Manufacture plan for under dress...

Recently I have been creating my final garment ready for the fashion show. Here is my manufacture plan to show how it was created and how I managed to solve any problems that I encountered during the manufacture. The garment that I chose to make for the fashion show was a visionary piece as I was very inspired by Viktor and Rolf in my research.

1)    Firstly I began by selecting my fabric that I wanted to use to make my under dress in, I found a transparent stretchy black fabric which I thought could work really well for my dress. After my fabric was selected I then had to start cutting my pattern pieces out of my fabric. I folded the fabric in half and laid it out on the table. I placed down all of my pattern pieces and once I knew that they were in the correct place I then began to cut them out.

2)    Once I had all of my pattern pieces cut out of my fabric I was then able to start to sew it together, I started out by sewing together my front panels. I placed my centre front panel and my front side panel right side to right side, I then sewed all the way down using a 1.5cm seam allowance. I repeated this again for the other side. I then over locked down both seams to make them closed seams.

3)    I was then able to start sewing together my back panels. I attached them to my front panels using the same process. Once my back side panels were attached I had to insert my zip into the centre back.

4)    I found a black concealed zip, I began by over locking down both sides of my back side panels. I had to figure out where to place the zip so that it was not visible. I lined it up with the very edge of my over locking, I was then able to start sewing down my zip using a zipper foot keeping it as close to the edge as possible, I was then able to repeat this again on the other side.

5)    Once my zip was attached I was then able to sew up the bottom of my dress by putting the right side to the right side and sewing along using a 1.5cm seam allowance, I then ironed the seam flat to create an open seam.

6)    I was then able to sew up the shoulders of my dress, I did this by turning the garment inside out and placing the right side of the fabric to the right side, I then sewed along the shoulder using a 1cm seam allowance. I then over locked along the seam reducing it by just over half and creating a close seam in order for it to sit nicer when on the shoulders.

Problems:

1)    When I was sewing together my under dress I encountered a big problem when inserting my invisible zip. Once I inserted it and zipped my garment up I realised that my back panels were uneven, this became a huge problem and was very noticeable. I decided the best way to overcome the problem would be to recut my back panels from my fabric then re-insert my zip.

2)    The second problem was that I was unable to find another black invisible zip, so I decided to use a black and silver open end zip as a feature on the dress. I re-inserted it into my centre back by over locking back down the back side panels then lining it along the edge of the over locking then sewing down using a one pronged zipper foot, I was then able to unpick the stitch on the garment, however I only unpicked to a certain point as I did not want my zip to be open ended therefore I did not allow it to open fully.

Fitting my garment:

1)    My garment a perfect fit for my model which I was very pleased with, however I did have to take it up by 1cm. I did this when I sewed my hem together. I folded over the hem and then folded it over again. I was then able to sew along the hem staying as close to the edge as I could to give a neater and more professional finish.

2)    I then decided on the neck and arms that I would like to bias bind them. I created my own bias binding using the same fabric I created my garment from. I laid my fabric out on the table and then drew a line at a 45 degree angle and then cut it out on the bias. I then sewed this along the edge of the neck line. I then folded the fabric down twice and then sewed along again keeping my stitch as close to the edge as I could.

3)    I was then able to use the same method for bias binding the arm holes on my dress. I lined it up with the edge of the arm hole all the way around, I was then able to stitch around the edge of it again keeping it close to the edge. I then turned down the binding twice and lined it up with the first stitch line and then sewed back around the edge.