Explore JeDure

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Slow and Steady...

So a couple days off schedule (18 hours to be exact) I was finally able to finish my jacket! Initially as you all know I planned to have it complete by the eve of the networking event, but unless I wanted to rush through the final stages of everything, the decision to wear another  piece that I had made previously ended up being the route I went down.

Whenever you put real time into something, you'll get results, and when you don't all you're doing is selling yourself short at the end of the day!

So with no further wordage...here's how it all ended up....


Once you've trued up your pattern, you have to cut it out, then lay each piece on top of your fabric and cut the number of pieces needed for your design.



I was taught to "baste" my pieces prior to sewing them (basting=hand sewing your pieces together with a loose stitch just as a safe guard to ensure that your pieces match up perfectly) The more comfortable you get with your sewing though, corners start to get cut a little....so now I just pin my pieces together first, which is still much more dependable than free stitching on your machine.



When you sew pieces together one thing that I find always ensures that your garment doesn't look too "Suzy Home-Maker" is TOPSTITCHING (topstitching is simply that, running a stitch on the top of your fabric just off of the seam) as a matter of fact take a look at what you're wearing now...you'll see that it has topstitch finishings all over it....well....go look!!! :)



* KEY Whenever you sew a seam together (before you topstitch) you have to iron it open....the steam helps release the tension in the fabric and can also hide minor inconsistencies in the straight stitch of your seam.


It's all in the detailing....even the pockets get topstitching.



Many people think that designers just "whip something up" but that's not the case. There's actually a lot more involved. You may have noticed that my Tailor's Form is armless....so "How do you make the sleeves?" Simple....MATH....First I measure my arm hole and map out where I want the largest and smallest parts of the sleeve to be. In this case...my sketch called for a sleeve that tapered in then came back out a little bit at the wrist (or cuff), so of course my pattern needed to reflect that. (this was probably one of the harder parts of construction for me when I started draping)
*draping=designing your own pattern from a 3-D figure without the help of any "ready made" patterns



Again my sketch called for different parts of the sleeve as well. Some parts were straight while others were shingled. So then I had to figure out the proportions of each part true up those measurements then cut. (this also included figuring in the "hooded shoulder" that I had drawn.



The only way to get "strips" of fabric is to cut them! So I had to measure the width and lengths of each strip and marked it all off with chalk.



Cut!


Once cut each strip had to be sewn together to create a new fabric with the texture that I needed to match the sketch. (It's tedious, but when you want something, you have to work for it....right?!)



Once that's all over with an you've connected all of the parts that make your jacket, you still have to close it. In this case, because of the integrity of my design I couldn't use just anything to close it...it had to be subtle. So I used closures called "hooks and eyes" where one side literally "hooks" into the other. The only setback is that this has to be done by hand so you have to measure where everything should go first, THEN you can sew each "hook"....then each "eye".



Just when you thought it was over! Don't forget the lining for if it gets really cold (Essentially linings are a less complicated replica of the jacket itself that gets sewn, snapped, zipped, or hooked into the jacket) If you want the option of going liningLESS it's best to attach it with snaps, hooks, or a zipper.

Then You're done!



Front View



Rear View



Detail Shot of Collar



Optional Faux Fur Lining (should be turned inside out when set into the jacket so the fur touches the body)




Model: Jorge
Designer: Will White for JeDure
(shot by Will White)

Sewing has a lot of measurement and preparation behind it, which in turn requires a great deal of patience, but it's all worth it when you don't have to go back to fix a mistake.

Lesson: If you want something to come out right, you have to put your all into the preparation. You get what you work for.




Sunday, January 17, 2010

Product Placement

    Well first let me start off by apologizing for not being as avid at this blogging thing as I should have been in the past couple of days. I will say that the past week has been a very trying one for me but now I'm doing much better and am still rather optimistic about the future. That being said, in the near future I will be one of the individuals attending an industry party on the 20th of January where the likes of all types of "notables" will be in attendance. Since I myself am far from notable just yet I have to continuously work at making sure that people do start to take note of who I am and my abilities. In turn I've decided that in going into this networking opportunity, I need something to promote....so I've decided to sew a new jacket specifically for the event!!!

         The creative process of constructing a garment is very personal, but I have decided to let you all in on that process and in the process you can get a deeper understanding of who I am. So basically my design aesthetic is "Fashionable Superhero" (I wish I could have come up with a cooler way to say it...but it's 1:48am....so that's about all I can give right now) But anyway...when people wear my clothing, I want everyone to look at them like "wow!, they're sooo cool...I wonder who they are...." Recently I've been in a bit of an "armor" phase. Since armor tends to give shape to the body and instant masculinity to even the scrawniest of individuals (I'm currently focusing on menswear since I'll have to be my own "mouthpiece" when it comes to getting the word about Will White and the "JeDure"© label) I knew that was where I wanted to focus my research (note: fashion is cyclical, and everything you see has been done before in some way, shape, or form...just innovated upon) So In my research I noticed some accents that I liked from the mid 16th century, the romantic period of the 1820s-40s, and even influence drawn from the riding armor of the Spanish Conquistadors. Then....I sketched out my thoughts...







......from there, it was time to do some draping (this is where you make the pattern for what you've drawn  by literally draping your fabric onto a tailor's form and contouring the desired silhouette with a marker, chalk, or pen....I prefer marker)




(first I mark with tape the place where my seams will fall so that I can make individual pattern pieces to get my desired shape once it's all done)
*note: This design calls for a strong shoulder so I've included shoulder pads, and had to place them on the form while draping so that my pattern will allow room for them




(when making your pattern you use an inexpensive type of fabric called MUSLIN...it's similar to linen but not as textured...they're in the same family)




After the initial planning of your pattern, you have to "true-up" all of your lines so that you won't run into too many fit problems as your garment progresses. If you don't true-up your pattern you could end up with a sleeve that's too short on one side and too long on the other






Now all there's left to do in this part is to cut out your pattern then it's time to use it to cut your fabric out!!



