Final Images

Evaluation

    Within this project there have been so many new skills and elements to learn; most importantly for me has been the development of my own critical judgement. Being able to discern what will look best, what works and what doesn't by eye and being able to recognise when I need to alter things. Evidently this is not a skill I will gain over the short time of this project but something I hope to develop more over the next year and beyond. The contextual studies and screenings which have complimented this project so well have been of immense value, they've helped me to distinguish my likes and dislikes, discover the evolution of my own personal tastes and decide where my interests lie. Through the decoration and sleeve workshops I have been able to implement some of this development and experiment with different ideas and concepts. With all my decoration samples I have been able to experiment and play with different materials, whether it is piecing lace together to create new patterns or layering beads and ribbons and lace to make a new trimming each sample has taught me something different. I have loved this opportunity to explore and discover new ideas and I would love to be able to continue this on into third year.

    The romantic tutu itself was an immense challenge, being two making projects behind the rest of the group I was very concerned about how well I was going to fare on this task, fortunately I found myself equal to it and with a lot of hard work was able to keep on top of the workload. Particularly I found the machine sewing difficult and coupled with such unforgiving fabric meant I struggled to keep my bodice looking as pristine as it needed to be. Next time I would be more careful with my tacking as when I went to take out it left very clear marking on the fabric, I would try to keep it really, really light. After sewing together my bodice I tried it on the mannequin and discovered that as I had cut out my pattern pieces I had not allowed extra for ease (we had draped on the mannequin) and therefore my bodice was too small. I was forced to let the seams out slightly at the side to compensate, luckily I checked mine early enough and had not applied the piping so it was easier to alter than some others who checked later on in the process. 

    With the tutu there were also several things which if I was to repeat the process I would have done differently, namely sewing on the layers following the inside line of the Basque. I didn't, in this case, understand the instructions clearly and was too late in actually figuring out what they meant. As the net, like the satin, tears and pulls very easily I did not want to risk unpicking and re-sewing in case of causing more damage. Instead this is simply something I will learn from in future along with other elements of the bodice. I found myself enjoying hand-stitching, both in the bodice and the decoration samples, the petals were difficult but very satisfying to sew on. The invisible thread was, naturally, very difficult to work with but I found that the technique suited me; with a little more practise I would have been quite confident at it.

    Throughout this project I have felt my confidence grow in all the areas we have covered; with Mark's support I have developed both my practical and contextual knowledge and understanding. The historical lectures we had in the opening of the project were also exceptionally beneficial and I've been surprised how much it's influenced and aided the rest of my work, understanding how the different schools of ballet were established and how this has influence their particular style and technique was both interesting and illuminating. I know now that I am interested in both the historical and modern development of ballet, I want to look in more detail at the progression of classical and modern ballet including how it is likely to continue growing in the future. I am looking forward to continuing these studies into the next year.

Tweaking the decoration

Placing and Practising

Tweaking the decoration, I spent a long while playing with and working out the decoration. I knew I wanted to interpret the design slightly differently to how it was placed on Dexter's sample; Dexter's idea was to have the petals as though falling across the dress as though blown there. I wanted to keep this gently hap-hazardous feeling but create more shaping with it. I created a really soft line across the body with slightly more fullness over the bust and sweeping to a very fine line across the stomach to the skirt. As it reached the skirt I wanted a very gentle fan which was slightly wider to the right side to keep the asymmetric line continuous across the entire body. This differs from the sample which is a gentle sweep across the body continuously building rather than expanding in and out.

The Final result

Bodice Details

Dress Photo

Photo's of my dress on the day of the presentation! I'm really pleased with how it looks on Faye, it fits really well around the back and is a nice length on her. I've found several elements really tricky mainly to do with the bodice but not of them have been really detrimental to the overall effect. I wish I'd been able to keep the bodice fabric looking neater but that's been due a mistake with the initial pattern drafting which resulted in me having to let the fabric out at the sides; a problem several others have had as well. The decoration looks much lighter than Dexter's sample but I feel it's a closer colour to the design and am quite happy with the result. Here the petal's are just pinned on when I take it back to the studio I will play around with the petals a little more before sewing them on but it's nice to be able to see how they look and move on a body.

Presentation...

We had our presentations today to the rest of the year group, it was really great to see how everyone else was doing and the variety of different projects we were all involved in. The Ballet Group were first up which was good as it didn't really give us time to be nervous. We'd practised a bit before hand but I still ended up saying something entirely different to what I'd planned! I didn't have enough hands to hold cards and wanted my arms free to be able to move and use different samples; I find cards really distracting and so tried to do without but nor sure how successful it was. As a group I think we worked well and perhaps with a little more practice it could have been very good.

