Slice of Saturday Night. Re-making of Toile. Fitting then adjusting again.

After making adjustments to the original Toile and re cutting out the new adjusted Toile onto pattern making paper, I then cut out a whole newly adjusted pattern in calico again to make a brand new Toile. It was also decided to get the fit of the dress perfect for the actress that I was to make a complete Toile of the dress and not just one half of the dress. I not only did this for the sake of a good correct fitting for the actress but also to get the pattern exactly right before cutting it out in the final fabric as it would prove a costly mistake if I cut the final fabric wrong due to the cost of the fabric.

I also had to make a mock of the sleeve to attach to the Toile as the final piece was to have sleeves.
I was given a sleeve pattern in size 12 which I traced onto new pattern making paper as I needed to make adjustments to the sleeve size and design.

(The above pictures show the original size 12 sleeve pattern and the various stages on how I created a new sleeve pattern to fit my actress that would also have a slight gathered puffiness to it).

I slashed the pattern by making 2 cuts at a slight diagonal, going from the bottom of the sleeve, a little in from each side, up towards the top of the sleeve, going outwards towards the edge.
I placed the slashed pattern onto a new piece of pattern making paper, with a gap between each piece, to the measurement of the actresses upper arm and taped the slashed pieces down. I drew round the pieces to form a new larger pattern.
After cutting the new paper pattern out I pinned it onto a fine gauze fabric, similar to the fabric that would be used in the final piece, and cut this out. This mock in the gauze fabric would eventually be stitched to my Toile cut from calico. I decided not to use calico for the sleeve on the Toile as I did not feel this would give the correct look as it would be too thick and heavy compared to the lighter final piece and would not gather in the correct manner and would of given the wrong appearance.

Again I machined sewed in the shoulder and bust darts and gathered under the bust. I then sewed all the pieces together. I then stitched the skirt onto the bodice. Next I stitched up one side seam and before sewing the other side seam I attached my sleeve. (I had decided only to make one mock up sleeve). The sleeve was to have a slight puffy gathering at the top of the sleeve on the shoulder. I first did a running stitch to make the gather and pinned the sleeve in place before stitching. after stitching the sleeve across the top from one side of the sleeve to the other side, I then stitched along the side seam of the arm all the way down to the hem of the dress.
Finally I stitched up the back of the dress just below the waistline to allow the actress to get in and out of the Toile and this was also allow for the zip to be added in to the final piece.

(The mock-up/Toile of the outfit with a gauze sleeve and solid cuff attached).

We then again tried the new Toile on the actress and yet again we needed to make adjustments! God knows why or how but here goes:
*It needed the length shortening.
*The side bodice seams needed to be nipped in as I had been too generous in the width with my new pattern.
*The front 'V' neck needed adjusting and pulling in tighter.
*The back, zip area, needed to be pulled in.
*The sleeve needed to be shortened and also tapered in from the top to bottom as it was too full.
*The under-bust gathering needed to be moved over due to pulling in the excess on the front seams.
Overall I had been too generous still in my adjustments.

I was happier though with where the skirt and bodice seam now sat compared to where it had been on the original Toile, which was too low.

After the fitting it was back to the drawing board, unpicking seams and taking the Toile apart.

 

 

I had to make the sleeve pattern shorter and taper it in then placed the newly adjusted pattern onto the sleeve fabric I had unstitched and opened up again and then re-cut the sleeve, cutting off the excess fabric.

(The adjustments to the sleeve pattern).

The Tutor re-pinned the calico Toile to the newly adjusted size but had turned the Toile inside out so the pins were now on the wrong side.
I stitched up the sleeve seam and the actress came back in for another fitting, this time trying on the Toile inside out so any new adjustments could be made more easily and yes there was more adjustments to be made with the pins. We also loosely tried on the shorter, tapered sleeve on the actresses arm holding it to the shoulder seam to see how it fitted.
I also made a tubular piece of calico for a mock cuff to try on the actress and held that against the sleeve.

Its been quite a time consuming process to create a pattern from scratch to fit a person well and I do know that once I have re-sewed all the adjustments in place I will need to try it on the actress again. at the end of the day though it is crucial to get the dress fitting correctly and it is much easier to make all the adjustments on a cheap mock-up rather than spoil the actual fabric that will be used on the final piece as any mistakes could prove costly.

(Above is the Costume Designers final design for the outfit I am making along with the fabric that I will be using on my final piece).

I have now sewn along the seams of the dress where it had been pinned in. I have also sewed the fabric at the back tapering from the neckline down to a 'V' shape below the waistline as there was too much fabric at the back. I 've also cut some length off the dress as it was too long. I have also sewn the front seam along the pin line where it had been taken in and am now awaiting to try the Toile once again on the actress.