#evaluationandreflection

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FEEDBACK FROM VIDEO

Once I finished my video I posted it on social media and currently as it stands it’s at 77 views on youtube and has 6 likes which for me is an amazing start to have drafted all that in from my Instagram and snapchat here’s some screenshots of 2 of the bits of feedback I’ve gotten. I’m very happy with the fact that people are appreciating my work as to me it’s something I wanted to do for personal reasons but to be able to now be comfortable enough to showcase my work to others and get positive feedback from that is amazing aswell as this one of my mates from secondary school sent me this

Which is incredible for me as it means what I wanted this project to do for me eventually as worked without me even having to go out of my way to people in order to put myself out there and the offer of shooting a music video for someone else now is amazing. Aswell as this I now have my new camera meaning that I have everything I would need to do a shoot myself soo I can doo it all without the use of college equipment meaning that hopefully in a few weeks time I can sort out a plan with my mate and get some ideas drafted and produce something over the summer that we are both happy with. Which is great news to get work out of my project as it’s all I could have asked for in the end let alone the good feedback.

[lucywoodbridgecostume-blog]

Final Evaluation

The National Theatre option for the Independent Project was an ideal choice for me.  I believed working within a famous and established company like The National Theatre would be a great experience and would build on my CV.

Due to the short timescale of the project it was extremely beneficial to create a time plan of my day-to-day tasks.  At first this time plan was not very detailed, however, as the term went on I understood more about the order that specific tasks needed to be undertaken. By updating the time plan and and working towards each task I successfully created two garments, a complicated one and a more basic item within the six-week project.

I feel that I have enhanced my skills and learnt new techniques for working in theatre costume.  I can now compare and understand the differences in working within theatre and film, realising that theatre costume, as well as needing to be historically accurate also requires ‘strength and durability’ in manufacture due to the potentially long running times and extensive wear.  Film requires more consideration to the detail due to up-close camera angles and shots.  This project has taught me that theatre costumes need a lot of seam allowance added, due to the fact that actors need to change quickly, and also may change in size over a long running performance. I enjoyed gaining knowledge and experience in this area, and now feel more rounded and have broadened my options for working in theatre in the future.

There were a few complicated tasks during the construction of the blazer, the stripes were difficult to work with and I needed to re do the two back panels of the garment a number of times in an effort to match the stripes accurately.  Although this had an impact on the time plan I had created, I learnt to use my own ‘quality control’ to consider whether tasks were worth re-doing or were acceptable to be left.  I concluded that this decision making and evaluation process was a major part in the successful finishing of the garment.  The most complicated task was inserting sleeves to both the blazer and the chemise.  I would like to build further on my skills in this area, as I know this is a personal weakness of mine.

I have learnt new techniques and construction methods in producing a professional tailored blazer for theatre. Before this Independent Project, I knew very little about the field of tailoring, which has been my ideal career path.  I now feel that I have furthered my knowledge in this area to a valuable level, for example, I have learnt about new fabrics and the high importance of the ‘inside’ of a blazer and now know that Melton, a felt like fabric, is applied to the back of the collar, giving it shape and strength. I can identify the importance of basting within a blazer and how canvas is vital for the shape and strength of a tailored blazer. A small factor i will also focus on during all costume construction is preventing to press too hard while using tailors chalk, as i have found that it creates permanent marks. 

Through the whole process I have been able to define and identify specific areas for development of my own work, aimed towards my personnel aspiration to specialize in menswear, specifically concentrating on tailoring. I have developed my organizational skills and self-direction, creating a time plan was extremely useful in this area. I have learnt that making mistakes at this stage in my learning phase is very useful, as I am more aware of the potential problems that may arise in the future while undertaking the tailoring of garments.

