Hats

The beautiful Audrey in her (almost as beautiful) ascot hat.

Our GCSE exam for textiles was probably the most exciting exam that I had back then, there were a few basic questions on the manufacture of textiles, then a section where you got to design (and colour) something along a predetermined theme.

The theme we were given was "hats" I thought this was a bit limited at first, with the mood board they had given us based around police hats, old fashioned hats etc.Instead I focused entirely on millinery, looking at the feathers, shapes and fabrics used to create stylish and timeless hats. I came up with my design before the exam so that I could translate it straight onto the page and not forget anything at all.

I left the exam quite disappointed that I would never get to make this, due to two reasons: time and money.

The bodice is supposed to be made from hand-dyed silk lined sinamay (the straw like fabric used for hats) And the skirts from stiffened calico with organza and silk underskirts dyed red. Then over the skirt there would be a layer of black widow's knotted veil, with various red feathers protruding from it. I originally designed it to have a zip, but now I look back I think a lcae-up back would be much more elegant.

Maybe I will make it one day.

(also you may notice that the colours match my room, which I had newly decorated, there is a strong red/black/cream theme in all my work)

Rewind two years

So two years ago, I would have actually finished my GCSE's, so I guess rewind about 27 months, that's where this post belongs.
For my textiles GCSE coursework I had the choice to make whatever I wanted to, which was a dress of course, and due to cost and time restraints I settled on a child's dress.
My theme for this was ragdoll, again self chosen, due to a visit to my adorable younger cousin's house, where they each had a brand new ragdoll.

I was looking for a theme, which was original as well as girly, without crossing into the stereotypical "flowers", "sweets and cakes" or "animals".

My original idea was to have the dress with a matching rag doll to sell with it, but dress making is really my forte, and so I discarded my attempt at a doll.

I wanted to use pink (to keep the girliness present) so I went fabric shopping and successfully found some pink gingham with matching pink cotton for the dress, I also found a nice darker pink ribbon.

I knew that I wanted to have a doll or doll's face applique design on the dress and also had an idea of a pocket.

It took months to complete the dress along with all the paperwork required. Luckily my only faux pas was burning a hole through the lovely pink gingham and having to start the entire torso of the dress again.

Isn't she adorable! My mum works at my old primary school so I asked her to find a model for my dress.
I'm still pretty proud of this even if I can't show it off on myself,
maybe one day, when I'm old I'll shrink and be small enough to wear it?