Day 2 Adventures

In the morning worked on pintrest posting some of the funny comics I made for their New York course and also looked at other embroidery related humor that could be used alongside the New York advertising.
I then was given another social media task of going around the studio taking images for their instagram page. Looking at different rooms, the beading and embroidery. Trying to take a variety of images, getting close up shots of all the detail too.

 

 

After lunch I went out to MacCulloch and Wallis to buy leather needles for a customers shoes who wanted an Arsenal logo sewn to the front.
After this I then had to carefully trim the joining threads and the felt edge before pinning the logo onto the shoe as close to the top as possible so that the shoe still had movement.
Sewing the logo on was a very tricky task as the leather was very thick and even with a thimble the needle was hard to get in and out of the leather. Luckily I only had to sew one shoe as another intern did the other and I managed to get it finished buy the end of the day!

Hand & Lock

I got this internship secured months back and was a bit nervous a few days before starting as I wasn't too sure what I would be doing.

I turned up on my first day and instantly felt okay, everyone there was cheery and friendly and instantly made me feel welcome and encouraged me that I would get to experience a lot in 3 months.

My first day consisted of jumping straight into a computer helping source addresses for newspapers and magazines invited to their prize giving,

Once I had found all the information I then had to invite 3 people I knew in the industry. I could then print this all off onto sticky labels to put onto the front of the envelopes. 

I then worked on their pin-trest pages using eecards sight to make comedy images to advertise their New York classes taking place.

                      


                          

I did help with some computerized sewing and prepping garments for packing, by pulling off the backing from shirts and cutting off all the small joining threads making sure the garments look neater and ready for the client to pick up.

All in all I experienced a lot on my first day which I enjoyed and was glad looking forward to the variety of tasks.  

Bead till the end

So over the last few weeks I continued to bead my back piece.

I also was working on more veil samples, I got given an extra thin thread which helped the beading look cleaner and I was then able to work quicker and adjust my technique. I beaded 3 veil samples all with the same spacing just different colour combinations of crystals so that the client could decide which she preferred and if she liked a random combination.

My last sample was just a crystal and dark crystal combination as the client preferred this.

In my last weeks at Suzie turner I gave my back piece to a new intern and worked on two small side pieces keeping an inch inside from the edge. Once these were done I helped to tack the pieces together so that they could be put on a model and assessed if the design was working or not and how much beading was left. 

It was great seeing my hard work come to life and being worn, I was surprised by how much I had done in the time. 

I worked on the last back piece leaving it for another intern to complete on my last day. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Suzie Turners, we were all like a little family working together for 3 months. All the girls were around the same age and we had a lot in common. All having moved to London for placement years we went out a few nights for the theater and birthday meals. 

Its safe to say we all still keep in touch and will be very good friends. 

On to Hand & Lock

Home by the canal

Suzie Turner is now fully located by the canal in Islington. After a week of about packing and unpacking boxes and organizing around sewing we got fully back into sewing again.

As I had finished my circle I had it extended to work further down the front of the garment. I had to make sure that I kept the tension not too tight and that all the beading looks the same from the previous circle. 

I was also given a special task of working on a veil sample for a new client who wanted her veil beaded with Swarvoski crystals.

I had to sew crystals every 4cms apart on a straight line and continue this underneath in a brick work pattern. The next stage was to then do 6cms apart and then even wider apart. 

Sewing on the veil material was very difficult as I had to work with the holes already in the fabric. I had to make sure the threads are as close as possible to the crystal without stopping it from laying flat. 

My first piece of spiderweb lace was then handed to another intern to complete so I had to then instruct her on how to bead it keeping it the same format at my beading. I was then set to work on a back/ side piece leaving just over 1 inch of space on the inside of the line. 

My next speed beading project.  

Speed Beading

All the girls have different tasks depending on what project they are working on, currently there are 3 projects all for the photo shoot.

I am the only one working on my project which at the end will be an over sized gathered top that sits off the shoulders and has a cowl neck.

After practicing on a scrap bit of lace the beading combination and the tension of the carrying thread I was then able to start on the actual fabric. Laura studio manager outlined a small circle for me to start to fill in working on the center front pattern piece.

It took me 4 days to finish the outlined circle, I had no idea if this was a good pace or not. At Suzie's we have a saying about speed beading and every once in a while you look down and surprise yourself at how much you have completed in that time.
When you start to work on a project you have to log in the hours you've done that day in order to help give an idea of timing and when the garment may be finished.

The next few weeks would become a bit more varied due to moving studios.

A Suzie Turner Intern

Starting my internship at Suzie turner was exciting as it was my first internship of my placement year. I had an idea of what I would be doing as I learnt a bit about all the tasks during my trial day.

At Suzie Turner I wasn't allowed to take any images of my work or talk about any on going projects with people outside work. The work day runs from 9.15 to 5pm with breaks at 11-11.15, 13.00- 13.45 and 15.45-16.00. The breaks meant that we got to rest our eyes and walk about and stretch as beading all day gave us bad posture.

My first day consisted of retracing the way to securely sew beads onto the lace. At Suzie Turner they like to have a very specific way of sewing the beads so that if one falls off then its only one and that so all the beading looks identical.

After spending one day practising beading on Chantilly lace, I then got assigned a project for a photo shoot at the end of the year. This was a very different type of lace that looked like a spider web, I had to practice sewing on this lace with pearl beads. For this project I had to use a combination of beads, cream and pink pearls, 3mm and 4mm. The ratios had to be 6 pink to 4 cream and for the bigger beads about an inch apart in distance.

Is one year long enough....

I've started a year long journey into the world of fashion and interning. Giving myself a break from university to expand my knowledge of the industry and boost my confidence ready for graduation.

Knowing that London is the heart of the UK and where the majority of fashion company's are located I secured myself a flat in east London ready for my year.

I decided that to gain the most experience from this year I should do 3 month placements giving me enough time to learn from the company but also fit in quite a few internships within the year.

I already had an idea of what I would like to do in my year out and the type of companies I would like to work for. This helped me to quickly look through the lists of company's wanting an intern and also made it easier to write a suitable cover letter and CV.

I learnt the hard way as most fashion students that one email is not enough, send out hundreds and get 10 back. Well patience is key here!
After surfing through fashionworkie.com, indeed and twitter and sending out emails I secured a few interviews, this then lead to a trial day at Suzie Turner. Which then led to my first proper internship which you can read about in my next blog post!