Nonwovens Nonsense - The Trousers

A few weeks ago, I posted about the second semester's Garment Technology project FASHION: Decoratif, and showed a sample of a jacket front we had made based on a piece from Margiela's current Spring/Summer 2010 collection. We were given a floral jacket, which we decided to replicate in two different ways, and to also make a pair of trousers, to go with both. The deadline for this project was last Friday, however we have been limited in the construction of the jackets so these are not complete for me to show yet, but pictures of all finished garments will be up as soon as possible.

Originally we wanted the trousers to be sonic bonded, but with pressure growing we decided as a group to make them ourselves. The fabric we had chosen for our jackets and trousers was PVC, which we have now found out is a difficult fabric to sew and make garments from, but the challenge was worth it in the end. The trousers have laser cut strips and back pockets, based on a floral net curtain we purchased from the market. Below you will find the construction pages we put together and also a photo of the trousers we took before we put the waistband on.

All Images of Group work by Amy Gibson, Emma Clarke and myself, image of trousers is taken from my own camera

Nonwovens Nonsense?

This semester in Garment Technology, we have had group work in a project called Nonwoven: Decoratif. My group, made up of Amy, Emma and myself (all menswear designers) were given a leather jacket with embroidered cross-stitch roses embellished over the front and sleeves, designed by Martin Margiela. We were also asked to design and make some nonwoven trousers that would work with the key piece. Unsure on where to take this, we tried out a number of different experiments to help us decide on the route we would take with this jacket. We tried tie-dye, beading, painting, sculpting and just about everything you could think of. Eventually we came up with some very inspiring ideas.

Using PVC for all our nonwoven garments, we have come up with 3 very different, but well themed items. The trousers will be pretty basic, sonic bonded with laser cut strips and pockets as their decoration. The first jacket is clear with green coverstitched seams and bright red and blue felt roses placed in a similar fashion to Margiela's original jacket. Our second jacket is painted silver and gold with a haybale netting texture teamed with sequins and beading stitched to create abstract flowers over the jacket.

All of this has been challenging but very inspiring, and now as we watch the garments being put together, it is getting very exciting and we get closer to the end of year show that will document our items.

Below is an early sample of the jacket with roses, to display how these would work in the final garment.

Image from my own camera of work by myself, Emma Clarke and Amy Gibson.

Garment Technology - Rever Collars

The next area in Garment Technology that I researched into was Rever Collars. This gave me a better idea of what exactly I would be making in that lesson. Rever collars are made up of two pieces, the lapel (or rever) is separate to the main collar which gives more variety in shape and how it sits against the body that many one-piece collars. The board shows a variety of rever collars in knit, coats and jackets as well as flat drawings of them. Below this is the example of the rever collar I made. If I was re-doing this sample, I would change the shape and style of my rever, making it narrower and wider.

Images are of my own work and are taken from my camera. Thankyou to Nathan Whitehouse for modelling my final garment.

Garment Technology - Shoulder and Sleeve Details

The next research board I had to complete was for 'Shoulder and Sleeve Details'. I found this interesting in menswear because some of the details I found were very discreet. I was surprised at the range I found from appliqué to embroidered details, as well as stripes and tabs. The sample we had to make in relation to this research was a 'Strap-Shoulder Sleeve', which I hadn't really seen before. This was good because it showed me a different type of shoulder detail and how it sat on the shoulder, which could not be achieved by the other shoulder styles I knew.

Images are from my camera and are of my own work. Thankyou to Nathan Whitehouse for modelling my final samples.

Garment Technology - Waistcoats

Here is the research board i did when researching into waistcoats. There is a wide range of both primary and secondary images on this board as well as some historical. Below are the front and back views of the waistcoat sample i made. This was the most interesting sample for me because we made a complete garment and the fabrics were interesting to work with too.

Images are from my camera and are of my own work. Thankyou to Nathan Whitehouse for modelling my final garments.

Garment Technology - Hoods

Over the past two years at university, we have studied a module called Garment Technology. In this module there are two main areas, these are the analytical side and the practical side to garments. For the analytical part, we have to visit a range of stores and research into garment styles and features, find images and take pictures, and then analyse these to give us a greater knowledge about the differences found in each area. This knowledge is then applied into the practical side, to allow us to make a pattern and construct a garment featuring an aspect of this area. The first area we were given this year was hoods. Below is the page displaying the different types of hoods I found. These included those found on outerwear, dressing gowns and in academic dress. Below this are photographs of the hooded garment I constructed. The research in this module can also be used to inspire a wider range of designs in other modules and personal projects.

Images are from my camera and are of my work. Thankyou to Nathan Whitehouse for modelling my final garment.