Finishing garment construction

Yesterday, with the help of Fiona, I managed to finish the construction of my final outcome, my apron dress. Originally I had planned to make a toile from calico first, to give me the opportunity to experiment with placement of my print and embroidery, and then make up my final outcome after I had made those decisions. But due to time constraints and the fact that I have chosen to make my final outcome out of undyed calico anyway, we made the decision to make the toile the final garment. Luckily I had been very neat with my cutting and sewing anyway so it was just a case of overlocking the raw edges before I finished sewing it all together.

I forgot to take a photo of it on the mannequin, but this was me laying out on the table so I could get a better idea of how to draw it as a flat so I could decide of the design placement of my print and embroidery.

Sampling

I began sampling with fabric today. I started by experimenting with how I could use the embroidery transfers in way that would be different from their original intended use.

First I ironed on a transfer, and then painted the image with procion dyes.

Then I did the same, but machine embroidered the outline of the image in dark brown before painting with the dyes.

I also experimented with how it would look like if the dyes bled through the outline. I achieved this by dampening the areas to be painted first with water.

I like how both effects have turned out. They reminded me of a vintage souvenir scarf that I have. My mum told me that both my samples and the scarf look like a technique used to decorate ceramics called 'clobbering'. This is when a transfer is fired on to ceramics and then children hand painted the design, which is why the colours go outside the line.

The sample below was inspired by a variety of visual inspiration that I had collected for my Pinterest board.

The collage below was taken from a similar picture of seedlings in pots from my visual research and I decided to use the seedling motif in a similar way to the textile artist Viv of Hens Teeth who I have mentioned in a previous post.

The above print and ariel shot of allotments below immediately suggested a patchwork design to me. I want to evoke the mismatch rows of plots whilst still keeping a certain colour harmony with the varying shades of green. Unlike a traditional patchwork the plots are a bit higgledy piggly and rough around the edges, so to suggest this I will try to create a patchwork effect by using a appliqué technique.

Mixing procion dyes and finalising a colour palette

My colour palette is inspired by the wildflowers on and around my allotment that are in bloom during May. My decision was also influenced by my grandmothers embroidery transfers. I specifically only selected the late spring early summer blooming wild flowers.

The procion dyes that I have mixed for my colour palette are called:

'Leaf Green' and 'Dogrose'

'Lilac'

'Bluebell'

'Buttercup'

I will also using a dark brown called 'Fertile Ground' printing ink for my screen print.

As you can probably see from the top photo the procion dyes show up much better on the unbleached calico, so I have decided to use the unbleached, undyed calico as the fabric for the garment. As a fabric Calico seems a good choice as it is hardwearing and practical. It is also a natural fabric that dyes well and this particular calico is a medium-weight with a tight weave but it still hangs nicely with the pleating at the front of the apron.

I also want to use a selection of green coloured recycled and patchwork fabrics ranging in colour from a fresh leaf green to the dark army green of the land girls uniform.

Tea to dye for

Just before starting this project I was reading a book about gardening called the Morville Year by katherine Swift. (Which I would highly recommend if you are interested in gardening, nature and the history of both. Her first book is the Morville Hours, but personally I found that a little too heavy on history and religion.)

In the book one interesting fact she highlighted was that during WWII damsons were harvested and used to dye the soldiers uniforms khaki colour. So of course I thought it would be a really good to have a go at this, only at the time of doing this project, it is spring, and damson season isn't till late summer.

So I had to think of another way that I could achieve a similar khaki colour with a natural dye that would have been available to households in WWII. Although tea was rationed like many foods, it is well known that 1940s women used cold tea to dye their legs and kohl to draw fake seams to look like silk stockings, of which there was a shortage of.

I decided to try out tea dyeing some calico and cotton voile to see whether it might be a process I could use in my final outcome.

I boiled two teabags in a medium saucepan of water and then simmered two samples for 10 mins and another two for 20 mins.

As you can see from the picture above, the two on the right that were in for the longest are slightly darker in colour. My plan is to either keep the base of the apron dress undyed or to dye the whole thing in tea to give it a khaki colour.

Photosensitive images

I have had a pack of photosensitive paper sitting in my stash of craft supplies for years now, unopened. I think my mum gave it to me when she was having a clear out at home. You can buy some here.

So I thought I could see if it might be the sort of thing that I could include in this project, as Charlie had said to me that you can get photosensitive fabric dye that works in a similar way. You can find a good How To here if you are interested. Again, as with the flower bashing, it works best with sturdy flat leaves and flowers. The image above turned out the best, I used baby salad leaves and daisies.

