Practical Workshop and Project Work
The practical paper tests planning, sample making, construction sequence, quality checks and documentation. You are expected to work from measurements to a finished, pressed garment and to explain your decisions.
Planning the project
Start with a design brief, a market survey or client interview, a fabric and trim list, a cost estimate and a time plan. Draft to scale, make a test fit or toile for a new shape, then cut. Keep a sample file with seams, darts, zips, buttonholes, hems and decorative stitches.
Order of work
Staystitch curves, mark and stitch darts, join shoulders and side seams, insert sleeves, attach collar or facing, insert zip, hem, then finish and press. Check fit after the main seams and before the final finishing.
Quality checkpoints
Check grain, seam allowance width, stitch density, symmetry, ease, hem level, thread trimming and pressing. Record measurements before and after construction.
Worked example
A six-day plan for a kurta with embroidered yoke: day one measurements, draft and cutting; day two yoke embroidery; day three darts, shoulders and side seams; day four sleeves and facing; day five hem and buttonholes; day six final press, inspection and documentation. Reasoning: embroidery is done on flat pieces before joining so the machine does not fight the gathered fabric and seams do not cut through the work.
Traps
Cutting before the test fit; missing samples in the file; embellishing after joining; not recording measurements; leaving the final press until after submission.
Key points
- Plan design, fabric, cost and time before cutting; make a toile for a new shape.