Gemma Wadelin

Blog for Independent Project

[gemmawadelin]

Final Evaluation

Making a costume for the National Theatre Hire Store was a great opportunity that i'm glad i chose, and have learnt a lot of new skills during the process. At the start of the project I was extremely overwhelmed with the amount of time given and the work load involved but looking back now I feel i have used my time wisely to complete both of these costumes in a short period of time.

The National Theatre supplied all the patterns, fabrics and decorations for the costumes which was a new experience instead of buying them yourself. The fabrics that were given to me were very frustrating and hard to use. I was given brown Taffeta for the top fabric for both Bodice and Skirt which was frustrating as whenever it was pinned it left a mark, and when unpicking it left a horribly noticeable line which was hard to get rid of. The Taffeta also frayed terribly, showing an orange colour, and after attaching the decoration to the skirt the gathered strip is starting to look rough and unprofessional. The pink lace fabric on the bottom skirt, I wish I had more of, because when Fiona came she thought it would be nicer if i could gather or pleat the bottom of the laced skirt to create a more floaty look rather than straight which is how i finished it. 

I feel if i had a bit more time during this project I probably would of gone back and fixed a few things i am not happy with or didn't finish to the best of my ability. I realised that the size of my placket is very small, and if i had given myself more time I would of gone back and recreated it. I would of changed the positions of my scallops of the top skirt to make sure they didn't pull on some of the pleats and also lowered the scallops some more. 

I feel I have enhanced a lot of my skills during this project. I have never been very good with keeping to a work plan but for this term to efficiently run smoothly i had to pay close attention to my time, and in this my time management improved immensely. A lot of my practical skills have improved as well including learning new techniques, applying decorations and improving both my hand sewing and machine sewing skills. Working in a team was difficult to grasp at first but as soon as Jemma and I started I knew we would work brilliantly together to create a well sewn decorative 19th Century Bodice. 

I have enjoyed working with the National Theatre and am pleased to know that my costumes will be in their Hire Store. On both of my garments there are things I would improve on or do again but the overall look of the Ball Gown is aesthetically pleasing and I am proud of the costume as a whole. 

Bibliography

Aubert, Frances. (2013). Civil War Ball Gown. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/445223113133223896/

Aubert, Frances. (2013). Civil War Ball Gown. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/445223113133223910/

Bishop, Katy and Pugliese, Patri and Barbara. (-). Ladies’ Evening Dress for the 1860’s. Available: http://vintagedancers.org/costume1860.html

Bradfield. N. (1995). Costume in Detail: Women’s Dress, 1730-1930. 2nd ed. UK: Eric Dobby Publishing Ltd

Fiona Orr. (2013). Evening Dress. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/147844800240217425/.

Harper House. (-). 1860’s Ball Gown Skirt. Available:http://www.longago.com/victorian2.html.

Kloecker, Kim. (2013). Ball Gown, 1854. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/nancymoser1/1860s-fashion-from-the-journey-of-josephine-cain-e/.

Kloecker, Kim. (2013). Ball Gown, 1854. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/439030663644491779/.

Lavenders Green. (2013). Ball Gowns. Available:http://www.lavendersgreen.com/Mid19th.html.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Collections; 19th Century Ball Gowns

The National Theatre Hire Store

Pinterest, (2014). Victorian Ball Gowns. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/gemmawadelin/victorian-ball-gowns/. Last accessed 20th Apr 2014.

Pinterest, (2014). Victorian Bodices. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/gemmawadelin/victorian-bodices/. Last accessed 20th Apr 2014.

Rees, Rick. (2013). 1842, Silk, Evening Dress. Available:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/438889926156526027/.

Vintage Victorian(2014). Skirt. Available:http://www.vintagevictorian.com/costume_1860.html.

V&A Museum - 19th Century

Waugh. N. (1954) Corsets and Crinolines. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd

Wolff. C. (2003). The Art of Manipulating Fabric. 2nd ed. Wisconsin: Krause Publications.