These are vine leaves and geranium flowers that I had in the garden. Unfortunately the geranium petals were too delicate and shrivelled up in the sun before the paper had time to expose, so they didn't give quite the results I was expecting.

I'm not sure if the paper I was using had deteriorated due to age, but the results were not as clear and crisp as I was expecting. I thought the background would be darker like the images I had seen from Anna Atkins. She was the first recognised female photographer and she produced the first photographically illustrated book called 'British Algae: Cyantope Impressions'. This is one of her images of a poppy, just a little bit better than mine I think!

image from the V&A

I don't think I will be using this process in my final garment, so I've decided not to shell out for the photosensitive fabric dye. Although I think with time and practise you could create some beautifully ethereal images, I think they look very scientific and wouldn't quite fit in with this project.

Pocket placement

I've decided that since my apron dress is supposed to be a practical garment, it's important for it to have pockets, and decent sized ones at that to fit all the garden paraphernalia you need to carry around with you.

Fiona suggested that I cut out some different shapes and pin them on to my garment so I can visualise the correct height to place them, so they are comfortable and practical to use, and also what they might look like aesthetically. The pocket above would be hidden and sewn into the side seams of the dress. It is deep so things will not fall out when you are working.

The design above is a large patch pocket that would be on either side of the dress. I would need to take it into consideration when finalising the placement of my print and embroidery on the dress.

In the end I have decided to go for one hidden pocket that runs under the front of the dress like a muff or hand warmer. It is joined to the side seams on each side and is accessible from either opening so you don't have to remember which side you put your plant labels of string in! The pocket will be hidden under the pleating in the front of the dress.

Taking Shape

With the help of Fiona, our tutor who specialises in garment construction, my apron dress is starting to take shape. My toile (dressmakers test garment) is cut and this is what it looks like pinned to the mannequin.

It needs to be overlocked and sewn together, but I am really happy with the outcome. I have researched other apron dresses and utility style garments that are currently available to order on the internet. So my aim was to incorporate some the details that I seen and liked, whilst still creating my own original design.

Some of the designers that particularly influenced me were Old Town Clothing and Pip-Squeak Chapeau. I wanted the front of the dress to look like a traditional apron, but the wrap around back will enable to wear the dress on its own as well as over the top of there own clothes as an overall.

I have made the ties long so the wearer has a choice of tying in a long bow at the front for a traditional look, or wrapping around them twice and tying a knot for a modern practical look.

Floral image transfer

During my initial research I came across a method used to transfer the natural colour in flowers and leaves onto fabric. You can find a tutorial here if you are interested on trying out the process yourself.

In the tutorial they used violas which gave quite an effective result, so since I have them growing on my allotment I thought that I would try with them to start with.

As you can see, the results can be a bit hit and miss, if you'll excuse the pun.

This is with verbena and forget-me-not flowers. I was expecting the forget-me-nots to come out really bright blue, but they came out a bit smudgy, the verbena came out well though.

These are rocket leaves and flowers. The leaves came out well because they are an interesting shape but the flowers just turned out like yellow blobs. I think it was because they are quite delicate.

My top tips for using this process is to choose flowers that are quite flat in shape and that are not too delicate to handle. The flowers turn out best if they are placed face down on the fabric. It is important to use a light coloured natural fabric and flowers with strong colours to get a clear crisp effect.

Although I would use this process again, I don't think I will be using this process on my final outcome as the results are varied. I think it would work best to try lots of flowers and then cut them out and appliqué them onto your finished textile work. That way you can be more selective and only use the best results.

More Sketch-booking

As I have mentioned before, I have been really inspired to use my great grandmother's embroidery transfers in some way. I think it makes sense, as she would have been using these transfers herself during World War II, so they are of the same period of the Land Girls. The girls would have been spending some of their free time in the evenings to make these pretty embroideries, in a bid to brighten up their rooms in this time of austerity.

Traditionally, the lines of the transfers would have been hidden by the finished embroidery, but I think that they are rather lovely in their own right and have been visualising them as a screen print in a dark brown outline. You can see a dark outline being used in these original 1940s printed fabrics from Donna Flower below.

1930s-40s fabric from Rabbit fabrics

Embroidery inspiration

I have really been inspired by the textile art of Viv of Hens Teeth. I love her modern approach of combining free machine embroidery, hand embroidery and appliqué with found objects. I think it

The simplicity of these french knots on stalks is so effective

and I love the rough sketchy quality of the hand embroidery on this postcard

this is such a lovely combination of appliqué, machine embroidery and hand embroidery.