Fashions notes

TOILE DAIRY- RAINCOAT

So this week I began to toile and make my final garment for my sustainable brief, as I am short of time as I only have 3 weeks I decided I would use an old pattern and adapt it to my design. The pattern I used was an oversized coat, I followed the pattern to a size 18 to make it extra oversized

The basic block pattern- I added a 2.5cm button stand to the C.F and a 1.5cm seam allowance. This pattern was used for the front and back of my coat, cutting the front x2 on the fold and following the 1.5cm seam allowance line and cutting the back x1 on the fold following the C.F line

 Adding the sleeve

Here I used the slash and spread method to create more volume and  the shape I wanted to drop my sleeve in order for me to have no seams, it also created the rounded shape I wanted

At the bottom of my sleeve I wanted add a draw string feature with lots of volume, to do this I created a separate pattern piece with flare

 Cutting the pattern pieces out on fabric. The fabric I have used to create the basic layer on my coat is an old 'end of the roll' black out curtain fabric which I picked up from Abarkhan ages ago for about £3.00 and their was defiantly more than 0.5m left on it which was a bargain! and sustainable.

 The coat shape

 Guttering

As my coat needs to be sustainable and its a rain coat I have had a wild idea and I plan on putting some guttering on the back of the coat so it can collect water. I initially found some old guttering lying around in the garage and I thought about holding the ends on with and old Pepsi bottle, but I felt it would not look as slick as I wished as the colour is a contrast to the colour scheme I am following 

White guttering with ends- I plan on holding my guttering on the garment by creating two straps that will securely hold the guttering in place (I may need to glue my guttering to the straps to be safe)

Hemming the sleeve was tricky as the shape was flared, I had to cut into the first fold in order to get the perfect hem

I had to create a slit in the seam so that I could tread elastic through to gather it up for my volume 

 The facing

I added a retainer row on the facing to hold in place 

I feel adding the facing has finished my garment off nicely and finishes the edges to a much higher standard.

My coat up to now

Next week I have a list of things I need to do such as add my towels to the back of the garment and arrange the tubing in place. I want to then attach to my guttering which at the moment it is a work in progress... arrrrrr so much to dooo!!!!

oxo