Fashion Industry

The origins of my passion for creative pattern making start way back in 1980 when I first went to fashion college.  It was at this time that I was introduced to an amazing pattern making book that just lit up my brain.  Natalie Bray's technical diagrams leapt off the page and made immediate sense to me.  I could hardly contain my excitement at the potential of pattern making.  To this end I believe I was quite the pesky student in our pattern making classes.  The student with 20 questions every session, that drove the pattern making teacher crazy.  You'll find Natalie's books on all the usual book selling sites and the prices vary dramatically, so do your research.

A sweet opportunity... After a fabulous weekend in Melbourne, teaching at the Stitches and Craft Show, we drove the long way home and stopped off in Bendigo to catch this amazing exhibition. I'm not very good at giving myself time off for rest and recreation but I've long been aware of the great work they do at the Bendigo Art Gallery. And although the show has ended I've selected a handful of my favourite images from the show to share with you here. In particular the main exhibition image below: I'd love a pair of sunglasses just like Edith's. They're so stylish!

We've already worked out how important it is to consider the effects you want from your permanent pleating and how that may impact on the overall design of the garment.  The examples below show the variable impact of the decision to Hem Before or Hem After.  Both skirts are half-circle.  The skirt on the left is Sun-ray Pleated and the skirt on the right is Sun-ray Crush pleated.  The more precise and formal aspect of the Sun-ray pleat (left) really suits the clean finish of hemming before sending to the pleaters.  Whereas the example on the right, with a more casual, rough pleating style, visually benefits from the kick in the hemline as a result of sewing the hem after pleating.

Waistcoats

This has to be one of the best things to do!  Endless ideas, not all of them good, but a good chance I'll like at least one of them enough to make it.  The Print & Plaid Trend is one of my long time favourites.  I suppose that means it's less a fashion trend and more a personal preference. You can learn Fashion Design Development and all the rest at the studio or in your classroom.

If you have a keen interest in Fashion Design and would like to understand Trend Forecast, this post makes the connection between different sources of information used to verify fashion trends for each new season.  I have a Youtube channel where you'll find some interesting design development.   And here at the studio I teach a workshop, Fashion Design Portfolio, that covers seasonal trends and design development for the fashion industry.  This is my Trend Board for the Perforated Fabric Trend:

While I wait for the local pleating house to finish their summer vacation, I'm moving onto the second phase of the Permanent Pleating Series - Garment Pleating.  In this series, I'll be discussing whole garment pleating as originally inspired by the work of Issey Miyake (Pleats Please).

I've always had a fascination for what can be achieved with a little heat and some petro-chemical fibres.  Permanent (heat-set) Pleating is the use of heat on polyester/nylon fabrics to set a pleat that will survive the rigours of wash and wear without the need of re-pressing.
'Pleats are categorized as pressed, that is, ironed or otherwise heat-set into a sharp crease, or unpressed, falling in soft rounded folds.'  wikipedia
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