28th June 2021

Design

To improve my bomber jacket toile I’ve started to experiment with how the yoke and hem could be smocked rather than seam. At first, I did this by expanding the pattern with the smocking in parallel lines. Then I tried to figure out how the yoke section could be pleated in a way to create the curved yoke shape. But after lots of experimentation I learned that this wouldn’t work as extra fabric is needed under the arm to bring up the smocking. Therefore, I tried to create a vent for extra fabric, but this didn’t work either. So, I went back to my original pattern toile and pinned the sample I created to figure out the pleats and smocking for the one-piece jacket to the yoke. This looked like an over layer and frill which could work to create the curved yoke without a visible seam. Instead, the seam would be on the layer underneath. The sample hung over the seam which looked like a frill, and I thought about how the overlay could either stop at the shoulder or go over it. The hem section would work as a grown on smocked section as this part is parallel.

From my research of historical sleeves, I learned that the puff sleeve shapes kept there shaped due to the lining underneath being shorter. Therefore, I created a shorter lining for the nylon sleeve sample I’d made. A storm cuff would also keep the sleeve up as it is fitted to the wearer’s wrist. This ribbed cuff also fits with the sportswear aesthetic that I’ve started to go with. The cuff could be completely on the inside or visible on the outside.

Later in the week I made a smocked overlay piece by expanding the original yoke. The piece looked great on the jacket toile, but the neckline was too big. This is because I made the same number of smocks on the neck and yoke in a sunshine shape. So next I made another sample that had a different number of smocks o the neckline. Originally, I thought the collar and yoke could be all one piece, but because of the shape and amount of fabric of the pieces this isn’t possible. This means I will create a separate collar which goes into the smocking. The collar could be plain, ribbed or even pleated to mirror the pleats on the sleeve.

The neckline of the next sample was better but it still didn’t fit the neck properly. Changing the position of the neckline pleats also meant the shoulder stuck out so the extra fabric needs to be removed on the pattern. Rather than smocking a whole new yoke I just did the collar. This is because each sample takes a long time to sew up. By moving the position of the smock and size of them the neckline now fits well.