Evaluation

The processes and toiles we carried out before constructing the final garment gave us a good understanding of subtraction cutting techniques and the ability to translate the techniques into a desired silhouette on our tailored jacket. Overall I think the jacket was successful in what we were trying to communicate.

First I will look at the successful elements of the jacket:

• The tailored section of the jacket and sleeves.
  
• The fabric choice worked well together.
  
• French seams on the chiffon created a nice effect.
  
• The transparency of the chiffon increased the effectiveness of the tunnels on the jacket.
  
  The following elements I feel were unsuccessful:
  
• The manufacturing of the lining front where the chiffon meets the silk – the shape meant we were unable to use French seams, instead they had to be overlocked.
  
• The ‘inside-out’ effect created from using French seams on the tunnels. While I feel that it created an effective outcome we were unaware that it would happen. Therefore it would have been useful to make a toile using french seams so that we would be aware of how the final jacket would turn out.
  
• The absence of photochromic printed design – as a strong element in our concept it is unfortunate that we were not able to demonstrate it on our jacket. However this is something that we explored deeply, it was just not possible for us to do with the time scale and cost restrictions.
  
  If we were to make the jacket again, with a larger time scale and budget the changes I would make would be:
  
• Spend more time working out the lining of the jacket to avoid the difficult area.
  
• Make a toile using french seams to see if there was any way to use french seams while keeping the jacket the same as previous toiles.
  
• Purchase the photochromic dyes and carry out sample testing to develop a dye which will work effectively which we could then apply to the jacket.
  

Final Jacket Photos

Sequence of assembly

• 
  Preparation:
  
• French seam front panel 1 to front panel 2.
  
• Press seam down.
  
• French seam front panel to back panel along sides and top.
  
• Press seam to back.
  
• Place front and back bodices on front panel, draw around marking notches and darts.
  
• Draw a curved line from bottom of front bodice to bottom of back bodice on either side.
  
• Continue the centre front lines down to the bottom of the front panel.
  
• Place circles on front panel where required, draw around.
  
• Cut out all negative space.
  
• On back panel, place circles where required, draw around and cut out negative space.
  
• Block fuse front bodice, undercollar and cuffs.
• Part fuse armholes and neckline on back bodice.
• Apply tape to neckline, and rever.
• Apply bridal strip to rever.
  
• Apply armhole tape to armholes.
  
  Front Panel:
  
  
• Lockstitch dart on front bodice.
  
• Press dart down.
  
• Lockstitch front and back shoulder seams together.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• French seam side seams together.
  
• Press seam to back.
  
• French seam circle A1 to A2 on both sides.
  
• Press seam inwards.
  
• French seam circles B1 to B2 on both sides.
  
• Press seam inwards.
  
  Back Panel:
  
  
• French seam circles C1 to C2.
  
• Press seam inwards.
  
• French seam circles D1 to D2.
  
• Press seam inwards.
  
• French seam circles E1 to E2.
  
• Press seam inwards.
  
  Collar and Sleeves:
  
  
• Lockstitch top collar to undercollar.
  
• Press seam open, trim, press seam towards undercollar.
  
• Lockstitch top sleeve to bottom sleeve on long seam.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch short seam on sleeve.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch side seam on cuffs.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch cuffs to sleeves.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Pre-ease sleeve head.
  
• Lockstitch Sleeve to armhole.
  
• Press seam towards sleeve.
  
  Facing and Lining:
  
  
• French seam top front lining to facing.
  
• Press seam to side.
  
• Overlock top front lining to bottom front lining on both sides.
  
• Press seam down.
  
• French seam top back lining to bottom back lning.
  
• Press seam down.
  
• French seam back lining to front lining at side seams.
  
• Press seams towards the back.
  
• Lockstitch shoulder seams.
  
• Press seams open.
  
• Lockstitch top sleeve to bottom sleeve on long seam.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch short seam on sleeve, leaving gap between notches on left sleeve.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch lining sleeve to lining armhole.
  
• French seam facing to rever and centre front on both sides.
  
• Lockstitch sleeve lining to cuff.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Lockstitch collar on the round.
  
• Press seam open.
  
• Trim corners.
  
• Stay stitch top collar seam allowance to undercollar seam allowance.
  
• French seam lining hem to jacket hem.
  
• Pull jacket through gap in sleeve lining.
  
• Lockstitch Sleeve lining closed.
  
• Press hem.
  
• Final press to jacket.

Measurements

In order to create the same shapes from the previous toile, my partner and I measured the placement of the front and back bodices and the circles. This way we are able to have maximum control over the outcome of the tunnels.

The green areas indicate the negative space which will be cut out. The purple arrows indicate the construction of tunnels.

Full size jacket - Toile 2

The second full size toile was made from a calico upper bodice and a sheer/chiffon is used for the bottom of the jacket. The use of a sheer fabric enables us to see the interaction of the tunnels in the fabric. This toile was successful, with no alterations needed we can move on to make the final garment.

Full size jacket - Toile 1

The first full size toile of the jacket proved successful, with just a couple of alterations needed. The dotted lines on the jacket below show the desired positioning of the circular shape. To achieve this we will position the first circle higher up on the bodice. The dotted lines on the rever show how much we want to take off to give it a slimmer look.

