Finishing first term with a smile (:

The first term of school ended in 2012! I'm actually into my second term. A little late for a complete update of term 1. But better late than never right?

I shall share all my final projects here. I'm proud of my work. But they are really amateur so I have my own criticisms about it. I'm just proud of the fact I did it all myself from start to end, and that they look pretty good.

Let's start from Drafting 1. The final project consist of a skirt and a (matching) blouse.

I picked my skirt from Max Mara.It's a pegged skirt with gathers at one side. So that makes it an asymmetrical skirt. However I must clarify that I think the actual skirt is symmetrical (with gathers on both side). But me and my lecturer decided to go with the picture.

My first attempt was a disaster. I used poly sateen, mid weight. Turns out I had slashed too much in my drafting that the weight of the fabric made it look like a bandaged skirt or something. Simply a disaster. Too painful to even see it.

 Thus, given I have a few days left to submission, I decided to scrape the entire thing and draft it all over again. This time I found a lighter weight poly sateen. But I absent-mindedly forgot to make it a pegged skirt. There wasn't enough time to redo so I just submitted this blue skirt.

Conclusion:
I had belittle this skirt. From the picture I thought it was a simple one. Only when I started to draft it then did I realise the nightmare I got myself into. It's a freaking asymmetrical skirt! I was the only one in class to do an asymmetrical skirt. Nightmare in the drafting. But important lesson learnt was that the weight of my fabric could make a world of difference in my drafting decision!


Now for the second part of my Drafting 1 Final Project.

I chose a blouse from Red Valentino. A cute denim short and puffed sleeved blouse.

 To match this blouse to my skirt, I chose a floral poly sateen fabric. I had a hard time thinking about the type of fabric to use to make this design look good and yet match my skirt. And I actually dream of my solution! Amazing.

Conclusion:
I'm very very proud of this garment! I had so much fun in the process. Even though the sleeves gave me a bit of problem (my draft made the sleeves too big that it droop like a droopy breast), I had fun in using the buttonhole function of my sewing machine! Love the pearl-like button too.


Draping 1 project require us to drape and sew a skirt.

I picked something from Max & Co.. This skirt has two layers of peplum. So I thought it would be a challenging lesson to learn in draping.

 This is how my draped skirt look like.

And the Final submitted skirt look like this. Someone comment that it looks like a cute octopus. Can't decide if it's a compliment or insult.

Conclusion:

Turns out the double layer of peplum was not only a challenge in draping it, but also sewing it together. Also by that time, money was running very very low (my allowance was 2 months late). I tried to use a fabric that I already owned. Later than I recall that this was one of my more pricey fabric that I was saving for a long maxi skirt for myself! Back to the topic. I screwed up the length of the lower peplum. But to deal with the submission time, I had to just solve it as a sewing problem - I eased in the extra. Proud of myself for thinking of that under the circumstances. And when I was taking the photo then I realised my zip was done very poorly. And the darts don't seem to sit well. I haven't figure out what was wrong. Need to wait till I get it back.


Sewing 1 Final project wasn't exactly like a project. It felt like just another of our in-class assignments.

We are suppose to sew a Men's Bermudas. But the style is so out of fashion.

Conclusion:

Nothing much to conclude. We had 3 lessons to do this with Jenny's guidance. It wasn't that bad. But definitely not perfect. I still have to work on being able to sew my seams properly without he existence of a magnet guide.


That concludes my first term at this school. It's a hectic schedule with make up lessons everywhere (especially when we had drafting on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday - it just make our deadlines very close and make our life a living hell). In addition, my allowance from e2i was 2 months late (3 months later than my anticipated date). So with savings depleted and small loans from my family, the last 1.5 months was very hard. I even came to the point of having only $20 a week to survive - half of which needs to go to my ez-link card. I learnt a harsh lesson this time round. But I'm glad I survived it. I did the best I could under those circumstances and carried the pressure well.

Oh please visit my facebook for better pictures of all the above work: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151179212977285.444891.704612284&type=3

Well this term starts off on a good foot. But it's hard to kick off into work again cos the 1.5 weeks of holidays leave me craving for a longer holiday. So far I only had one module. This new teacher is nice yet strict. At least she maintains some sort of discipline and order in drafting class. And thank god I did not get the teacher(s) I dread! If not it will be one nightmarish term. I'm keeping my fingers cross that I will get Jenny again for sewing, and hopefully the same nice teacher from drafting, for draping. Oh did I mention, we're doing tailored garments for ourselves for drafting! Yippe! I can make clothes for myself and I can finally learn how to make tailored clothes (and to learnt o make adjustments to make sure they fit)! I'm excited!