[gemmawadelin]

Finished Ballgown

Here is my finished skirt, and finished shared Bodice. Overall I am pleased with the look of the costume, and feel i have learnt a lot during this process. There are improvements that could be made especially on the skirt but I feel i have learnt new techniques, and feel a lot more confident in my abilities after completing this project.  

[gemmawadelin]

Weekly Reflection

WEEK SIX

The final week was a very productive one, on Monday Jemma and I draped the Bertha with help from Mark. 

At first Mark told us to make the lace go all the way around the bodice finishing at the front with a popper on one shoulder, so the performer could get into it. We had a problem with this as the back seemed like it needed to be snipped to make the neat curve as it wasn't sitting properly. We took it of and tried again, just incase, but it did the exact same thing. We showed Mark and suggested finishing the Bertha into the Centre Back with eyelets over the top and he agreed. We stab stitched the Bertha to the Bodice every 5/6cm to secure it down. 

We managed to completely finish the Bodice by Wednesday, with the eyelets secured. When Jemma and I went to the National Theatre the woman we were talking to said we didn't need to buttonhole stitch over the eyelets. We were going to wait till we had finished our skirts to see if we had time to complete the eyelets but neither of us finished our skirts before the weekend. 

For my skirt, after completing the longer gathered line and placing it back on the mannequin, i thought there was to much lace being shown at the bottom of the skirt. The proportions didn't seem or look right, and when Mark saw it he agreed, I explained that if i move the gathers down the shape of the scallops will become straighter and won't look as good. Mark came up with the solution to move the hem up to where the crinoline stopped. After completing the hem it looked a lot more proportionate.

[gemmawadelin]

Finished Bodice

Here is mine and Jemma's finished 19th Century Bodice. I am very pleased with the finished look and i am proud of the outcome. Jemma and I made a great team, and i am glad I had the chance to work with someone to improve my teamwork skills. 

[gemmawadelin]

Weekly Reflection

WEEK FIVE

I have managed to complete a lot this week, especially on the Bodice. All Jemma and I have left on our Bodice is to drape the lace for our Bertha and add the eyelets, which we will try and complete on Monday. 

On the 12th May after the National Theatre member, Fiona, left I managed to complete the templates for my scallop decoration and transferred them onto the left over taffeta top fabric. I had to attach two stripes together to make the scallops go all the way round the skirt. I also cut out long stripes to gather. I had completed the decoration by Friday and i attached it onto the skirt, after overlocking and topstitching. It didn't take long and it went on easily with no problems. 

After completing the decoration i used late night study to try and scallop the top skirt. I had some difficulty firstly i tried to pleat up to make the scallops but with this kind of fabric it didn't look or fall right, either way the pleat went. I tried to gather instead, and thankfully worked a lot better than pleating did. Placing the skirt on the mannequin I noticed the scallops looked quite straight instead of a nice curve, and it also didn't fall in the right place. 

Next week I will measure the bottom of the skirt again and position where the scallops with fall and also make the gathered line longer to make the scallops more curved. 

This week started very productive and I completed a lot, but the scallops on the top skirt have put me back but i am sure i will have time to complete them.

[gemmawadelin]

Bodice Construction

Jemma and I tried to get as far as possible with the Bodice today so we could focus fully onto our skirts later on. 

Today we re-did the sleeves adding the gathers, completed the Centre Back, herring boned the seams down, pleated and gathered the pink lace and attached it to the Bodice, piped the top and bottom hems, cut the bones and added them to the Bodice.  

Trying to attach the lace onto the bodice was tricky as we had to do it on the stand. We had to swing catch the lace to the bottom and then slip-stitch up the piped seams to make it look nice and flat.

We still had a lot of trouble attaching the sleeves, I managed to attach my gathered sleeve after a few tries but with this fabric, having to unpick, ruined the fabric and left marks where the sewing line once was. 

I'm proud of what Jemma and I accomplished today, we now have to attach the Bertha and add the eyelets. 

[gemmawadelin]

Visit from the National Theatre- Fiona

On the 12th of May a member of the National Theatre came to visit us, I had a few things to ask her opinion on on both Bodice and the skirt. 