Bibliography

Jackson, Sheila. (1978). Costume for the Stage a complete handbook for every kind of play. London: Herbert Press Limited

National Theatre (n.d). [Online] Available from: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk [accessed 15 April 2014]

Peacock, John. (1996). Men’s Fashion the Complete Sourcebook. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd

Pinterest (n.d). 1920s/30s Blazer. [Online] Available from: http://www.pinterest.com/lucy0183/1920s30s-blazer/ [accessed 15 April 2014]

Pinterest (n.d). 18th Century Chemise. [Online] Available from: http://www.pinterest.com/lucy0183/18th-century-chemise/ [accessed 15 April 2014]

Tumblr (n.d). Tumblr. [Online] Available from: http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard [accessed 14 April 2014]

Ugolini, Laura. (2007). Men and Menswear. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited

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FINAL FMP EVALUATION

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When it comes to my track after dropping it a week ago now I was very happy with the progress. I uploaded it to soundcloud and it’s already had 110 plays and aswell as this I posted it on my social media asking people for feedback here are some screenshots of some of the feedback that I was given

I was very happy with the feedback I received from people on social media aswell as in person . When I gave the track to my classmate in order for him to mix and master it he was very happy with the quality of the song and the fact that the beat worked incredibly well with my voice and the flow was on point for what it was and aswell as this he noticed that I would most likely have a decent voice in order to do some singing in the future and to hopefully work on some more tracks that will instead be produced by him and I said that I would be more then happy to make music together with him as personally I would love to feel more confident when it comes to my voice as I haven’t sung properly since year 8 when I used to be in a after school class for it and since then as my voice has broken I have questioned my abililitys a lot when it comes to what I’m capeable of even if people tell me I’m good I still don’t trust it. I also was told by my mate Louis that the snare hit very hard I would say that for me I did notice this on the track when it was fully mixed and masterd however I kind of like that it stood out due to the fact that it keeps you locked into the track and makes sure that your not drifting off from what’s being said.

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reflection

i have just finished the edit for my video along with everything that i need to add to my website for my final presentation and also the website itself. i used wordpress again this year in order to present my website mainly due to the fact that for me it allows me to important everything that i have done over from my FMP tumblr page and with the use of tags allocate a webpage each on my wordpress website for each section of my fmp and it saves me a lot of time for my whole process and also works incredibly well as all i need to do when wanting to add to it from my tumblr is simply use my tags in the post and then update the posts via the wordpress website and everything will be there for me ready to present 

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Final Outcome - 1920s Blazer

Here is my final outcome of the complex blazer that constructed for the National Theatre using the patterns, fabrics and buttons supplied by the company.

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Final Outcome- Chemise

Here is my final outcome of the basic chemise that constructed for the National Theatre using the patterns, fabrics and trimming supplied by the company.

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Finishings - Button holes, Buttons, Hem, Cuffs and ironing.

The finishing for tailoring could be said to be the most important part of the process. These small simple tasks will determine weather a garment is accurate or not. These make the overall look of the costume. 

These include-

Button holes

Buttons

Hem

Cuffs

Ironing and pressing is an important process that should be done throughout the construction of the costumes. I have learnt to use the iron a a regular basis as this will determine the smooth finish of the final outcome.

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Sleeve Lining

I have found the sleeves the most complicated part of this blazer so far. Inserting the lining required a lot of pinning and the placement of the sleeve lining was important. This task at the begging of the week, took me longer than anticipated. However due to leaving my self spare time for problems like theses, in my work plan, i still managed to finish with time to spare.

[lucywoodbridgecostume-blog]

Weekly Reflection - Working with the National theatre, a professional company

During my final week of construction i am reflecting on working with The National Theatre as a professional company. 

The initial meeting with tutors explained to us what garments were required to be made for the hire department. These are the garments that are required for the National Theatre Hire Department; Grecian dresses, 18th century skirts, 18th century bodices, frock coats, 1920s blazer and chemises. The hire department either have non or very little of these garments in their stores. The hire department had a need for these as some of the stock they did have been used to many time are not the the quality they need for certain productions. To build on their stock we were asked to create these for them. Out side companies and costume designers use these store to pull costume for processional productions. The National Theatre costume will also look in these stores first to see weather they can simply hire from the store instead of making from scratch, if it is required for a stage production at the National Theatre. 

The learning agreement stated that we were to create a basic and a more compacted garment to fit the time contains of this 5 week project. As i wanted to broaden my skills within menswear it was decided for the complicated garment i would construct a 1920s striped blazer. For the more basic garment an 18th century chemise was chosen for me to construct. This would be simple to make as the techniques required i have learnt before and have already created a chemise during the first year.

