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.