Newspaper Project
For a very long time, I have wanted to create an outfit using Newspapers as my medium. Not only do I find the print fascinating but I also think the texture and body of the material is unique and captivating as well. Whilst I was looking through a collection of newspapers, deciding which parts to use, I noticed a lot of them were social justice-related. I realized that there was no true message behind my outfit and was inspired to make my outfit promote and call for social justice and change, specifically within America. I am a strong believer in social justice for all groups of marginalized peoples and am an active member of the social justice community. Especially now, it is an important topic to bring attention to, that is what I attempted to do by using pieces of newspaper that highlighted this.
01
Design Scetch
First, I sketched out a design concept in my Fahsion thoughts journal for the half-sized outfit I would be creating.
02
Figuring out Placment
Next I had to figure out which social justice-related pieces I liked and than proceeded to cut them out. I wanted to ensure that the newspaper parts I selected where seen (because I'm, created a pleated skirt, and the pleats would hide some parts of the newspaper) so I also selected filler pieces so the important parts of newspaper wouldn't get caught in the pleats. I tried to make sure these filler pieces were colorful so that they made the outfit more interesting to look at. I placed the newspaper so that the important, message conveying, pieces were spaced out and there was a pop of color in every corner. Once I was satisfied with the decided placement, I ironed the newspaper to make It flat and crisp, and then I taped the papers together.
03
Prepping Maniqien and Newspaper
After that I marked the different segments of my mannequin's body, the segments being chest, waist, and hips. Next, I had to attach my newspaper strip onto a different piece of newspaper-like paper using rubber cement glue. I did this to add stability and because said piece of paper already had pleat lines which would make pleating the actual newspaper a lot easier for me.
04
Pleating and pinning
Finally, I pleated the newspaper strip and than pinned the material onto the mannequin to create a skirt.
05
Finished Product
I created the waistband by cutting a piece of newspaper-like material to be the width of the waist of my skirt. I folded my waistband in half over the top of my skirt to synch the waist and hide the raw edges on the top. I kept an opening in the back of the skirt where I attached velcro at the center back of the waistband so that the skirt could be opened and closed. After that, I was finally done with my mini tennis skirt!
Bringing it to life.
After I was done creating my half-sized tennis skirt I had the experience needed to finally create a wearable version of my unique social-justice-based newspaper-print tennis skirt.
06
Pattern Process
The first thing I needed to do in order to make the scaled-up version of my skirt was to find a fabric with a print that fit my needs. Unfortunately, I could not use actual newspaper because it gets damaged and falls apart very easily so I looked towards a cotton-based alternative. After spending some days searching the internet I realized that I would have to make my own pattern. I looked at many online newspapers and screenshotted various bits of articles and comics that spoke to the message of my piece: social justice. After I had a good amount of screenshots I compiled them all into a Canva page and created a collage, this was my skirt pattern. I then uploaded my design to a website called Spoonflower which printed my design on cotton fabric and shipped it to me.
07
Tracing Pattern
The next thing I needed to do after getting my fabric was cutting my fabric and tracing the tennis-skirt pattern onto it. Firstly I decided what size skirt I needed to be based off my measurements and cut the fabric to be the appropriate length and size accordingly. I also cut out the waste band with the corresponding waste band pattern. Next, on the pattern paper, there are dotted lines that mark mainly where the pleats should go. I accomplished this by placing my fabric on a yellow wax tracing mat and using a sharp tool to trace over the pattern which was placed on top of my skirt. This formed yellow marks on my fabric that showed where the pleats would go. I had to do this on both sides of the fabric.
08
Putting in the zipper
After pins were placed in my fabric following the pattern previously traced into it, it was time to put in my zipper. I decided to use a type of zipper that when sewn into the fabric appeared "invisible" on the outside. I started by flipping my skirt inside out and pinning the zipper into the opening I left for it on the left side of the skirt. Then I sewed the zipper in.
09
Sewing the pleats
When sewing pleats in a tennis skirt you don't want to sew all the way from the top of the fabric to the bottom. You sew the pleats about halfway down the fabric and then stop and iron the rest. This is because you still want the pleats to ruffle out and have body. By sewing, the pleats halfway down you force the rest of the fabric to form the pleat shape but allow it to have some movement. This is exactly what I did for my skirt, using the pins placed along the traced-out pattern as a guide for where I should sew. As I sew the pleats in I took out all the pins that where there to hold them in place beforehand.
