Make This Look: The Baba-blue Dress COMPLETED!

And here is it, in its beautiful tartan glory. It's soft and comfortable and in a messy bedroom! (I promise that at a later date, I'll take some better photographs when I get some time!

I was right, making this dress was definitely the correct thing to do. I am really happy with it. I used poppers instead of buttons which has made it really easy to wear. I stopped about 6 inches above the hem but at some point I'll add a few more poppers to make it fasten all the way to the bottom. I'm also not too pleased with how the bodice is shaped so I'll be adding some ribbon to create a waist belt like the inspiration dress had, by sewing ribbon into the darts. The collar could use some stiffener, but for the first attempt in what is likely to be MANY versions of this dress, I love it. Here's just the dress:

It looks quite school girl or uniform-like, so I might have to make some adaptations to fix that. I'd like to sort a version with essentially a really heavily gathered skirt so I can wear a petticoat underneath too! Undecided as to whether or not to make these in sizes to sell, or keep them as a commission only option for customers, since I'm sure others will love it as much as I do!

The next version will be in tweed and burgundy, and will be made before my next trip to Edinburgh in February so you'll all have to wait with baited breath!

Inspiration, Pinterest and Mugler

Inspiration is the key to most creative pursuits and can be found in many places. I like to use a combination of the outside world and other people's work as points for drawing inspiration.

The world really is a beautiful place, and it's easy to draw inspiration from it. As is well published in places all over the internet, I adore the city of Edinburgh. Despite being home to many people who are important to me, the colours of the city are wonderful. There are shades of stone and brick covered in an ooze of grey and black. The way that the evidence of industrial dust edges the bricks gave me oodles of inspiration toward my own works. Take notice of colours that occur in nature and the world that surrounds you, as they are often the most useful ones to use in collections and projects.

Another way of getting inspiration is studying the work of others in your field. In costumes and fashion, I am spoiled with a wealth of designers and illustrators of different varieties using different media and all getting different looks. This is another good time to mention Pinterest. All right, so it's also full of cookie recipes and a million things to do with empty toilet rolls, but it is also incredible for finding images that you like and storing them all in one place. I am currently a little bit obsessed with pin-up models and Vintage styles, and boy does that become apparent when browsing through my pages on Pinterest.
Looking at the work of others should be done in a critical way, not just an overall like of the piece. For example, a dress is not just a dress. A dress is a bodice and a skirt, it's sleeves or straps, it's thick hems, patterned fabric, plain fabric, odd colours, nice colours, bright, dark, rough, smooth... The list goes on and on forever. You can like a piece of work in so many ways, and identifying why you like it is a large chunk of coming up with your own ideas. For example, whilst looking for fashion illustrations, I stumbled upon a book about Thierry Mugler. It contained working drawings like this:

I fell instantly in love with the images, but for several reasons. I love the idea of distorting the models unrealistically to both shock the audience and display the details of the garment. I also really adore the impossibly tiny waists and massive 80's shoulders and hips. Identifying things like that is the best way to create your own work based on the influence of others. 

Don't think too hard.

Find things that you love and explore them.

Create your own work, don't carbon copy others.

Making Patterns: Reverse Engineering

I've been asked recently by several people to write about making and reading patterns. I sat and had a think about how I do it, and it took me ages to pinpoint since with an engineering background, a lot of the planning and drawing stages of garment construction are second nature. I thought it'd be useful to list how I go from a per-existing garment like a dress that I adore to a pattern that I can use again and again. There has been a little bit of pattern work in previous posts, so it might be worth a look back through the blog to have a check.

So, firstly, I like to place the existing garment on a dress form. If you don't have a dress form, you can make your own by putting on a loose fitting old t-shirt, then getting an assistant to wrap you up in duct tape, then cut you out of it all! Once it's on a dress form, carefully pin pattern paper (or tissue paper, or pattern tissue, or pieces of A4 taped together!) onto each panel of your garment along the hem to the next panel. Waistcoats tend to be three panels, and dress bodices tend to be three as well. Once you've pinned, carefully mark the panel edges, effectively tracing off the panel. Repeat for as many panels as the garment has, and then add seam allowances and make whatever adaptations you'd like, such as extra darts or less length.

Working from an existing pattern is simple, once you've had a practice. I started with a simple pattern for a 1950's dress, which took me an afternoon to make, even as an absolute beginner. When you open a commercial pattern, it has instructions with it that explain what all the marks and notes mean, and if it is a pattern that includes variations, it'll tell you which pieces you need to make what. Some patterns have a difficulty rating depending on the company that makes them and if they don't, I have always checked the reviews on the internet. Assuming you can understand basic sewing terms, you can use a commercial pattern with relative ease.

