I still can not get it to work then I will ask one of my friends who knows how to use sewing machines or I will search the make on the internet and try to find some instructions or a 'Youtube' video explaining how to fix it. Although I got very annoyed that the machine stopped working properly some good came out of it; I taught myself how to use the bobbin and put more thread on it and how to change the tread. I also managed to get one side of the hem done to my dress. Next time I use it I must not waste too much time trying to fix it by my self but ask for help or find a more productive way to spend the time i.e. while waiting for help pinning the other side of the dress so it is ready to be sewn straight away.  


After having a go with the sewing machine I wrote about what research skills I have used through out this project and which ones have been effective and why. I also wrote about my market research and how it led me to my design.

My Granny's verdict:

So when I went to see the two knitting experts I got two quite different opinions on my masterpiece jumper.


First I saw my grandma Rachel a few days back and she was rather positive about my first attempt at knitting a jumper she gave some very constructive feedback and was impressed with my hard work. She said that as a whole it was a good effort and there were a few holes which were normal for a beginner. 


Today I saw my grandma Annette who was not so complementary! To quote her exactly she said 'a knitter you aint.' She several times suggested undoing the whole thing and redoing it. She then gave a list of faults:
1. Far too big, for some unknown reason it has turned out enormous.
2. Bit holey.
3. Wrong stiches used at times - plain instead of pearl.
4. Neck band - no real neck band to speak of  and full of more holes.
5. A few dropped stitches.
6. To sew it up at the end cotton should not be used instead wool should be.
7. Not impressed with the improvisation of the neck band and the pattern was not followed precisely enough.


After all this my granny did say it was a good effort for someone who only recently learnt how to knit and after practice my skills may improve. 


I personally am pleased I managed to finish the jumper and although it is  not going to be worn out of the house or even in it, I enjoyed making it. And my granny made me laugh and I amused her too with my improvisation and faulty knitting techniques!    

What's next:

I saw my supervisor Miss Price today and what i need to to do next is:

• Find out my grandma's verdict on the jumper.
• Write about how i have built up my research skills.
•  Get together information about market research and write about how it lead me to do what i have.

Sewing machine:

I should be able to borrow a sewing machine on Monday, so I shall make the clothing items then. I have knitted a boob- tube as I had a pattern for one. It has turned out quite small so I may not include it in my clothing range. It didn't take very long. Yesterday I cut out the vest top shape and I have spare material. So may make a bag or skirt with the remaining cotton.

The floral dress:

This evening I am going to draw around one of my long vest tops onto the floral cotton fabric and then cut it out. I need to leave room at the edges, for the seam and i shall make it longer so it can  be worn as a summer dress. With a bit of luck i may have some fabric left over so i can be creative and make something else with it to fit into the clothing range.

Finished!!!!

The jumper is finally complete. There are a few holes and the neck line has gone a bit funny. I don't think there is much that can be done about those things but I shall show my grannies next time I see them so they can inspect it! It has taken me a long time to do and was frustrating at times but overall I have enjoyed knitting. It is very relaxing to do and enjoyable. It has been great to discover parts of my Granny's past through spending time knitting. It is amazing the stories that knitting brought out in my Grandma Annette.

Sewing:

All the knitting is done. Now I am sewing it all up. So far i have sewed one sleeve to the back and front now for the other one. The knitting is adequate and so far the sewing is pretty easy to do.

One whole sleeve is done and I am currently half way through the second one. Afterwards i need to knit the neckband and then sew it all up together. I spoke to my Mum's friend who was a designer for Vivian Westwood and she said I may be better off to hand sew the other clothing items as machines can be a hassle and her one is broken. After finishing the jumper I will decide.

The slow sleeve

I have now done half of one sleeve. One and a half left to do. Then i need to press on with the other clothing items.  

Knitting, knitting and more knitting...

I have now completed the front and the back of the jumper. It has taken much longer than I expected. Still left are the two long sleeves and then i shall sew it all up.    

Slow progress:

Today I have been knitting the front of the jumper. I have had to undo it all twice as things keep going wrong. I am now on the right track but it is taking forever and i have not done that much. After I finish the front I still need to do both long sleeves and i need to borrow a sewing machine to make the other clothing. 

Materials:

I have now bought a meter of floral cotton for the long vest top / dress. Also i bought half a meter of elastic material for the body-con skirt. I need to buy some fabric for the crop top and some material for the shorts.

Progress

I have finished the back of the jumper now i need to repeat the same steps to make the front.

