Construction of black dress

I have begun to construct the black dress. The fabric is tricky to work with and I have had a few problems trying to get it to work. But I have successfully put together the top part of the dress including the binding around the armholes. It is looking good at the moment and I am hoping it will look as good once I've finished.
I have yet to install the zip into the back of the dress and attach the bottom, I am currently working with the positioning of the pleats around the dress. Trial and error is the best way to figure out where the pleats are ideal. Adapting the pattern has meant that I am unable to use the pleats and lines suggested by that, this has made it slightly more tricky. Unfortunately the black fabric has shrank a little since washing it, meaning the pattern pieces were all slightly smaller than the cream one, this has meant that I cannot use the same measurements for pleats.
It has taken a little longer than I initially anticipated, but will be finished completely for my photoshoot which is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Finished cream dress

I have finished making the cream dress and have put a belt on it to pull it in at the waist. Here it looks slightly feminine, but I am convinced that in the photoshoot, when modelled on a man that it will fit with my androgynous theme.
The hardest part of the construction was placing the zip in the back. It runs a long way down and is designed to be hidden. Lining up all the seams was a challenge, taking time and patience to ensure the final look was to a high standard. I am going to move straight onto constructing the black dress, with more experience of how the pattern works, it should be easier to figure out. I have decided to leave the bottom un-hemmed to let the threads dangle down, giving a distressed feel like that of the building.

Second dress construction

I have started to construct my cream dress. This involved sewing all the front and back panels together and neatening the armholes with binding. Unfortunately there was none of the digitally printed fabric left to bind the armholes which was not ideal. I have improvised by using plain calico to tie the top with the bottom of the garment. The fabric isn't as flexible as I wished for garment creation, but hadnt realised this before the beginning of construction, this was an error on my part and ideally I would have used thinner calico. I have to organise the positions of the pleats yet which is proving a challenge, but they are a crucial part of the shape of the dress and how it falls, so I want to take time and care over them to make sure they are exactly right.

The collar has has interfacing placed on the back so that it keeps its upright position and stays shaped. This is an important step to keep the shape of the dress. The pattern contains brief instruction, but I have figured out most of the pattern myself as I have adapted it to fit my needs, and this slightly alters the instructions. I am sure that this will be finished by the end of the day.

Front

Back

Screen printing my final dress

Using special ink and a personalised screen I was able to screen print the text rather than stencilling it on. It ensures less mistakes and is more precise. It took until 8 at night to do my negative prints, solidly working all day, but less time to do my cream dress as i was more used to printing the text without blocking the screen. One the screen is blocked the ink wont press through and it has to be washed, this is frustrating when printing large pattern pieces. I enjoyed printing and believe the pieces of the dress have been done to a high standard. A few parts went wrong and full pieces had to be redone, but I wanted to ensure that each part was done the best I could.

Pinned up dress

Ive only pinned it together at the moment, but you can see the way it will look when its sewn together. I am pleased with the outcome and am excited to sew it all together. After pinning it on to the mannequin today, I was then able to over-lock the edges to ensure no further fraying occurred on this fabric. After it had been washed the fabric unfortunately shrank and frayed.
I still have to decide where I want the pleats and how the dress will fall, I know that I want structured pleats as a pose to gathering as this adds the much needed masculinity to the garment.

Printed Pattern Pieces

Using special fabric and discharge screen printing I have been able to effectively bleach the colour our of the black fabric. The discharge ink attacks the dye molecules of the fabric and  alters the colour. It took a whole day from 9am-8pm but it was well worth it. I then steam ironed the fabric to chance the colour and washed the excess ink off. I will be making all these pattern pieces into my garment, but before that I have to overlock the seams. The effect is unusual and I really like the way it has turned out.

Digitally printing my fabric

After experimentation with screen printing on top of my digital prints I have decided that for the top of my second dress I will use a busy digital print using an image from the brewery. By layering the image up on the programme for the digital printer I have been able to create my own design on the fabric using my primary photograph below. I want to experiment with putting text over the top of these and see what works best.