For the resolution of my FMP I have made a sewing kit of 18 pieces, with three garments made using the pieces. I have made a jacket, a top, and a skirt. Each piece is made of a different domestic textile. The intention of the kit is to encourage people who have little to no experience with sewing to try sewing.
My intention in my project proposal was to prove that domestic sewing is an important part of the fashion industry, both historically and currently. I think the pieces I have made have fulfilled this as they incorporate elements typical of domestic sewing such as sewing ‘mistakes’, as well as celebrating the craft of home sewing through the hand sewing elements of the garments. The kit acts as an extension of the ideas I set out in my project proposal, as I discovered through my research and development of my point of view that I also wanted to encourage more people to try sewing and designing for themselves. It is a skill that has experienced a sharp decline over the last two generations, thanks mainly to the rise of fast fashion and changing social and economic structures.
In terms of my final garments, I decided to make them out of domestic textiles, to show that a person would need no specialist fabric to make something with the pattern kit. This required some testing and experimentation due to the different properties of the textiles, especially with the use of wallpaper in the skirt. I tested many processes of construction, eventually deciding to fully hand sew all my garments, both as a celebration of the craft and to make the processes more accessible to those without a sewing machine.
An exploration into the importance of domestic sewing in fashion, culminating in a pattern kit and corresponding garments to encourage people to try sewing their own clothes.