Festival look jumper:

Today I have seen both my grannies and they have helped me to improved my knitting skills. I have now learnt how to hold the needles in the proper way which enables me to increase my speed. I also now am able to do all the stitches needed to make the jumper. So far I have almost finished the back of the jumper. I did a quite a bit of knitting on holiday and some today. My confidence in following patterns has increased and now I can carry on by myself and aim to finish it before school starts. For the other items of clothing i need to buy the fabrics so i will have a look online to see if there is a website i can buy it from. If not then I'll go to the John Lewis in Central London but it does not have much choice and is expensive. For the sewing machine a family friend has allowed me to borough hers.

The materials:

Yesterday I went to John Lewis planning to buy all the materials I needed. Firstly I went to the wool section to find out the particular wool needed was not there so i bought a similar one which hopefully will do the job. Then i discovered that the John Lewis in Brent Cross does not sell any fabrics so i shall have to hunt else where to find what i need. I started knitting the jumper today even though in my plan it is not necessary to start yet I thought I would get a head start. So this morning I went to visit my grandma to learn how to do the purl stitch and now I can do it by myself and if I have time while I am away i will make some more of the jumper.

Achievements and aims:

Here is the vest I made before I went away. Although I would never wear this out there are not too many holes in it and it fits relatively well. From doing this practice piece I will go on to knit something better for my actual clothing range.

I have got a knitting pattern for a festival look jumper and i have got the right sized needles. I still need to buy wool and other materials that will be needed for the other clothing items. I will aim to have every thing bought by Sunday.

Today I am going to try and finish knitting the vest top so I can make some final choices about my clothing range.  Then when I get back from holiday I will buy all the materials needed.

Experimenting:

Today I have been carrying on with my sketches. I need to think of some more ideas for clothing so far I have a few firm ideas that I have drawn. I need to think about what is realistic so to experiment I have been knitting a vest top. If I successfully complete it then I will go on to knit a jumper for my clothing range. So far I have completed the front of the vest top. I have also been experimenting with croquet which I can now do. The only problem is I am making a summer clothing range and so can not knit or croquet too much of it.

Designing my clothing range:

This week I need to finalise my ideas. I am currently sketching six figures which will be wearing the clothing I will make. I need to decide if there will be a theme for this clothing range and which particular pieces of items I will draw on the six figures. To decide I will use the market research I carried out, my research on the trends in the market and also the sketches and brainstorm I made in my ideas and planning stage.

My ideas and planning stage is coming to an end I have brainstormed and I am carrying on sketching outfits next I have to decide which are my favourites and which are realistic to make.

Sketches:

I have been carrying on drawing sketches over the last couple of days. They are time consuming but are useful and is a good way of expressing my ideas.

Ideas and planning:

Yesterday I wrote an ideas spider diagram with key, inspiring words that should help me to design my clothing range and this evening I am going to draw some sketches to spur on further ideas.  

Collages:

Today I have been carrying on making A3 sheets with magazine cuttings on. On each A3 sheet there is a particular theme. Once I have a sufficient amount of themes I will either chose one to use for my clothing range or I will chose to use a couple. My decision will also take into account the results from my market research. 

Survey

These were the most popular answers from my survey: 

1. What is your favourite material your clothes are made out of?

Cotton

2. What types of clothing would you rather wear?

Fit in with your peers

3. Do you tend to follow the trends in the media?

No

4. Which of the summer 2011 trends are you most likely to follow?

The festival look

5. Which items of clothing appeal to you most for summer 2011?

Denim shorts and a vest top

6. What colour schemes are you most likely to be wearing on your clothing this summer?

Bright colours (pink, yellow, orange)

7. What designs on clothing would you prefer to wear this summer?

Tropical prints

8. Do you normally mix and match your clothing together or wear the same outfits?

Mix and match

9. What accessories are you most likely to wear?

Lots of cute bracelets

10. Describe your ideal summer 2011 outfit.

Vibrant I have also printed out a summary of the answers which shows how many people  voted for each answer option. It also shows all of the answer to the open ended  question. The market research has helped me gain a knowledge of what teenage  girl fashion is like.  I have used 'woordle' to present the most commonly used words from question 10. Here are the results:

                

Magazine cuttings:

Today I have been cutting out clothing from fashion magazines. So far I have three A3 sheets with different looks on. They are; festival fashion, flowy dresses and celeb watch.

Ideas and planning:

To get more of an idea about how to go about presenting my ideas and planning I have been looking on the internet to see how other designers have gone about this stage. Here are some relevant things I found:

‘What inspires you?'

