For me to be able to transform my idea I needed to learn a whole new set of skills, so I enrolled and became a student at Bath collage.
During my time there I was taught the magic of pattern making. Learning to make my own designs into working patterns.
Now for any of you who have made your own clothes before and have had the pleasure of using patterns, you will understand just how fiddly and precise you need to be. I am the first to put my hands up and admit that I am not a mathematician. So you can imagine just how much my brain hurt after day one of my course. But its funny what you can do when your hearts in it. I soon got into the groove and I admit I actually found a real enjoyment in the precision and the challenge.
As any artist can tell you, the process of getting a design to look the way it does in your mind’s eye is more than a little tricky, but it is also where the joy of making and sense of achievement come from.
I would not be giving up on my dream.
I learnt there are rules to making clothes; there are certain elements that need to be included to allow the clothes to fit and for you to move freely within them. My design needed to do these things perfectly and with a clear purpose.
As I began to learn, new ideas formed around my learning and I started to play around within my original design. The first draft had been rather naive and at this time I realised that I really needed perfect the finer elements of the design.
It was during this learning process that I really felt able to start thinking of my design as a tangible product. I could see the elements that would become Nouvelle Habit, slowly coming together.