For the Bodice Jemma and I asked about the decoration which included the Bertha and the lace being attached. To start with we were going to use the Taffeta, top fabric, material to make the Bertha and then add the brown lace at the edges. Fiona and Mark mentioned the Bertha would be to thick so they said to just use the lace. To fold it round three times to make it look more like a Bertha and then gather the pink lace, bottom skirt fabric, in the middle of the Bertha to join the bodice and skirt together. 

We also asked about the sleeves, as we were having a lot of difficulty getting them attached we asked if we could gather or pleat the sleeves. The top of the sleeves will be covered by the laced Bertha. She agreed and told us to gather them instead of pleat. 

I was still making the samples for the scallops decoration when Fiona came and wanted her decision on the size of the scallops. The large or small scallops as seen in the picture above. She decided on the smaller scallops as she thought it looks nicer having more of the lace showing rather than the large scallops taking the attention away. 

I also mentioned about the height of the top fabric scallops to see whether they were to high up and needed to be moved down more, considering the amount of lace she would want shown. She suggested moving the front half of the scallops to be moved down a little bit and then make it gradually get lower until you reach the back. 

I'm glad she had the time to come and answer our questions. I can now continue to make the decoration in the smaller size, and Jemma and I can complete the Bodice decoration. 

[gemmawadelin]

Weekly Reflection

WEEK FOUR 

I am pleased with the work i have been able to finish this week. I am further than i thought i would be with my skirt. I have managed to complete the placket and waistband, and have finished the hem on the bottom skirt layer.

For the waistband I hadn't done this waistband where you can't see any petersham, so it was a bit tricky for my to understand at first but i managed to complete it and am glad i've learnt this way as it is a lot neater without seeing the petersham. 

I had to refresh myself on how to construct the placket again, and had a little struggle with it, as i managed to make one side longer than the other, but it was an easy fix and just had to undo some of the waistband and move it lower to make it straight. 

I also completed my decoration samples and can now start to construct them on Monday. To make them perfectly symmetrical i feel i need to be very careful and slow on the sewing machine, to make the scallops the same all the way around the skirt. 

On Wednesday Jemma and I are working on the bodice to hopefully complete the bertha and pipe the hem.

[gemmawadelin]

Scallop Samples

Mark and Lucy both said to add a strip of the same fabric and pinking sheer both sides and then add some gathers instead of leaving it flat. It does look boring and not that nice to look at. The samples are also not perfectly symmetrical semi circles, so when i start the samples i will have to be careful when i'm sewing them together. 

Here's the gathered strip, which is a lot better than the previous sample, it looks more historical and detailed and we decided to use this decoration. 

For the size of the scallops, i made samples of small, (above) medium (below) and large semi circles. 

After showing them all to Lucy, we both decided on the medium sized scallop but to make the shape of the scallops more like the large size. 

After finishing and deciding the samples, I can now start to make on the decorations on Monday. 

[gemmawadelin]

Supplied Fabrics

In this project we were given the fabrics instead of having to source them ourselves. It was very useful to be given fabrics as if i had to source them myself it would of been harder in terms of time management. 

In my opinion the fabrics are different to what i might of chosen. The lace for the bottom layer of the skirt is quite modern and not very Victorian. The National Theatre hire department will predominately use costumes for the stage, so the audience wont be able to see the costumes up close like on the screen, and the lighting may be hiding some of the unhistorical fabrics. 

The fabrics that i was given were a Brown Taffeta for the bodice and skirt, which meant the Victorian Ball Gown will match perfectly together. They gave us lots of decorations, that could be used for both skirt and bodice to co-ordinate them perfectly. The skirt has got some lace fabric for the bottom layer that i didn't think was historically correct, but seems to work perfectly to make the Ball Gown. 

The costume administrators have a lot of experience sourcing fabrics for stage and the quality of the fabric that was given is strong and hard-wearing so could be used in multiple productions to come. 

