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.