STARTING MY FINAL COLLECTION...

After completing my toiles I finally have moved onto the task of creating my final collection. I started with one of the easiest designs to get it out of the way - the DESERTING DRESS. I made sure I took my time and over locked every seam. I then placed on the circles to the correct composition and pinned them securely. I still need to sew them to the fabric but should do that when I am sure I want them in that place. I am very pleased with the final outcome so far and am surprised how neat I have been and I have done all the steps in a logical order. All I needed to do was sew the darts, sew side and shoulder seams and insert the invisible zip, now all I have to do is sew the circles on and finish the dress and it will be done. What do you reckon?

LOOKING AT MY COLLECTION AS WHOLE...

After completing all of my toiles I pieces all the outfits together to see how they looked as a whole. I realised that the coat and jacket and trousers use similar deign lines so complement each other. Also the evening dress and the jumpsuit also complement each other with the use of the diagonal lines. I am really pleased with how they look and hopefully they should look better all in the same colour range and correctly constructed.

PROBLEM SOLVING THE DESERTING DRESS...

As I have completed the toile for my deserting dress I have realised that all my design lines don't match which means all of my patterns are incorrect. To problem solve this I had to amend all my patterns to become equal measurements on the front and back both sides of the patterns. I also had to change the neck line so it wasn't as high and take in the bust points to fit the body exactly. This caused a new problem of having higher armholes created by the excess bulk from the bust area. This meant I had to slice off a new shape of armhole and make it a lot larger and then had to replicate it on the opposing pattern. It fits down the side seams and all of the problems caused by that mistake have been corrected so fingers crossed it should go well for the final garment. All I have to do is sample Bias Binding on one of the shoulders to see if it will work for the finishing for my final dress.

TOILING MY DESERTING DRESS...

I have completed two toiles now and onto the third. I have started to pattern and toile my Deserting Dress which is next on my list of garments I have to make for my final collection. I started off my adapting the dress block pattern by creating two panels as the patterns didn't lie flat when I wanted to add extra flare. Then I traced off the new patterns for front and back and made up the basic shape. I then adjusted where the fabric gaped and amended the original patterns to make it fit the mannequin. The next step was to then draw on the design lines and used notches to show where the next piece fitted. I then sewed all the pieces of the front together and should attempt the back tomorrow.