'Anything and everything. Designers get their inspiration from all different places including: the street, magazines, books, vintage, exhibits, art, movies, the news, nature, cultures, history etc. Your inspiration comes from the elements that affect your thinking and make you feel the need to express your views or thoughts on the subject using clothing as your canvas.

How do you start designing a collection?

Different designers have different methods. I gather up magazine photos or other inspirations items and then start designing silhouettes within that theme. Then I find fabrics and trims and stir it all together and in the end you have a cohesive thematic collection.’  http://www.pamelathompson.com/pamela/designer.php


Also on http://www.flickr.com/photos/akashisko/5581464307/in/pool-945102@N20/ there are various pictures of peoples fashion collages they have made. There are also links to fashion blogs which are useful and inspiring.

'The first attempt towards designing clothes would be to get a sketchbook. Start by drawing a body or mannequin which serves as a host to the clothes you design.

Now, draw clothes on the mannequin. Once you are able to transfer the designs, which were in your mind, on paper, it's time to get a little colourful. Add colours and prints to the sketched clothes.’ http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/how-to-design-clothes-4084.html

This YouTube video shows exactly how to do fashion sketches:

From my research today I have decided I will make collages, mood boards and write brainstorms. This will help me to decide what theme my clothing range will have and how many items of clothing it will comprise of. I will then draw various sketches and then in my designing stage I can select a few sketches label them and work out exactly how I will make them. 


For my market research I will analyse the results in a few days so far 48 people have answered my survey, I will wait a little longer to see if any other people take it as well. 

Knitting practice:

So far I can do simple knitting and here is my practice piece:

As I enter my ideas and planning stage I will carry on practising knitting but I will focus more on working out what kind of clothing I will be making. 

Sewing shop:

Today I went to a sewing shop and got some remnants. The eight pieces of material where mainly; cotton, synthetics and velvet. They all had different patterns and in the shops they sold all kinds of fabrics so once I have planned the items of clothing I will make I will go back there to buy some material that will be suitable. I bought a knitting pattern, it is a sleeveless jumper so ideal for summer.

Monkey survey:

I set up my questionnaire on monkey survey. Here is a link: 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCBSLHX
I will analyse the data next week when I get back from Duke of Edinburgh and this will spur me on with my ideas and planning stage.  Also leaving it a week will allow time for a sufficient amount of people to take the survey.

Market research:

Over the next couple of days I am going to do some market research. I will ask my peers and other teenage girls their opinion's on fashion. I will ask a series of closed questions followed by an open question. From this I will hope to gain an understanding of what clothing is desired. This will then help me in my next stage which will be ideas and planning. 

Materials:

I will probably use a sewing machine for a few items of clothing that I make. I can easily re-watch and watch more ‘YouTube’ videos on how to make clothing but I need to look into the types of materials that I can use.  However, at this stage it is hard as I do not know exactly what items of clothing I am going to make and what colours I will be using.  So, just to get an idea I have been looking at the John Lewis fabric section.  The prices range from £3.50 a metre to £49 a metre. The lower end materials are plain, dull colours and they seem to be unpopular. Whereas the more expensive fabrics are intricate and beautiful. There are floral designs and stripes which would go very well with the summer 2011 trends. 

I know that I will need a lot of wool if I am to make a jumper. At some point this week I will go to a knitting and sewing shop in North Finchley to research prices and buy a pattern to show me precisely how to go about making a jumper.  Once I have looked at the pattern I will be able to see if it will be possible to make. Also in the shop i will look at the material sold and compare it to what is sold in John Lewis.

Kate Moss's clothing range

To get a better idea of what my clothing range will consist of and to be inspired further I have decided to research a past clothing range that has been successful. Kate Moss started a clothing range in 2007 her clothing was sold by Top Shop. She designed a collaboration of work which was unique and distinctly clothing that she wore. The clothing was sold at £15-£150 so is fairly affordable to women who the clothing is targeted at.  In Kate Moss’s clothing range evening dresses, jackets, dressy tops and casual clothing were sold. The wide range of clothing meant that there was something for most women. Here are some pictures of her clothing that she designed:

Further research into summer 2011 trends:

From reading Teen Vogue’s Summer time edition I have found out more about specifically teenage girl fashion. Some of the information I found further backed up my previous research whilst other facts were new.  I found out that jumpsuits both long and short legged are in and so are leather satchels. These items that are advertised in the magazine are by Marc Jacobs.  Also this summer shirts and blouses are in.  The ones being sold at the moment are generally plain, light colours and look refreshing so are ideal for wearing on a hot summer’s day.