Fabric research

My partner and I have desided to keep the colour palette simple - white with a light grey for patterns. Below are some fabric swatches. We have focussed on finding different textured fabrics, some of which are sheer and some of which are not.

From left to right: Swiss cotton, 100% cotton, Metallic silk organza, 100% silk

From left to right: cotton/linen mix, cotton, cotton/polyester mix, silk, heavy indian cotton, cotton/linen mix.

From left to right: silk/polyester mix, 100%silk, 100%silk.

The fabrics below are the ones we have chosen to use for our jacket:

Cotton

Silk Lining

Chiffon

Subtraction cutting and non verbal communication

Non verbal communication focuses on the interaction between people in many ways. My research has focused on interaction in terms of movement, proximity and body language. Subtraction cutting reflects the idea of interaction: tunnels can be viewed as non verbal ‘conversations’ – two circles communicating together to create shapes and patterns with their outcome and effect on the rest of the jacket relying on their proximity and interaction with one another.

Toile 3

The third toile of the half size tailored jacket we made was very successful and created a desirable silhouette. Below is a design page featuring the final outcome.

Review of design

• The joining of the circles on the back created a much more interesting shape.
• Length too long at the back.

Alterations

As we are fairly happy with the outcome we will be making the next toile full size to see how it fits on the body. There are a couple of alterations which we will make:

• Move the bust dart higher up on the sleeve to create a nicer shape.
• Shorten the jacket when on the stand.
• Add a cuff to the 2 piece sleeve.
  

Toile 2

We produced the second toile applying the noted alterations. Below is a page demonstrating the outcome.

Review of design

The second toile was much more sucessful. Elements which didnt work are as follows:

• Circles were placed in the same place on each front side, but one side (side A) was constructed by joining circles in close proximity to each other, whereas the other side (side B) joined circles which were further apart (in length). Side B was successful, whereas side A wasnt.

The back was much more sucessful, with the circles joining as follows:

While it was successful, we would like to try joining the circles in a different way to see what other silhouette it can create, however the placement of the circles will stay the same.

Alterations

While this toile was sucessful we will be making the following alterations:

• Replicate Side A on both front sides.
• Replicate placement of circles on back but change the joining to the following:

• Cut on the stand to reshape the back.
• Add on collars and Revers.
  

Half size jacket - Toile 1

We have decided to work at half scale in order to develop our jacket as we have anticipated that it may take several toiles to gain the desired effect as we are still new to the subtraction cutting process. Below is a design page showing the process and end result of the first toile.

In this toile we experimented with using squares and circles to create tunnels. As shown on the image above, one half of the jacket front used squares, he other circles, each decreasing in distance from one another down the jacket. On the back, we placed a pair of squares on the back bodice, and more on the opposite side of the 'sack' at the top and bottom of the back.

Review of design

As a whole the first toile was not very successful for the following reasons:

• Squares proved difficult to sew together - they twisted the fabric too much.
• The length of the fabric 140cm, was too long.
• There were too many tunnels on the front bodice.
• The placement of the squares/circles were too close together - this left little room for the fabric to hang/drape.
• The placement of the squares on the back bodice caused the fabric to bunch up and render the garment unwearable.
• The placement of circles/squares on the back was unsuccessful - it caused the fabric to bunch up at the bottom, giving the back little shape.

Alterations

For the second toile we will make the following alterations:

• Use circles only.
• Remove squares from back bodice.
• Shorten length to 110cm.
• Place the back bodice 1cm away from the top seam on the 'sack' - this will create a yoke effect.
• Use a fewer number of circles on the back of the jacket - NB only at the top of the jacket - leave the rest to hang.
• use fewer numbers of circles on the front bodice - 2 sets on each side.

Subtraction cutting for a tailored jacket

To combine and develop our ideas, my partner and I have decided to work on creating a tailored jacket using the subtraction cutting technique. The idea is we want the top half and sleeves of the jacket to be tailored, then subtraction cutting to be used from the waist downwards. The clean lines of tailoring will contrast with the random haphazardness of the subtraction cutting.

Design page 15

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Design page 3

Design page 2

Design page 1

Concept page 10

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Concept page 2

Concept Page 1

Group ideas

In order to collaborate my ideas with another person, my partner and I decided to first create a spider diagram illustrating our oncepts and how they link to one another. Common themes we found were:

• changes in body temperature from wither internal or external stimuli - thermochromic textiles
• hidden messages
• photochromic dyes - pigments which are only visible under the suns UV rays
• subtraction cutting.

Body Mapping

Using images of body language I have produced a series of body mapping to aid my silhouette and panelling in design. They look at different types of body language, i.e. nervousness, angry, open, etc. For example, a typical feature of body language when someone is angry is placing their hands on their hips, this has been translated into a silhouette.

Body Language

"The body is the only direct way through which I know society and society comes to know me. The body is proof of identity. The body is language.”

Zhang Huan 1999

Body language is one of the biggest areas of non-verbal communication. Despite cultural differences it is something which is universal around the world and is often instinctive - i.e. narrowing of the eyes when angry, covering the body with hands when uncomfortable. Below are some images demonstarting different body language, the lines of the body will act as panelling and silhouette detail in my designs.