Got a question relating to patterns? Shout it out.

Freelance Work

I've only just started freelance work, but gosh do I love it! I love being able to sew someone else's work and get paid for it. I especially love how it expands my own portfolio in the process. If it hadn't been for sewing in Ava's Apparel and a mixture of freelance work in some form or another, my stitching portfolio would be teeny tiny!

Recently, I started using a website to manage my freelance side of things. It's pretty useful. You list your skills and update your portfolio of work then bid for jobs by offering quotes to others. So for example, a lady has just needed a seamstress for a shirt, I offered to do it at £8/hr which is my usual rate, and when she accepted it turned out she had ongoing work for me! If you include your price on your profile, buyers can also contact you. I had a lady contact me about children's jeans the other day, just because my price and skills were attractive. The method of personal message communication is easy and involves options at the side, so that invoices can be sent and paid really quickly, right from the message screen.

You can also place offers for hourlies, so I can sew your jeans up to the right length for £5 in 1 hour etc. It's a useful little earner too, from what I can gather.

The only downside really that I can see for freelance via websites is the 15% commission that they take. But then, for work that I wouldn't have had otherwise and things to add to my portfolio for getting into University, I can't really complain too much about that! I think in response to this, I'll just raise my hourly fee by 15%, and then I don't lose anything.

Want to have a go yourself?
The website in question is People Per Hour and it is a bit addictive, so watch out.

ModCloth and Vintage

That dress that I posted earlier, the ModCloth one. I can't stop thinking about it, I think I may have fallen in love. I've spent this afternoon cutting up patterns and fabrics to make my own version, and it's looking beautiful. There are only a few photographs so far, since I got a little bit carried away once I realised how devastatingly easy it is to put together such a cute dress. I also have a suspicious feeling that there may be 35 more in various colours and combinations over the next few months.

 The pattern that I worked with was a Simplicity one that came free by an absolute coincidence with a magazine, back when I could afford magazines. It's only half a dozen pieces, and they are all labelled really nicely. I enjoy working with  commercial patterns because they are often quick and easy to understand and make, so there isn't a great deal of mucking about between me and a brand new dress!

 There was a moment where I thought I might not have enough of my fabric of choice. The first plan was to make it all in black and white, until I started to hunt through my extensive fabric chest and stumbled upon this thick tartan that I thought would be perfect for Winter. There was just enough, I think there was about a meter and a half of it. I had to shorten the skirt pattern because I'm short, so the 30 inch skirt would have drowned my poor legs. I took it up to about 22 inches, with an inch for hem allowance.

 The bodice was easy to complete and the sleeves are a joy, look how adorable they are, all puffy and gathered. The skirt was also really easy, made of three pieces that you can gather separately or all together. The darts in the bodice give it a lovely shape and make my chest look brilliant. (What?! Isn't that the point, sometimes?!)

I am really getting into this whole vintage look recently, due to a love of strong, classically attractive women, pin-up and an easy life. I love how even though this dress covers the majority of my skin, it gives a great silhouette and allows the viewers mind to wonder! One of my idols once said:

'A dress makes no sense unless it inspires a man to take it off you.'

and this rings very true nowadays, with women who wear shorts no longer than their bum cheeks. Dressing like a lady has always been important to me, and the Vintage vibe is just another avenue to do that. Simple hairstyles have always appealed to me too.

I think once this dress is done, I'll invest in some tweed and some burgundy cotton for accents and really go for it.

Double Breasted Waistcoat: Part Two

So, I left you with the fabric cut out, and ready to be sewn together!

This is where it gets a little tricky. Sew all of the outer pieces together, a front piece to either side of the back piece. Once this is complete, sew one of the front linings to the front piece, making sure to have the right sides together. Next, stitch the remaining front and back lining together, and line up with the outer pieces, leaving the one seam between the first front lining and back open, like this:

Once you've stitched the lining to the outer, just turn it inside out, poke all the corners and iron it into the correct shape. Ironing at multiple stages during garment construction makes it look a lot better once complete. Stitch the shoulder seams, and close that gap inside using a top stitch but be careful only to stitch the lining. Line up and attach buttons and then bask in the warm glow of finishing a lined, double breasted waistcoat! Below are two photographs of the finished article and a fancy shot of the lapel/reveals.

Come on then, have you been following along? Show me yours!