To be continued.....



Sunday, January 10, 2010

With Parents like these...



Well I'd like to start this post off with a public Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents William and Juanita White, 25 years of wedded bliss (and a Happy Birthday to Pop...48 years and looking great!)

Now that that's out of the way let's chat for a moment about the sacrifices parents make for their children. Mine just made a tremendous investment in the betterment of my career and words can never really express how thankful I am to them for it...my dream is to one day be so successful that the two of them will never have to know what the word "No" sounds like again...

I'm not sure if you've read in my "about me" but I am also a singer. As of resent I've been working towards writing and recording new music with the intent of "making it" Just as things were going a little too great...I've started upon some road blocks as of recent and have found myself in a bit of a bind when it comes to studio access (although I have a mac w/ Garage band installed on it...the sound quality still said "this was made in a basement...don't you hear it?"

I've never liked to depend on others when it comes to things I want to accomplish so I thought the answer was simple. "Just buy a quality mic and you can record at home with higher quality sound". Simple enough, but who would have known that the higher quality sound had a veeeeerrrrrrrry steep price tag at Sam Ash Music Stores. Not only would I need a mic, but I'd also need an interface (used to transfer sound from the studio mic onto your computer), and of course a stand, and even new "studio headphones" to gage my progess. And to top it off...I found out that my Garage Band wouldn't be enough...for "studio quality sound" I'd have to use what producers use in the studio....PRO TOOLS.

With a heavy heart, I was prepared to walk away from it all until I could save up enough in order to get it without significantly depleting my savings. But guess who stepped in on my behalf?!
God (of course) but he used the people that brought me into this world in the first place....







I've started playing around with my new equipment and find that it's not at all as hard as I thought initially (I've even started recorded one of the songs that I just wrote earlier in the week...*expect to hear it soon*) Again I am truly thankful for my parents and feel that now more than ever before, I owe them my continued hard work and dedication because when people believe in you, you've got no other choice than to deliver.

Lesson: If you place so many aspects of your life in the hands of others, can you really get upset when things don't go your way? If you have the opportunity to do something on your own as opposed to having to wait until someone is "ready" to work with you why not take it? The people closest to you just may be the only ones you need to get you to that point too...so don't be afraid to lean on your loved ones for a moment so you can stand on your own in the long run.


Thursday, January 7, 2010

Play Hard...Work Harder...

  
              



















        Well remember how I mentioned before that the benefit of a new day is the opportunity to make up for what you didn't do the previous one? Today has been precisely that. The entire day was spent completing my "mailings" [When you're serious about becoming a working actor or model one of the first goals is to secure representation in your field...and the only way to do that (like with any other job) is to "apply" and in this business that's done by sending out copies of your headshot, resume, and cover letter tailored specifically to the recipient (an agent or casting director....but in my case both). Later in the day I'll have to spend a little time in Kinkos in order to prep everything for packaging. If you're reading this and thinking "dang that sure does look hard"....well it is!....but guess what? I'm not the first person who's had to do it, and I certainly won't be the last.

Lesson: Everything worth having is worth working for. When you think that you "can't" do something, just remember all the people who "can" do it as you sit there and "think".

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Time...




After what turned out to be a pretty long day in the city, I've still managed to accomplish most of the things I set out to finish today, but there's still some "catch-up" I've got to play...As an actor/ commercial model without representation it's always in your best interest to work towards that. So the first thing you do after you've gotten your headshots printed, resume drafted, and cover letter signed, you've got to do your mailings so people can see them!! That, my friends is what I didn't get to finish today...but we're back in the swing tomorrow (there's got to be over 60 of them that I have to do)

Anyway in other news, I'm also a photographer and DID manage to find a little time to play with my 450D Canon camera and newest toy (aka lens) my 50mm with the f/1.8 aperture. It's really fast (ideal for dark lighting), takes great pictures, and is the cheapest lens I've bought to date. At $100, it's truly a steal! The image above was taken with this very lens in tv mode set to 1/125 and external flash set at 1/64 of full power. What's your hobby? We all have so many things going on in life, and sometimes it's best to make time for the things that make you happy.

Lesson: If you don't accomplish all you want to succeed in a day...don't sweat it, just try your hardest to do it the next. God's greatest gift to us is life...and if you're blessed to have it...you'd better start making the best of it.

Monday, January 4, 2010

New Beginnings










*Photos by Sloan*

Well I suppose my first post should be a little about what I'm doing at the moment. So I'm a graduate of Howard University and just moved back stateside after living in South Korea for 13.5 months. I recently packed up my life in Charlotte, N.C. where my parents live and moved up to the city on Halloween Day.  Now I'm pursuing acting and commercial modeling which has proven to be a great feat. Initially I was completely shell shocked and relied on the help of "Google" to tell me all I needed to know. Unfortunately though, I was ALL wrong. With the help of friend, Sasha Sloan, I was able to revamp my whole approach and am now geared up to set out in the right direction. I've got new headshots, a new resume, and an even newer cover letter.
Fortunately enough, though, my first month of work wasn't all in vain, as it allotted me two gigs that will be starting in the new year. I'll be starring in a production entitled B.U.M.M. University and also have been selected as on of the new hosts for N.Y. Cable Access Channel show, Independent Links. I am truly blessed and can't wait for the next thing to happen for me.

Lesson: When you notice that what you're doing isn't necessarily working as quickly as you want it to...it's time to rethink your approach.