Design Development: Textile Placement- 15/4-18/4/2021
Once I had chosen a textile design that I liked, I began deciding to figure out where to place it on the collar. I started with some super rough sketches of the textile placed in different locations on the flat shape of the collar. These were super rough but gave me an idea of things like how busy it will look, what kind of direction the design will bring the eyes, and so on.
Once I had decided on a rough idea of the placement, I went through and did a more detail sketch of the front and back as it is boned and worn. Again, it’s still more of a rough sketch, but it gave an idea of how it will sit on the body, to help me get a better idea of whether I liked this placement or not once it’s on the person. I really liked how it looked in these sketches, so I began my embroidery on the pattern pieces. I traced out my pieces, and basted around the seam allowance. This allowed me to measure where each motif corner should line up with the piece next to it. I also stiffened the fabric as well. I had tested earlier in the week a few ways of stiffening, both with interfacings and with liquid stiffeners. I ended up going with two layers of the PVA+ water mixutre that I usually would use in my millinery creations. The first layer I applied before embroidering, to allow a bit more manipulation for the textile itself and to fit it into the hoop easier. When I finished the embroidery, I then added the second layer. It really helped that it was a sunny day with a breeze when adding the first layer, because it really sped up the drying process of the stiffener.
