Sew you think you can sew

The design and creation of 3 original pieces

Initial Prep

Body Block

What’s a body block?

• A body block is a generic pattern drafted using a person's specific measurements
• Body blocks are used to create new original patterns to perfectly fit
• I used The Costumer’s Handbook directions to draft my body block pattern
• Body blocks don't usually turn out perfect on the first try so some seams need to be taken in and those adjustments should be transferred from the piece to the pattern to ensure accuracy whenever you use it again

The pattern of the front of my body block

The pieces of my body block, with the darts put in

Me in my torso body block

Background Information

• Both of the materials I used I found around the house, the purple stretch had initially been a part of a halloween costume a few years ago
• I used old sheet sets and extra pillowcases to create my body block(see next slide), mock ups, and to line one piece
• My mom designed her wedding dress, studied technical theater in college, and has experience with costuming and some garment sewing so I used her and a book on pattern drafting as my main resources
• I have some generic sewing experience and did my fair share of altering and redesigning some of my old clothes over the summer

Gold Top

Inspiration + Design

Material

Sketch

Process

• I used my sketch and body block to create an initial pattern
• I created a mockup using the pattern and made adjustments to the pattern based on what needed to be done to the mock up
• This mock up ended up needing to be remade because of the nature of the adjustments so I made a new pattern and mock up

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My initial pattern pieces.

My first mock up from my initial pattern

My new/updated pattern pieces based on my mock up

Process Cont.

• Because the fabric I used was stiff and frayed easily I fused interfacing to it and zig-zag stitched the edges of all the pattern pieces to prevent fraying
• Using my updated and new pattern pieces I put together the gold top and attached my mock up as a lining because interfacing is itchy
• I attached the lining by attaching the zipper between the gold fabric and lining and finishing the edges of both together, I didn't need to connect them anywhere but the edges
• The straps are 2” strips, finished on the edges with a zig-zag stitch and were attached when the lining and outer edge were sewn together

My mock up with the new pattern

My final product!

My pattern pieces lined up on my fabric

Purple Dress

Inspiration + Design

Material

Sketch

Process

• Using my body block, a dress with similar stretch as this fabric, and my sketch I drafted a pattern
• Because the material is stretchy making a mock up wouldn’t make sense since it wouldn’t be stretchy so used safety pins to mark my material and pin it to my body block to put on in order to make sure it would fit
• Because the stretchy material will stretch to fit curves, the pattern for the front and back was the same
• Once I confirmed the pattern would work I transferred it to my fabric

The patterns for the top and bottom of the dress

Me with some of the material pinned according to the pattern to test the fit

The 2 pieces of the back of the dress top pattern transferred onto the material

Process Cont.

• I sewed together the top and bottom parts of my dress separately and then connected them
• I had 4 instead of 2 back pieces so I could put a zipper down the middle of the back and attached it after the top and bottom were put together
• I sewed together the 2 halves of the strap
• When I tried on the dress for the first time the sleeve was too loose so I shortened it

The pieces of the top and bottom of the dress pinned together for sewing

Final product!

Purple top

Inspiration + Design

Material

Sketch

Process

• Using my body block and sketch I created the pattern for my top
• Because I wanted this top to be a precise fit I made a mock up with the idea idea in mind that the final product would be taken in at the back
• The mock up fit exactly how I wanted it to so I cut out my pattern pieces and stitched them together
• I made the band on the lower part of the top tighter than the rest of the top so had to stretch it as i stitched them together which was challenging

Pattern pieces for the top

Mock up of the top

Finished product!

Pieces of the top cut out of the material

Reflection

• I’ve developed my sewing skills a lot through this project, especially working with stretch material and zippers
• Designing, sewing, etc is something that I could potentially end up pursuing and I hope to at least keep it up as a hobby
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