Box Integration Jacket. - My design

OK, so this project I have to say that I am really quite pleased with!

During the 3 months of July to September 2012, I did a Transformational reconstruction (TR) course with Shingo Sato. One of the exciting techniques that we learned was the box integration technique.

As a practise garment for the course I made this half bodice:



Practice bodice design stage

Practice bodice for the TR course
















Whilst this was fun as an exercise, I could not quite see my self walking around with 2 boxes on my shoulders!

So this new jacket was a more conservative version of that exercise, taking the elements that I liked the most- the square shoulder and sharp points and working with it.
 
Here it is at the design/ pattern making stage:

Design stage

Design stage

Design stage

Cardboard is simply taped onto the bodice in the shape desired, then cut out on design lines to make the pattern for garment.

 

There are some critical points surrounding the "peaks and valleys" of the body that should be observed. Amongst others, these include the bust point, shoulder point, waist valley point, any dart point etc. Design lines must run through these critical points so as to enable the pattern to be completely flat once lay ed out. There are certain tricks to work around this within limits.

 

Notice that I was able to eliminate the arms eye in its traditional format. This is a fun concept with TR, as there is so much that can be done using this principle.

 

I really like the spiky, sharp points on the collar and sleeves. They were a pain in the neck to sew, but I was pleased with the result

This was made out of a heavy weight silk which I bought on a trip to Thailand a few years ago.
I hope that looking at some of my designs using TR technique inspires you to have a go. The thing I love about TR is that it simplifies what would otherwise be quite a complicated process.