The stripe trend is also apparent in Teen vogue. Kate moss is seen to be wearing a long sleeved striped top. Also Arizona Muse is wearing a navy blue striped jacket lined in fur. When celebrities wear certain things it spurs the public to follow, especially if the media highlights their outfits in complementary ways.  The surfer trend is also seen in the magazine. There is a model wearing a body suit with the top half down and a floral pattern bikini on.

A few other things that are considered trends for teenage girls to wear this summer are: tie dye clothing, fringe on clothing or bags, long draping dresses and tops that have baggy sleeves, cool tropical prints, wedges, jelly roll flip flops and brightly coloured clothing.  

The thing that inspired me most in Teen Vogue was the mention of chunky, quirky knits being in this summer. Here are some pictures of them being sold:

Crochet:

Today I taught myself to crochet using a step to step guide that was in my crochet book. It confused me quite a bit at the start but now I can vaguely do it. I still need lots of practice and I prefer knitting by far.  I may crochet a bag which will fit nicely into my summer clothing range. First I will have to nail crocheting but for now I know that it is a possibility.      

Potential clothing techniques I could use:

I was going through my cupboard when I found a crochet kit tucked at the back. I must have been given when I was younger but never used it.  I have looked through it and it looks quite achievable.  Some of the things to make look a bit ridiculous and I’m not quite sure how it will fit into my clothing range. For example, there is a hat which looks very odd in the picture and if i were to make it I am pretty sure it will look even worse. So I’ll steer away from making the odd looking hat! Tomorrow I am going on a long train journey so ill follow the steps for crocheting and come to the conclusion whether it will be a good idea to crochet any of my items in the clothing range.

I have been carrying on practicing the knitting and it is getting slightly better.  The only thing is I can only knit a long straight piece of material. So next time I visit my grandma I will ask her what types of clothing I could make and if she could teach me how to make something more adventurous.  Possibly I could make an oversized jumper which follows the festival trend for this summer.

I am researching into ideas about sewing machines a couple of my Mum’s friends have them so I should be able to use one at some point in the summer. So I could make a summer dress or skirt.

Victoria and Albert museum

Today I visited the Victoria and Albert museum. I saw the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition. He was born in 1943 in Tokyo and won two awards after studying in Japan which enabled him to travel to Europe. His mother was a seamstress and Yamamoto worked with her for a few years. He then went on to set up his first women's ready to wear label Y's. Yohi Yamamoto's work is unusual, unique and exquisite. From what I saw, his dresses were extremely complicated with ruffles and intricate designs.  Lots of Yamato's clothing is oversized and it looks slightly unfinished. His clothing is mostly black and he deals with ideas of gender.

Although, I found looking at Yamamoto’s clothing and videos of his catwalks interesting, I am not sure if it will inspire my own clothing range. He uses fabrics that are not normally used for making clothing. For example he uses felt. I am not experienced enough to use the same fabrics that Yamamoto uses as I am not sure it had the mass market appeal.  It has opened my eyes to all the endless possibilities I have for my clothing range. In the exhibition some of his origional sketches were shown so this may help me later on to start off my own ideas. This was the way Yamato went about planing and collateing his thoughts and ideas. I will now need to decide how many items i will make and what they will be.

Time line amendments:

I was originally going to finish my research by the 16/06/2011 but this has not happened. One of the reasons for this is because I went to Italy for a week which slowed down my research in London. However, I did find some valuable and useful information about fashion in Italy which will help me to make my clothing range. The main reason why I have not completed my research is because I did not realise or take in to consideration while making my timeline how much time I would need to carry out a sufficient amount of research. I still have quite a few things to be looking in to, so I have re- done my timetable:  

Tasks	Start Date	Duration (days)	End date
Research	28/05/2011	36	2/07/2011
Away for D.O. E expedition	3/07/2011	5	7/07/2011
Ideas and planning	8/07/2011	10	17/07/2011
Design clothing	18/07/2011	7	24/07/2011
On holiday	25/07/2011	17	10/08/2011
Buy equipment needed	11/08/2011	5	14/08/2011
On holiday	15/08/2011	8	22/08/2011
Make items	23/08/2011	44	5/10/2011
evaluate	6/10/2011	26	31/10/2011
prepare for presentation	01/11/2011	18	18/11/2011
Further evaluation	19/11/2011	12	30/11/2011
Get ready to submit complete project	1/12/2011	9	09/12/2011