Shop the S/S 15/16 Collection Now!

A Sunday in Sheffield.

It started with waking up at 7am. A sunny day that I knew would turn into a blur once it was over. It's show day and I started the day manufacturing the final dress. This turned out to be a life saving idea later on.

I arrive dat the venue, Soyo Bar in Sheffield at 2pm. The day was filled with nerves, smiles, fittings, make up meetings and run throughs. It was interesting to make connections with models and get to talk with them about future work. This resulted in me being able to have 7 new potential models for runways and campaigns! In particular I have one that I have already asked to work with in an up and coming project with more details coming soon!

It was a great day. The outfits looked amazing, even if I do say so myself and it was then that I felt like a real designer. Only then. It felt real. Getting to see the clothing that I have slaved over for such a long time for on women, seeing them fit, seeing the women smile and compliment the looks simply warmed my heart. It made me feel proud of what I had accomplished. After the fitting was complete I had time to become organised. I had the opportunity to finalise my line up and work out who was changing into what next and if it was at all possible. Shoes sorted along with hair and make meant that we were free to sit and relax for a little bit. This was around 5.30pm.

It was at this point that I thought to myself 'this is what every designer had to do. This is what Coco had to do'. Each great label started somewhere. Yes it was only a small collection. But it was made out of love and each garment had the right amount of care and attention that it deserved. It was also at this point where I started to feel scared. Scared of the fact that there was a possibility that no one would turn up. Sharing this moment with non of the people closest to me was something I was scared of.  A feeling that if I'm honest isn't too new to me.

People started arriving at 7pm and it turned out that the first two people through the door were my parents. This was great as it meant that I had the chance to talk to them and it was nice to feel the support. The room started to fill and it was time for the first runway show to begin. I was the last designer to show a collection and I was happy with this arrangement. It meant that my looks would be the freshest on people minds.

9.15pm and my models were all dressed and ready to go in their first looks. It felt like I had a butterfly nest in my stomach. Look after look my collection was shown and to walk out and feel the applause from the audience was simply amazing.

After the show I got the chance to network with people in the audience and I made a business connection with a potential new event sponsor. The event was put on by Eleganza Events and helped raise £335 for Sheffield Children's Hospital.

An amazing experience.

You can shop the collection now! Use the links below with more of the looks being added very soon!

Draped top with a herringbone pencil skirt 

Seedling print shift dress

Ikat print shift dress

Black shift dress

Check out the Facebook page for more! www.facebook.com/RPDesigns
Any further information please email pilkingtonsdesigns@gmail.com 

Thanks,

Ryan x

Hi everyone!

How many social media platforms do you use? What's your favourite?

Social media has become a fundamental and revolutionary shift in the way we connect, communicate and share with our friends, work colleagues and family. I love been able to develop and grow both professionally and personally. A couple of weeks ago I attended a 3 day, 3 module social media for business training called Digital High Street at The Source in Sheffield. I loved this training and learnt so much from it that I wanted to further develop my knowledge of social media.

I was told about an online training course on Living Social called Social Media Mastery. This course consists of 59 module including 10 modules of homework. This training was amazing. I learnt so much more and I feel much more confident using social media for my business! Only £22 too instead of £200+ ! The training course focuses on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The three largest social media platforms available. The training gives tips, advice, websites, videos and more all in aid to make you have a bigger impact online!

If you love  social media, love developing yourself and being better then this is definitely the training course for you! Bring on the tweeting!

Check out Ryan Pilkington on various social media!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_RyanPilkington
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RPilkingtonDesign
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ryanpilkington/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ryanpilkington
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/RyanPilkingtonD/

Remember! "Always Be Classic"!

Sewing Bee

I loved the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee and even bought the first book, and made the men's pyjama bottoms from it on which I did a blog post on! So it came natural to watch series two and buy the Sew Your Own Wardrobe book!

Normally this book is £25 but at a Costco near me they had it for £13! Obviously I couldn't pass this opportunity up. All purchased and read this book is amazing. It gives amazing hints and tips for beginner and more experienced sewers and is jam packed with next and interesting sewing projects to do at home. I cant wait to start making a garment a week (my personal summer challenge) and make my own portfolio of garments made over summer. I am most excited about making the men's anorak! The book even comes with 5 large pieces of paper which hold about 3 different garment patterns each so if you don't know how to draft garment patterns then don't worry! I'll let you see each garment as its completed!

A must buy!

The First Stitch

Earlier this week I had decided that with the spare time I have now that I want to practice my sewing as this is my weakest part. I want to return to university more confident about making garments. One day I was out and about and thought I would pop in to the market to see what cheap and cheerful fabric was for sale and as luck would have it there were multiple colours of t shirt fabric such as cotton jersey. This was the same market that I bought cheap fabric from for college projects so the sales man was happy to give me an even cheaper price for the fabrics! I then set off home where the designing and creating would start!

My partner has been wanting me to make them something for a while now but I've never had the motivation or the skill to be able to, so I decided to make them a cowl neck t shirt. I used a grey cotton jersey for the cool neck and draw strings (added extra) and a deep berry purple for the main bodice and sleeves of the top. Sewing the shirt was great, no hiccups (apart from me sewing the cowl neck inside out by accident but no worries it's sorted now) and it became a success! I had drafted my own custom menswear bodice and sleeve blocks and made the top from scratch in an afternoon. Very happy with the final outcome. It made me very happy to see my partner wear my creation that night and the day after. It was a "I did that" moment for sure. I have even started a new t shirt for them yesterday! There's nothing stopping my now! 

Could this be the beginning of a new t shirt brand? Ryan Pilkington Creations?