10
Pinning
After the sewing portion of creating the pleats was done it was time to use pins to hold down the other 1/2 of the pleat (the half that isn't sewed down). We want to do this because we can make sure that the entire pleat is the correct shape and size so when we iron it down it turns out looking right and symetrical. I started pinning the pleats down from where I stopped sewing to the bottom of the pleat. I pinned along the pattern pleat lines on my skirt. Pleats themselves are created by bunching up fabric so that it's folded ontop of itself. This means that there is two layers of fabric you have to match up when pinning pleats. So whilst pinning you have to make sure the pleat lines match on both sides of the fabric wich is a very tedious process.
11
Basting stich
Once I finished with all of the pinning I had to than replace this pins with a basting stitch. You pin first so that when it is time to use the basting stitch you already know that all the pleats are lined up perfectly and can just sew. The basting stitch is a hand stitch that's basically a replacement to the pins that we put in because it makes it easier to manipulate and try the piece on. The basting stitch is designed to be a temporary stich that can be taken out at anytimel.
12
Ironing (p1)
After all the pleats were fully secured I ironed. Ironing makes the pleat lines crisper and makes them stay down rather than poof out awkwardly to the sides. It also helps them form and hold better. I essentially just ironed each of the pleats down one-by-one.
13
Inital try-on
At this point I tried on the skirt to make sure everything was fitting right.
14
Waistband (p1)
In a skirt the waistband is used to sinch midsection and make the skirt look more finished. It hides the raw ends of the pleats. The waistband is a piece of fabric separate from the skirt. Firstly I sew one end of the waistband to the top of my skirt so that it faced the outside of my skirt. I used a 5/8inch seam allowance when sewing the waistband in. Than on the other end of the waistband I sew a line, using sewing string, with a 5/8inch seam allowance as well.
15
Ironing/Waistband (p2)
My next step was to take the waistband and fold the side that wasn't sew in over on the 5/8inch line I created before. Than I ironed it down where it folded. After I did that I lined the unattached side of fabric up with the line that was created on the inside of the skirt when I sew the first part of the waistband in. This is so the waistband would have an equal amount of fabric on the inside and outside of the skirt. Than I Ironed the waistband down at this point so that it would look crisp and stay in place. I also placed a few pins in it to secure it.
16
Second try-on
I tried my skirt on again to see if/what allterations needed to be made. I determined that I wanted to shorten my skirt so with the help of my teacher I put pins in my skirt to mark where I wanted to cut it. While doing this we made sure to leave more fabric in the back to make acomadations for the behind.
17
Cutting the Skirt
Using the pins placed during the try on I used chalk to create a line to cut on. During the process, before marking the cut line, I made sure to measure every point to make sure the pins lined up and connected the way I wanted them to. Than I cut. When cutting the fabric I made sure to keep in mind that I was going to hem the bottom. This means I needed to cut the fabric a length that would allow for me to make my hem line without the skirt being too short. I marked where the hem line would be, using blue chalk also, to help me latter on and ensure cut at the right length.
18
Hem line (p1)
Next I folded the end of the skirt on the hemline that I marked out previously using the chalk. I than Ironed the fabric down to create an Iron line here too and to keep the fabric folded in it's place at the hemline.
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19
Hem line (p2)
My next step was to unfold the hem I just created and ironed and sew across the edge using a 5/8inch seam allowance. Than I folded the end of my skirt over the line I just created and ironed it down. After I did that I re-ironed the rest of the hem using the previously preacted iron line as a guide.
20
Hem-catch stich (p3)
After I finished Ironing the hem it was time to sew it into the inside of the skirt. To do this I used a catch stich. The catch stich is a hand sewn stich that is used a lot in hemlines because if you do it correctly it is barely visible on the otherside of the fabric.
21
Waistband-whip stich (p3)
Once I completed my hem (yay) I continued working on my waistband. I used a whip stitch, wich is also done by hand, to sew the waistband down on the inside of the skirt as well. When doing this stitch I had to make sure to only catch one layer of fabric when sewing so the stitch would not be visible on the outside of the skirt.
22
Closures
Finishing my waistband enabled me to do one of the last steps in making my skirt, putting in the closures. The closures I used where essentially two small separate pieces of metal that could fit and stay together. I, by hand, sew them into both ends of my waistbands wich where purposely left long so that the closures could be put in. I used closures so that my waistband could close together because it is above the zipper (meaning when the zipper zips up it doesn't zip the waistband up too beacuse they arent attached).
23
Final ironing & removing Baste Stich
The very last thing I had to do in order to complete my skirt was to iron and remove the basting stitches in the pleats. For this step I just re-ironed the pleats individually to make it look as clean as possible. As I ironed down the pleats I took out the basting stitch beacuse the pleats where fully formed and ironed so I no longer needed it.
24
Done :)
I finally finished the skirt and got to try on the final product!!!