From discussions with tutors and the hire department, we concluded what was required from us for theses two garments. As we were making garments for the hire department this meant the items would be used a lot and on a regular basis, the garments needed to be strong and durable for this purpose. 

We were supplied fabrics by the hire department, this taught me a lot about what type of fabrics were required to be used by the national theatre. The blazer fabrics were thick strong cottons and the chemise a cotton lawn. In fact all the costume fabric that was supplied was natural fabrics. This proved to me that the hire department and national theatre believe cotton fabrics is the most quality and durable fabrics to use for theatre use. The national Theatre also suggested to us to use cotton threads s synthetics snap more easily. From using these cotton i have noticed a difference in the way synthetic and cotton fabrics work, from comparing to synthetics i have used in the past. The cotton thread has a rougher surface are so hold to the fabric better, there fore created a stronger stitch. 

Working with the National Theatre, a famous theatre company, put us under pressure to create garments up to their standard. The blazer and chemise that i made could be used in professional production on the stage of the national theatre.

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National Theatre Hire Department visit

on monday the 12th of May we had a visit from the National Theatre. The aim of the visit was to show the visitor our progress in the unit and to ask any questions that could have arisen through the process of constructing our garments.

Fortunately there was no question or queries regarding the chemise and this was complete and the visitor was pleased with the outcome. 

 There were little questions regarding the finishings of the blazer :

cuffs- does there have to be a placket and buttons on the cuff?

The cuffs need to have plackets with button holes and buttons, however they do not need to be functioning however must look as if they are.

buttons- how many buttons does there need to be on the blazer front and the cuffs?

there need to be 3 buttons down the front of the blazer and 3 on each cuff. The buttons have been provided.

This meeting was useful to see what the National Theatre thought of our progress so far. They were pleased with our development  and are excited to see the final result.

From now until the deadline i shall aim to concentrate on making the finishings to a high professional standard. The finishing as crucial on a blazer and these are most noticeable, i shall use the iron to create a good pressed finished, remove tacking and invisible slipstitch the lining to it is to the best possible quality. 

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Chemise - Feedback

The tutors have examined my work so far on the chemise, to improve my practice and to evaluation the work. 

There are a few things on the chemise that could be improved. I have t ore do the machining of the lace trim to the neckline of the chemise, i did not notice at the time that the tension on the bobbin was not tight enough so has caused the sewing to be weak. 

The sleeves are well placed however the tension on the sleeve is tighter than the main body of the fabric, this is due to too much ruching in the sleeve head. To combat this tension in later garments in make i will ruch the sleeves less, so it is the same on the sleeve and main body of garment. 

Slight improvements could be made on the hem and baby locking. The hem is well sized however is slightly wobbly in places. The baby locking does not match exactly at the seams, to combat this fault in the future i will baby lock once the sleeve is sewn together rather than when it is flat.

I shall take this knowledge into the construction of the complicated garment, the blazer. I need to learn to be my own quality control. I shall do this by checking each stage, for example stitching or cutting, and make a decision weather it is good enough or weather it could be improved by redoing that area. Learning from my mistakes will overall help me improve my practice as a practitioner, after all i am here to learn and refine my skills to become successful in my future profession.

[lucywoodbridgecostume-blog]

National Theatre Tour Briefing

Briefing

On Thursday 17th April we shall be going the that National Theatre costume department work rooms for a meeting about our allocated garments and then we will visit the hire department for which we are making our costumes for. I will have the opportunity to ask the tailors and dressmaker about techniques that they use, for creating the costumes for the National Theatre. I shall use this unique opportunity to gain knowledge of constructing garments and ask questions about how they have achieved their career ambitions, to help me with my own. This will help me establish the requirements for the costume I am making for their hire department. 

I will need to ask some questions regarding the patterns, blazer and chemise these shall include-

Is the seam allowance included on the patterns?

what is the size of the seam allowance?

What are the pockets on the blazer; welt, jet or patch?

Are shoulder pads provided for the blazer?

This visit will be vital primary research for this project, helping me understand the purpose for the garments I shall construct. From my visit i hope to gain answers to the questions I have regarding the construction and patterns for the garments.

I am excited to experience the workroom of the work famous theatre. I will seize this opportunity by asking as many questions as possible about the garment i am to make but also what it is like to work in the Costume department at the National Theatre.