Make This Look: The Baba-blue Dress

Absolutely besotted with this dress from Modcloth, so I was thrilled when I finally found a pattern that it would work from:

Isn't she beautiful? Well, as it turns out, one of the very first patterns that I ever got was the simplicity pattern needed to make one, before I'd even seen the dress. I'd condemned the pattern since the images on the packet were not very attractive, so it's been in a box for a year and a half. Funny how things change, eh. So today, after my long list of other jobs that I need to do, I'll be making one of these beauties in Black and Black and White Gingham. I love shirtdresses, and I love how this dress would be appropriate for so many occasions. It'd look adorable with heels or cute ballerina shoes, and a range of accessories. I'll do a post just based on me throwing together this dress, and maybe even one of me wearing it!

Double Breasted Waistcoat: Part One

I was sent a message from a customer about making a waistcoat from some reference photographs. It involved a double breasted style waistcoat made originally of tweed. I chose a similar fabric, but an alternative that is thinner and therefore cheaper. Keeping costs down for both myself and the customer has always been important to me.
Firstly, I studied the reference photos carefully. The waistcoat also has lapels, and two pockets. I used this information to come up with a whole new pattern draft, instead of adapting a previous one. I know that the chest measurement needs to be 40 inches, so the back piece needs to be 20 inches. This means that both front and back would need to be 10 inches wide plus seam allowance. Since this waistcoat is double breasted, the front piece needs to be extended by how much overlap we want, which in this case is 6 inches. The pattern looks like this:

The back piece is just the standard shape for the waistcoats, but the front piece is a lot more interesting. To work out the correct shape of the piece I drew the basic shape for a waistcoat front and then made the section to represent the lapel only. This then enabled me to get the correct shape and then attached it to the basic front.

After checking the pieces, I laid it out on the fabric and cut. The back piece was cut on the fold and the front piece was cut off the fold. Once cut, I laid the whole waistcoat out to check how it would look once completed. The button positions are taken from the original inspiration photographs and the pockets were added upon request. I'll likely move the pockets and make them a little bit smaller, and play around with the proportions and positions of things so it looks as close to the inspiration photographs as possible.

It's looking how I want it to, but I'm considering putting a facing on the lapels, to make them exactly the same as the rest of the waistcoat fabric. They are a slightly different colour due to being the 'wrong' side of the fabric.

Part Two to follow either later or tomorrow, then it'll be off to make a customer even happier, and even more well-dressed. Want your own? Contact me here: Ava's Apparel

How To Draw People (The Cheaters Way!)

Drawing people is one of the most difficult things to do, especially if you don't want them just stood there straight as a plank. I was recently taught this technique at college, and it's so simple!

Firstly, you need to find a magazine image of a pose that you'd like to recreate. Don't worry if it isn't perfect in terms of what you're after, since you can make adjustments once we get a bit further into the tutorial. I picked this image because it's sophisticated, which is how I wanted my models to come across.

Next, place a piece of tracing paper over the image, and just using lines, create the basic shape of the model. Use the centres of the limbs and circles to represent joints, then flesh out those lines to copy the models own outline. This is where you can thin out areas, bulk up areas, or change the pose a little. For example, you could move this models right arm to be on her hip too, just by moving the basic lines and then fleshing them out roughly. You might have to guess where the parts of the model are under the garments, but as long as it looks about right, it will work out fine.

Using another piece of tracing paper, transcribe just the outline of the model, along with any changes you've made. And you're done! Don't forget the head, not just the face so your models don't look pin-headed. This is also where you can stylise your models. I was using the designer Thierry Mugler to base my designs on and he uses tiny waists and broad shoulders, so I went from the image above, to this:

From here, you can then add clothing really simply, just like dressing up paper dolls when you were little! (Alright, so it might have just been me who had paper dolls, shush!)

Talk About a Delay

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I've been disappearing all over the place trying to get things set up to become a qualified costumier. This means I've started college again, studying Fashion and I've been applying to uni like mad! Currently, I'm eyeing up Edinburgh universities after I spent a week there back in October and loved the place. I'd be studying Costume for Theatre, so everyone keep everything crossed that all goes to plan.
Within Ava's Apparel, I've been expanding into freelance work. I passed 50 Etsy sales this month too, which is a great milestone. Somewhere between freelance work and the Esty store I can maybe afford to go back to being self-employed soon which is fantastic news.

So, down to business. What is it that everyone would like to see next year from Ava's Apparel? How about more dresses? More waistcoats and menswear? Perhaps you'd even like to see some of the design side of my work? All suggestions will be considered, as I've got plans to go back to having both the time and the money to develop new garments and even some one-off pieces. I can't wait to hear what everyone comes up with.

I've recently been a little bit enamoured with the 1940's, mainly because my hair is now long enough to force into victory rolls and pin curls, so please expect to see a lot of that coming through in my work. Right, best get back to making!