Material

 

Today I bought the material for my collection. I've decided to use the same material for both outfits to make it look more like a collection. When I went fabric shopping I went to Guyhawk road, Berwick Street, a couple of markets near where I live and finally John Lewis in Oxford Street. I was surprised that I didn't find Asian fabrics in Guyhawk road but I actually ended up buying the Indian inspired fabric from John Lewis.

When I began this project I thought I would have ended up with floral prints as that fits the Regency theme, but I think going down the Indian route for the material and colour theme and the Regency route for the silhouette Is definitely more effective.

 

The traditional colours used in Indian clothes are very dramatic as they use deep royal colours, whilst Regency gowns are made from earthy tones and pastel colours. So my main colour is a bottle green, with a deep purple and finally gold.

 

This green is going to be for the bodice and over skirt. I think the pattern is really great for my theme. For this material the weight was crucial as I am going to be lining it for the bodice.

In my second outfit I will be using this for the trousers, and again I didn't want it to be too heavy weight.

For both of the outfits I needed this material to be able to hold darts really well.

 

 

I found this cream material with a gold shimmer from a charity shop. I will be using it for the yolk of the dress and will be embroidering it before I sew it. I will be interlining it to make it stronger.

For my second outfit I am making the top from this material, I need quite a light material as I am sewing lots of tucks onto the top and I need to make sure they all hold well. I am also going to be using this for the waistline for the trousers and embroidering it to match the yolk on the dress.

Finally I bought purple georgette for the under skirt. I think this tone compliments the green and I hope it will work well with the other materials. I am not overly confident about using chiffon as I find it hard to work with. I will be sewing French seams to join the sides of the skirts together and this is a technique I could definitely improve with.

I originally was also going to have sleeves on the dress but I think it looks more elegant without them.

On the second outfit this will be used as the extra material which is draped from the trousers.