[gemmawadelin]

Bodice Construction

After this week we have gotten a constructed bodice, we piped the seams, decorated the sleeves and then attached them on. We are pleased with how this went, and still need to start decoration and bindings

[gemmawadelin]

Weekly Reflection

WEEK THREE 

I feel this week was very productive for the Bodice and Skirt. We planned to work on the bodice all week, but ended up starting the Bodice on Wednesday as Mark was helping me with my Skirt and yoke. 

By friday Jemma and I had gotten the Bodice constructed, with the piped seams in and decorative sleeves attached. We decided to share the bodice equally by doing half the bodice each, i feel we work well as a team and help each other as we go. In the time we gave ourselves i am happy that we got this work done in this time and we are now ahead of schedule for the bodice. 

I made a toile yoke on the mannequin first and then made it out of cotton drill, finishing it off by bias binding the bottom. Making the yoke made it easier to attach the skirts together and i feel it worked quite well after pleating the top fabric and attaching it together. I now need to make the plackets and waistband to finish of the top of the skirt, and also start sampling the scallops to show Mark next week.

After this week i feel very positive with my work, I think if we try to finish the decoration for the bodice we can have it finished, so we can focus on constructing the skirt which will take a lot longer to decorate.  

[gemmawadelin]

Updated Work Plan

I have updated my work plan so it's more detailed than before. It shows what i what to complete by each day, i hope i can complete my work in this scheduled time. The work plan could still change depending on how far we get with the process next week. 

[gemmawadelin]

Weekly Reflection

WEEK TWO

This week we started on the Wednesday so we didn't have all week. Jemma and i agreed to start with the Skirt construction and next week we will work on the Bodice all week.

Wednesday started with draping the skirt in a calico instead of the top fabric, i'm glad i started with the toile as i had to change the thickness and depth of the pleats a few times. With my decorative skirt i have two layers as one layer will be scalloped so the second layer with the lace can be seen underneath. To attach the two skirts together i have to make a yoke so the waistband isn't really thick.To attach the lace onto the backing fabric i had to tailors tack it onto the fabric and then will need to sew it on next week 

After this week I feel capable of getting everything completed on time, as i feel i am ahead of what i initially planned to be at the end of this week. 

[gemmawadelin]

Skirt Construction

Today Jemma and I decided that the rest of this week we be focused on the individual skirt construction and then all of next week we will work on the bodice together. So we can try and finish the construction of the bodice by the end of next week, and have the decoration to finish off later.

I started by draping the toile fabric on a mannequin, I had a bit of a struggle to begin with as whenever i pleated it would start to gather and pull. Firstly the pleats were quite small, about 1.5cm, and assumed the size of the pleats is why it wasn’t sitting right so tried with bigger pleats, about 3cm. Mark helped me in the end by telling me to attach the centre back of the skirt to the crinoline, pin around the bottom of the skirt and move the fabric up from the bottom to then pleat. 

After showing Michaela and showing her the design and research she stated that if i wanted to do the scallop decoration i would need a lot more fabric at the bottom so i made the pleats deeper.

This picture shows the finished result. After re-doing the pleats the finished pleats are 4cm wide and 7cm deep, so that there is enough fabric at the bottom to scallop. 

I didn’t have enough fabric to go all the way around the waist so i had to draw the Centre Front line on the calico while it was still on the mannequin. 

I feel i could have accomplished more today but now the toile skirt is done, I can start working on the top fabric tomorrow. 

[gemmawadelin]

This morning we had a quick meeting with Mark so he could see if we understand what we have to do after the National Theatre trip on Thursday. We told him that we got our questions answered and explained some of the details he queried.

He would like us to present him with some samples of decoration, for the bodice and the skirt, before we decorate.  

[gemmawadelin]

Link to 'Pinterest' Boards

Here is a link to my Pinterest boards of Victorian Bodices and Victorian Ball Gowns. It just shows lots of different Ball Gowns from the Victorian era. I will continue to pin more images on to these boards as I go.

http://www.pinterest.com/gemmawadelin/victorian-bodices/

http://www.pinterest.com/gemmawadelin/victorian-ball-gowns/