Catch-up on the last few weeks, and my finished final collection! :)

I'm baaaack! :) After many weeks of scheduled blog posts and guest blog posts from some lovely ladies, I'm finally back on my own blog and ready to get back into blogging on a weekly/every other day occurecnce! I've missed it so much, but I've had some of the busiest/worst/best few months of my life.

I've loved and hated working with printed fabrics this term. I created this print and had it digitally printed onto silk satin to make some linings for my garments and also a shirt for my collection. It's not the cheapest fabric, and having to line up the prints to get them matching is not easy, but I love the way it looks! This has pretty much been my view for the past few months - walking to and from uni. This and the inside of the studio or my bedroom.

I've really enjoyed working with delicate fabrics such as tulle, organza and lace this term. Even though they've been a right ball ache to get right, and they move out of place ALL THE TIME, I love how they look! I'm definitely gonna continue to make for myself after uni, I'm so excited to go fabric shopping and it being for me and not for my collection or uni work!

Some of the places I used the printed silk satin - in this unfinished shirt and in the lining of my shorter cape :)

A sneak peak of a photoshoot I did for my final collection. I will do a full blog post of the final images sometime soon, I'm so happy with how they came out! The photographer is amazing and the model was stunning :)

My little sister (pictured), my mum, my dad, my boyfriend and my best friend came up to visit me to see my end of year Final Collection show which was so lovely! Unfortunately it was two days before my final deadline so I couldn't really spend too much time with them as I had to go back home and get on with work! The two days later though, I got all my work completed, labelled and handed in!

Here is a sneak preview of my final collection from the show. I will also be doing a full blog post on the full collection and hopefully some more close-up photographs (I'm waiting to get some photos back from the photographers!)

Thanks for reading :)

So that's it now, uni is finally over and after Graduate Fashion Week it's the Summer!
Are you finishing university forever this term too?

Love Dani :)

x

Sunday summary #7 - A bit about being a fashion design student and my final collection :)

I thought I should probably do a blog post at some point about my final year at university so far and my final collection, seen as it's the only thing I seem to be doing nowadays! If you didn't already know, I study Fashion Design at university and I'm in my final year. From now until May, I shall be finishing my six outfit final collection, which is both super fun and super scary at the same time! Some outfits will only contain one or two garments, but some will contain three or four plus accessories so there is a lot to think about

Sketchbook work has been the bane of my life for the past three years. I have a totally love/hate relationship with sketchbooks though, I find them tedious to do but once I look back at them I actually love them! They're good for working through your projects from start to end and developing ideas though :)

I really need to invest in a proper mannequin after uni, these ones are so good as they have lines already on them for bust point, centre front etc. I'm literally working on a mannequin 24/7 nowadays too, which is really fun but stressful when the mannequins are slightly bigger than the actual model so you need to change all the sizes again!

This was an initial line-up idea for my final collection. It has been a lot more refined now and has changed loads, but I still like to look back to this and see what some of my original designs were.  My initial ideas came from India and jellyfish, not that you can see that much in these designs either, but everything moves and develops so quickly!

Pinterest quotes have been keeping me going! I go through stages of using Pinterest and at the moment I like to go on once a day for some daily pinning and lots of inspirational quotes! You can follow me here if you also have a Pinterest, but be warned I post alot ;)

I've had fun this term experimenting with textiles and other ways to design which I hadn't done before. Even just setting up an overhead projector and projecting your chosen image onto a mannequin can inspire some new ideas!

Here are some of my initial print ideas, some are more literal and some have been kaleidoscoped (if that's a word) to make them a repeat pattern and a bit more interesting. I'm still not 100% which style I like the best yet, but I do think I should only have one or the other, as the non-repeat one looks a lot more organic.

I spent a good few days creating this curved collar but I'm really happy with how it has turned out. I'm going to have a printed version of this shirt somewhere in my collection for definite as I love it, and I need to have some simplistic garments in my collection to balance out the smocking and embroidery.