It was nice to see all the costumes together even in the different stages of completion and I'd asked Faye (one of our wonderful first years!) to model for me so it was so elating to see it on a model and moving. Even though it hadn't been made to her measurements she was a really nice fit. It was a little low at the side which is something I'd consider next time I made a bodice and it was great to be able to see how the bodice and skirt worked on a dancer. Faye also wore ballet tights and shoes which made the look complete. I'm hoping to be able to get some proper photo's done before we finish as it would be a wonderful memento! I learnt so much from being able to see her wearing it and it gave me chance to play with the decoration samples, I've interpreted the design on mine slightly differently to Dexter's with the petals flaring slightly over the bust sweeping in at the waist and then fanning gently out over the skirt. I personally like this effect as I think it feels very soft and accentuates the shape really well, however with Dexter house bound (!) I've not been able to get his opinion.

Decoration progression

Here are the three samples I chose to develop, I still need to finish my lattice sample tomorrow, I've nearly completed the two bodices and the tutu plate sample is at least basically finished. I still might develop it further as I'm not entirely happy with the stoning on it. I do like the beading and think it will look really nice with the  movement of the dancer.
I decided to back the Kitri sample with black cotton velvet instead of calico as I really felt the calico ruined the effect and the velvet completes the look. It was worth experimenting with as I've decided I do not want to work with velvet in future. It has frayed, left black bits over everything it's touched and picked up endless amounts of thread and other pieces. A good lesson for future projects.
The close up of the Faune bodice show's the beading I've worked into the lace, trying to create highlights and  lowlight, I would like to develop this by adding more cream beads to emphasis the highlights.
The decoration samples have been a really good way to learn more about designing and how to create readable, characterful costumes.

Sleeve development

So this was trickier than anticipated. Dexter said that our samples didn't need to be perfectly finished but I really tried to make it look neat. I failed a little bit as I did the bias wrong and therefore ended up with lots of folds where I didn't want them; I think I managed to save it in the end and the inside is probably much neater than the outside. If I was to repeat this and have more time I would have tried to find a different way to attach the frills to the sleeve as there is too much bulk in that area. The idea of this project was to experiment though and I still really enjoyed the ideas behind it. In the end I like the look of the sleeve, perhaps I would have used two whole circles for the frills rather than just one as I'm not sure I like how it falls. Despite the many mistakes I made I think it is a fair reflection of the design.

EARLY ADVENTURES!!!!

"WE JUST DANCE" Matthew Bourne

14.05.12 7.30pm Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures

Just got back from watching Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures and just feeling elated. That's how you should feel when you come out of a performance, on a total high. It was one of the funniest things I've seen dance or otherwise. I love the complete extremes of emotion they manage to achieve- one minute I was crying with laughter, the next just crying. Some of the solo's were fantastic, the one at the end of COUNTRY called Shallow Brown by a guy named Christopher Marney was wonderful, completely had me hooked, in fact I loved him every time he was on stage. My absolute favourite! Everything about it was entertaining and it had everyone laughing. It was great to see such a packed audience and everyone responding so well to it, it seem to be universal in its ability to reach people as the audience were made up of a huge range of people. People even reacted well to bits that were perhaps more risque than I'd expected. When MB came on to talk at the end I was so relieved. I'd been really worried that this image I'd built of him in my head was going to be destroyed, that he'd be full of waffle and really self centred but he wasn't. I think that was the best bit of the night, realising that really he's down to earth, honest about what he does, what he likes and doesn't like and doesn't pretend to know everything. I built up the courage to ask a question and was so happy when he spoke to me as though I was actually there, same with Kerry Macmillan (one of the dancers) who also answered the question. They spoke to me as though I was a real person and they weren't just addressing a huge crowd. I felt very privileged and probably bounced all the way home. It was a wonderful night and I feel I've gained so much from seeing all the pieces, the use of humour, costume, movement of the performers was immaculate and I loved every second!

What I asked (paraphrased he used several more examples but I hadn't seen them so couldn't comment)


MB (Me!): Obviously this is one of your earliest works but within it I could see lots of  elements from your full length pieces, how much did these early pieces influence you later on and how often did you find yourself drawing on them for inspiration?


MB (Matthew Bourne!): A lot actually, there are definitely lots of things that as we've come to look back on this piece I've recognised, more so than perhaps I realised. There's definitely some movements in the second piece that are in pieces like HIGHLAND FLING, the end of TOWN where they all leave the stage like this (places one hand over head with fingers draped, demonstrating) that's definitely a swan motif though in this piece it's trees with grapes hanging off them. There are quite a few things from THE NUTCRACKER! (I nod this is what I had noticed) that we used as well, what do you think? [turns to dancers]

KM: (Kerry Macmillan): I think that's been one of the best points about coming back to work on this piece, because Matt himself dances in the original it's been wonderful to see how all these ideas came about. There's definitely lots of things I recognise,

T (Tom? Dancer:) Yeah in SPITFIRE the scene where they are posing is really similar to that of the NUTCRACKER! except the arms go the opposite way, that's all they kept shouting at us in rehearsal.. ARMS! but it was really good to work on.

