Sampler

The Beginning

To start of the construction part of our course we were taught how to use the different machines safely. This included the sewing machines (industrial and not), the over-lockers (industrial and not, and the steam irons.

Here are a few tips that I learnt during this lesson:

• When using the steam iron, press the peddle at the bottom which suctions the steam out of the ironing board to prevent it rusting and also from getting too hot

• When you turn the industrial over- lockers off they still have some power left in them, so keep it running till it fully stops to prevent any accidents from occurring.

• The industrial sewing machines are the ones mainly used in industry, so it is good to get to learn how to use them now, they also are easier to control and go through thick fabric well.

Here are my practice sheets

My Sample Design

For my sampler artefact I am creating a zip up bag to put my sewing machine in. This bag, when unzipped, will fold out into a full rectangle work space, displaying all my samples. I wanted my artefact to be practical as well as informative, hence why I decided on this design. Other features of it include: Velcro to attach excess bits of thread to; so they don't go everywhere, and pockets on the outside for some pieces of equipment. The bag will also be padded out with an old duvet, to protect the machine.

The whole artefact will be made out of recycled materials. The main part will be made out of the back of an old curtain, and all the little samples are made out of my families old clothes. I is very important to recycle clothes as currently 350,000 tonnes of used, but still wearable clothing, goes to landfill in the UK every year, which has a huge negative impact on the environment. (Clothes Aid, 2021). At home I do lots of litter picks on the beach, and often find broken up bits of rope from fishing boats, hence I have decided to use this material to do some of my hand sewing. Before using it on my actual sample I did some practice stitches to see if it would work. I found that it worked rather well, and the colours of the rope were extraordinary seen as its just from a piece of rubbish. This made me want to maybe use this material in another project. However, the one problem I did find was that some of the strands could be quite brittle, but found that if I used several strands together, the thread would hold.

After creating a small simple mock up of my artefact, I realised that sewing the two sides together then bagging it out would result in the inner corners no lying flat. From this I decided instead to sew my sample in three sections, then attaching these sections together with some material hinges. Another realisation I had was that the zips would be better zipping downwards that upwards to avoid difficulty when trying to zip it up.

Making

Whilst sewing all the individual samples, I have learnt about lots of new stitches, seams and hems etc. An example of this is a lap and fell seam, which can be commonly seen on jeans and other denim products. It is a very strong seam so good for an item that you want to be hard wearing. I have often had the problem of seams being too bulky due a large amount of material being used. However, from doing these samples I have discovered the graded seam, where you trim each seam allowance to a different length, allowing the seam to lie flat.

Self and Peer Assesment

Strengths: My final artefact that I created included all the samples that were on the sheet, and the design of it meant they are easy to access whilst sewing. My peers and tutor also thought that my use of sustainable media was well thought out and effective, as I had thought to use fishing rope collected off the beach to use as thread. They also thought that the little details like the board on the bottom that acted as a reinforcement and a mini ironing board was well thought out.

Areas to improve: If I was to do this again I would attach both sides of the zips to the fabric before sewing all together. this would mean the stitch line wouldn't show through on the inside so would be neater.

I was told by my tutor that to make sure the corners of welt pockets aren't puckered you leave a bigger gap to cut the triangles at either end when you are cutting in the slit. This results in bigger triangles which you can sew more easily and neatly right to the corners. I will bear this information in mind when I am creating welt pockets in the future, meaning I should have a neater more professional looking outcome.

Continue the embroidery on the outside to make the bag look more aesthetically pleasing, as due to it being just an old curtain lining, it is worn and mis coloured, so needs some embellishment.

Overall, I am really pleased with my outcome and am especially pleased with how easy the zips are to use seen as they zip downwards instead of upwards.

References

Clothes Aid, 2021. Facts on clothes recycling [online]. Available at:https://clothesaid.co.uk/about-us/facts-on-clothes-recycling/#:~:text=The%20most%20pressing%20issue%20right,kg%20of%20it%20is%20recycled [29/09/2021].

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