Diary of making

Firstly I made my toiles, these were very basic but gave me the idea of the shape and sizing of the garments. To do this I took my pattern pieces which I made from my bodice and trouser blocks, and then cut out the pieces in scrap calico I had spare.

Once I had my toiles I started making my final garments. To do the trousers I made one large piece of fabric out of denim patches which I had previously already sampled, then I put my pattern piece with the side seam eliminated and a zip in the side. Next I added poppers which would later allow the leg to open up from the zip and attach higher on the leg.

Then I created the other leg by sewing a calico base together by the side seam and attaching scrap patches and different parts left over from the jeans in which I cut out the patches, this gave the leg a random crazy patchwork design and ultimately made the leg look very cool with multiple working pockets throughout.

Once I had the two legs together I joined them at the centre and started to attach a waistband. The waistband was made from a trouser leg and spare belt loops with a button hole and button to fasten them, they joined to the Jean trousers lining the button up with the zip which was put already into a patch on the larger leg. This gave me my final trouser design. I chose to leave the hem raw as it gave the workwear look I was trying to create and the worn look of the garment.

To make the bodice puffer I first cut two layers of fabric from multiple shirts and fabrics which I got from the charity shop, once I had these I joined the two layers together and then attached the front to the back at the shoulder eliminating seams on the outside.

Then became the tedious task of shredding fabric to create stuffing for my bodice. This was very time consuming and it was mostly made from denim and left over calico. With the stuffing I created I began to stuff the bodice from top to bottom. One problem I ran into was the little amount of scrap stuffing I had which made me have to change my design idea and not stuff the back of my bodice, this change was actually useful and I prefer the design now. With the double layered garment it gave the bodice multiple looks creating interchangeable designs. This was developed further as I finally added patches to the back before closing the bottom of the garment and finishing it.

With that done I had my final two garments created which overall incorporate sustainability throughout using only £4.00 overall for all the materials used.