COMPLETED LEGGINGS...

I have finally finished my leggings by attaching the final pieces to the base of my leggings. I had to improvise and create more pieces for the bottom due to the shapes not meeting the bottom so I had yet more shapes to attach but I finally did it. I am very pleased with them except for the crotch area as the piece doesn't quite fit with the stretch in the fabric pulling it away to create creases but hopefully it will look better on the model. That is the only problem with it really but I expected something to go wrong with the shapes as they doesn't go with the stretch of the Lycra. I can't wait now to get them photographed and it's something else to evidence in my portfolio.

LEGGINGS PROGRESS...

I'm finally getting there with my leggings, I only have a few more shapes to sew on now. Hopefully I should have completed them in a couple of weeks, when I get back to college. I have now resorted to hand sewing them on due to how I am finding using the machine too difficult and fiddly. I still find it difficult to hand sew the shapes on but I think it is a little bit more easier. Can you see the progress?

TRICKY PART - THE APPLIQUE...

After completing my leggings and the base to my design I then moved onto attempting to sew on the appliqued shapes in the neatest way possible. The first attempt with just pinning it to the leggings didn't work as it bubbled up giving it an unprofessional effect. Then I tack stitched the shapes on prior to sewing and then sewed over them and they sewed on neater and flatter giving a crisper finish. Now I feel confident with this design working but still need to make sure the PVC will work and sew on properly so will have to sample that before starting my final attempt.

CREATING CUFFS FOR MY LEGGINGS...

The same way I created the waist band I also created some cuffs to finish off the bottom trouser which in this case turned out quite nicely and were simple to construct. The only problem I could have would be that the leggings are extra long so if they don't fit the model I would have to turn up the leggings and re fit the cuffs to fit the new length. Like them?

CREATING A WAIST BAND FOR MY LEGGINGS...

In yesterday's pattern cutting lesson I managed to finish my leggings with a waistband and cuffs. This was a simple process as I had to fold over the pattern and pin to waist or lower leg and over lock to fabric. I found this quite easy to follow but I need to improve my technique whilst matching notches because I found that the stretch fabric moved and the notches didn't match up. I felt that the waistband work very well and fitted exactly so I was pleased with this method.

STARTING MY TOILE...

In the end I went with a flesh coloured Lycra from www.fabricland.co.uk
which was £5-99 a metre so was ideal to use for a Toile and the final leggings. I first started off by testing all the over lockers that were available to me to see which was the easiest to work with Lycra and the winner was in the Foundation Degree room. I then started by sewing the seams on the inner leg 1cm seam allowance up to the crotch area making sure all notches matched.Then I went onto sewing the crotch areas together matching them at the central notches with a 1cm seam allowance. Then I took it over to the mannequin and measured the waist to the stands size and realised it was about 2.5cm to big on both front and back so pinned it and took it in about 2cm from the front and back so it fitted. It still could do with a little bit more taken off but for now it's not such a big deal. That's all I managed to achieve from yesterday's lesson but I was working with stretch fabric so it took longer than expected.

LYCRA SAMPLES...

At first I found it quite difficult to find Lycra samples but then I started to come across companies that specialise in Lycra production and requested a sample. They all range in price but the ones I like are the most expensive so I will have to purchase a cheaper Lycra to Toile my garment in. The best company was Borovick fabrics as they sent me a selection of different widths so I had a varied choice. Most of them were in a flesh colour so it is visible up close but far way it's barely noticeable.


Which one do you think I should choose?

SAMPLING ON LYCRA...

After collecting my own personal collection of Lycra samples I thought it would be a good idea to start sample the PVC onto the Lycra to see which was the least challenging to work with. I found that the thicker Lycra was easiest to work with whereas the mesh was a little bit to hard to handle under the machine and folded over and turned up. I thought the non mesh types were the best and would definitely be using one of the plainer Lycras to create my leggings block.


Which one is your favourite?

TROUSERS 2 - SAMPLING...

Last week I started to sample different PVC types with different sewing techniques to see which one would work the best. I thought that my fabric choice could be interesting with the use of PVC on Lycra so I machined stitched and hand sewed different widths of PVC together to see which I would like to use for the final garment. I felt that the medium weights of PVC worked the best as they defined shape whilst still being manageable with sewing. Also the organic silk gave an interesting texture contrasting to the shiny surface of the PVC, so i might consider using this for my final design. I also had an idea to sew teeth of zips into the seams and felt that this sample worked out quite nice and would look better in a larger scale.


Which do you prefer?