Lastly, I have been experimenting with smocking different materials and draping it onto the stand. I love how this experiment has turned out, and it would look great as a top on it's own, or simply as a neck-piece. I've always loved the look of smocking techniques and the ruffles goes back to my initial research when I was looking at jellyfish tentacles.

I've literally been backwards and forwards to London sourcing fabric so many times in recent times, which is rather annoying when my hometown is 30 minutes from London and my uni town is over two hours away! But I've been enjoying choosing my final fabrics and experimenting in them, even if it is burning a hole in my pocket! I've also come across so many gorgeous fabrics that I want to make clothes in for myself when I finish uni - How gorgeous are these tartans?!

Pattern cutting day in and day out has also become a part of my daily routine. I recently invested in a pair of fabric scissors which nearly cost me £100... but they're so worth it as they feel like I'm cutting through air, and they'll last me a lifetime! My little floral apple pin holder is from my boyfriend's nanny and I love it!

I love treating myself to a fashion magazine or two at the weekend while I do some sketchbook and watch some Breaking Bad! You definitely have to chill out a bit at the weekends otherwise you'll literally go crazy.

Here is a preview of my first outfit in final fabrics. I'm sure everything will change loads as I go on, but I'm loving the high-waisted trousers so far and just need to decide on my final print :)

And last but not least, here is my favourite image to describe the past few months of my life. It literally is all fun and games until the bobbin runs out haha! There is nothing worse than sewing a garment and the bobbin running out halfway through, athough I've had it before where it ran out before I even started, and I didn't realise until I'd finished that seam... that was very annoying!

Thanks for reading :)
I hope you enjoyed a little insight into my life and a slightly different Sunday summary!

I will be updating my blog with more final collection posts as I continue my journey :)

And you can follow my instagram @floraldanielle for daily updates!

Love Dani :)

x

Do it yourself: Rose floral headcrown!

I'd been meaning to buy myself a floral headcrown for months, or maybe actually since last Summer, but I never got round to it! Then one day when I was reading the lovely Izzie's blog and I came across her blog post on how to make a floral headcrown, and knew I had to make myself one! I actually ended up using the finished headcrown as a prop in a photoshoot I was part of, and I'll link it below :)

 You will need an alice band and some fake flowers with wire in the stems. I got the alice bands from Primark and they were £2.50 for  a pack of three. I got the roses from Hobby Craft and they were £2.99 for a pack of 6! They had many different types of flowers so pick whichever you like! :)

You will need a plain alice band so if it has a bow or ribbon on it, simply remove it. Mine was only connected by glue and came off easily with a pair of scissors! Remove one of the roses from the packet and it's up to you, but I decided to take off the plastic leaf too.

Now get the first rose and position it where you would like it to go on the alice band. If you decide on an odd amount of flowers, obviously the first one should start exactly in the middle, but if you decide on an even amount, the first one should start to the left of the centre so that another one can go next to it! Simply twist the wire around the headband, keeping it as tight as possible.

Keep adding the roses one by one, keeping it nice and tight. Having the roses tilted to one side of the alice band will mean that when the floral headcrown is being worn, it will give a fuller effect and look more like a halo.

The floral headcrown could be complete at this stage with only six flowers if you wish, as some people will prefer it with a more subtle effect. I felt that for the photoshoot I would like a much fuller effect so added an extra rose to each side :)

Here are the final floral headcrowns! I will defintely be making some more in different colours and different style flowers! How ridiculously easy are they to make?! They would go so perfectly with a little summer outfit at a festival or an outdoor wedding!

 (Photographer: Clementine Beck, Model: Imy Clarke, Stylists: Dani Mason and Sophie Hastings) 

Here is my favourite photo from the photoshoot I styled for the magazine I've been making as part of my uni project. My good friend Clementine took the photographs and I love how they came out :)

Thanks for reading :)

I hope you liked this DIY tutorial! 
Are you going to be making one yourself?
And would you like to see more DIY tutorials on my blog?

Love Dani

x   

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