Bodice all together

Working Away

Levelling the Tutu layer by layer, a really time consuming and tricky task made harder by short pins which continuously fell out. Eventually borrowed some quilting pins which sped the whole process up no end!

Getting there...

It's so exciting to see it all coming together, I've finally completed levelling my skirt (that was a learning curve and a half!) and just have to fix the Basque to the bodice, attach the shoulder straps and decoration and strengthen my hooks and bars! It feels so strange to be able to see the final piece emerging; it's not quite like Dexter's but that would be unrealistic and detrimental to his skill as a maker. Was I to repeat the project there are many, many things which I would do differently but such is the nature of hindsight. Sufficient to say I feel quite proud of my achievements; considering I was two making projects short of most others in the group I felt very concerned at the beginning as to how I was going to cope. This has proved to me however that I made the right decision, every step of this project has made me realise how much I want to do this and how much this suits me as a person. I cannot see myself doing anything else where possible next year, I am desperate to carry this on and take it further. Having learnt so much and seen so many new things I want to take what I know and run with it, gathering more all the way!

Surviving without Dexter!!

As we came in for our tutorial last Thursday Dexter informed us that he'd fallen down the stairs coming from the archive and later that day caved in to our pressure to go home and rest. Unfortunately the sprain was much worse than we all thought and he has now been signed off sick for the next two weeks! After sending him best wishes and cake we found ourselves panicking about how exactly we were going to manage without him as he has been a constant presence through this project and an oracle of all knowledge and skill! A little daunted we've continued on managing to contact him with questions and queries which he has answered to the best of his ability on the end of the phone. Other than that we've been having to use his sample as reference and work out for ourselves any fine details; this means we've been working very closely and ended up much tighter as a group for this. Regardless it's been much tougher without Dexter's presence at uni and hopefully this won't be reflected too much in the end results. Get better soon!

Update of progress

These last few days have been a little stressful but managing somehow to keep on track. the levelling of the tutu is becoming a major task not aided by my MAJOR cold. Trying to place pins and cut accurately is greatly hindered by sneezing every two minutes! Other than feeling very under the weather I still feel reasonably content with the project, the workload is slightly overwhelming but not unachievable and I've learnt not to underestimate the power of needing to finish a task. When I work I'm able to keep focused and produce results quickly and without rushing -this being negated however when ill- at which point my work rate drops  drastically. Hoping to have an early night tonight and recover, then get up early and work on finishing my tutu for the mock fittings at half one. I'm currently very stressed over my POP essay and will be glad when I can focus all my attention on this!

Tutu Troubles....

Ok so the developing Tutu Skirt.... I had no idea how time-consuming it could be I can barely imagine finishing this one let alone if you had 20 to do for a corps! We've used 12m of net in this skirt with 45 panels and 5 layers; that means this is a relatively small skirt! After sewing together all the panels we then proceed to gather together all the layers and sew them to the waistband; we now are on the delightfully fiddly and painstaking job of levelling the tutu! I'm finding it difficult but rewarding in an odd sense, I've certainly developed a strong appreciation for the skill that goes into creating these garments!

Sleeve progression...

I have really enjoyed this element of the project- the lets's-experiment-and-see-what-happens approach really suits me as a person. Just playing with bits of calico and discovering all the different things I can get the materials to do. Playing with shape and depth- re-discovering all my G.C.S.E maths knowledge I thought I'd never use again. Who'd have thought knowing your circumference equations would be helpful????
I've discovered in this project that I'm a very proactive worker. If I can't picture something I make a maquette, if I can't do something I find something else until I have a way to finish it, if something is taking a long time I work out quickly the most efficient and time practical way of doing it. I find myself constantly moving and rarely giving myself time to sit there and dwell on what's gone wrong, what I can't do. If you can't do it there and then- move on- find something else and come back later. I've found that sitting and staring at something is very rarely enough to help you find the answer and time is too precious a commodity to waste. My dance teacher once said to me 'forget about the mistake you just made- it's in the past... worry about the one you're about to make!'

Development of skills

I'm beginning for the first time to see myself developing both as a designer and a maker. True I'm still too inconsistent and too impatient to truly succeed in making but I can see myself progressing. If the first attempt of something is disastrous, the second time I am able to correct it and my the final attempt it begins to look good. For me there is a real thrill in seeing something come out right- especially when using the industrial machines. For this project I've tried to use them as much as possible to help myself improve but I feel that this has perhaps not been the best path for my costume. The decrease in control and the 'one-shot' element of the fabric  means that I am not always happy with the outcome of my sewing but I feel there is a clear improvement in my confidence on a machine if perhaps not my neatness. Particularly with the decoration and sleeve samples where there is a level of creative interpretation I find myself thoroughly enjoying this project- my lace bodice has been particularly good as I a unable to see where I have sewn and where I haven't (something I'm actually quite proud of!) I'm sure a well trained eye will be able to see it but it is a real step in the right direction!