Stringing the Tutu

Stringing a tutu is where you have to loosely sew the layers of the tutu together to make it lie as flat as possible, it compacts it together a bit more and stops it looking so fluffy. I didn't even know that a tutu had this but after stringing it I could see the difference it has made.

Another method I used to flatten the tutu was to lay it on a flat surface then put something heavy over the top of it, or you could put it under your matress and sleep on it. It is left for a few days then taken out, and this flattens it even more.

I think these two methods are quite specific to tutus so I don't know whether they will help me a massive amount with future projects but if I am working with lots of layers of net I have learnt a way to control it and make it lie how I want. I also now understand the tutu much more and how thy get them to lie flat like a pancake.

Hooping the Tutu

On the 7th layer of net there is a hooping channel which is just a strip of net with a straight stitch either side, this should of been sewn on before the net was pleated but I didnt do this so had to struggle and sew it on when all the tutu was together. Once the channel was sewn on I then needed to push a piece of steel crin through the channel, this had to be exactly the right amount to make the tutu lie as flat as possible.

I really struggled with this and it was at this point that I was thinking "do I really want to do dancewear?" I spent ages pushing more crin in then taking more out then once I thought I had got it right and put it on the mannequin it didn't sit right so I had to try again. I think it was at this point that I started to question if this was what I really wanted to do because it frustrated me so much and it seemed that at every stage I had made a small mistake and had to go back, but then that has made me learn and with everything it will never go perfect first time. I'm still not 100% sure I want to go into dancewear I think I will know when I have the completed tutu in front of me. The images below show before the crin was right and after.

Midway Reflection

Overall I have enjoyed making a tutu, although there have been times when I have found it really stressful. I think that I have coped with everything very well, such as the mistakes with the bodice fabric wrinkling. I am happy with my tutu so far but think that if I had made one before I could of made it to a much better standard but seeing as it is the first time I have ever made one it has been quite difficult because everything is so new to me. I know that it is not perfect at this stage but it is to the best standard that I could have done. We have been having tutorials every week which I have found very useful because the timing seems to work well, we get told what to achieve over the week and so far I have been successful in doing this. It would have been nice to be more independent on this project but seeing as I have never made a tutu before this was the only way I could of achieved what I had done. Although I have not been completely dependent, for example with the dyeing it was our decision and I think we made good choices as the colours all work well. Also the pleating and hooping was completed to how I thought they should be and this worked in my favour because they were finished to a good standard.

I have enjoyed SDP because although I have had weekly tutorials I still have independence, it is up to me when I come in to uni and the hours that I work. I have been working to my timeplan as best I can and this has worked in my favour because throughout the project I have not got behind on work. I think it has prepared me for third year because I can see how independently we need to start working and I feel that I will cope with this well as I am quite organised and know how I work best. It has also prepared me because we have had to work so precisely and the costume has had to be perfect as it is for a client, so this has taught me to take time and ensure that every task I carry out is right before moving on.

I think that SDP has also taught me what it will be like to work for a client, the costume has to be perfect. For example having to undo the bodice because of the fabric wrinkling was because it was for a client, if this was just being handed in we probably would not of decided as a group to do this. I haven't had a fitting with my client yet but I think that I will learn alot more from this.

Problem with the Bodice

After a long tutorial with my tutor we decided that the top fabric of the bodices did not look neat enough due to the type of fabric it had wrinkled quite badly after being sewn. Therefore we had to make the decision to undo the bodices completely and put interfacing between the drill and top fabric to make it lie smoother. This added another day of extra work onto what we already had to achieve but made me realise that when you have paying customers it has to be perfect and our bodices just weren't.
The images below show before and after putting an interfacing between the drill and top fabric.

Making up the Bodice

Once drafted I could start cutting my bodice pattern out of my top fabric. It is backed in cotton drill. When cutting I had to be absolutely sure that everything was being cut on the right bias or straight of grain. I learnt a useful technique of cutting the pattern pieces which was after I had cut the cotton drill pieces to press them one at a time to the top fabric then pin and cut. This was effective because it ensured that the pattern piece was lying flat and just made it easier to cut around. This method will be useful for anything that I make that has to be backed.

Once all the pieces were cut I then had to tack the layers together, as I said earlier in my research in order to be more prepared to work in the industry I have to speed up and tacking is one thing I feel i need to do this. So when tacking I tried to speed myself up a bit which did help and made me realise it doesn't have to be perfect because it is going to eventually be removed anyway.

When it came to sewing my bodice together I learnt another useful tip for when making a bodice or corset which is to pin the pieces together so that each seam the pins heads will be facing opposite directions then when sewing the pieces together sew in the direction of the pins as this prevents the bodice from being distorted by the machine.

It is small tips like these which will help make me a more precise maker and perfect my skills.

Dyeing the Fabric

In a group tutorial we had decided on the colours we would dye our fabrics, these were: light pink and blue, dark pink and blue and lilac. We all decided on the colours we would be dyeing and started to dye the top fabric, viscose ( for decoration) and the top layer of net. After spending the most part of a day in the dye room we found that dyeing gold was not the easiest fabric to dye the colours we wanted, in the end lilac dye worked to create my colour which was the dark pink. Then the net had to be dyed numerous times to get it to match the pink in the gold fabric. We decided to scrap the viscose because it didn't match at all and would of just looked tacky.

When working in the dye room it make me realise how important communication is when working in a group because we helped each other so much to get the right colour which sped the process along, (hence how I found that lilac created the pink I wanted).

Drafting the Bodice

To draft a bodice for a tutu it is easierst to draft it on the stand pinning black tape to the mannequin becuase the lines of the seamlines is extremely important in flattering the body. After learning how to do this I started drafting my own bodice, making sure it was as flattering as possible, I could then pin calico over the top of my drafter pattern. This became the pattern pieces.

This was a really useful technique because it made the seamlines and the shape of the bodice on the body really clear. I enjoyed using this method and will definately use it in the future because it works well with how I personally find it easiest to pattern draft by seeing what I am going to make in 3D pattern form compared to the 2D method I have used before.

Due to the limited fittings available I didn't have to draft my bodice from scratch. I was able to use a bodice pattern and just alter it to fit my dancers measurements. This method is used in the industry to save time and was a useful method to learn for when I am limited on time.