The new brief.
This week we received the brief for our new module; creative design practises. There is two halves to the brief, we are working on one before Christmas and the other half after.
This module is about trends, different market levels, fabrics and designing for a specific purpose. When I first read through the brief I was a little apprehensive, this was an area that I was quite worried about and I feel is probably my weakest point.
After discussing the brief further and with other people I did feel a little more at ease but still slightly hesitant. We were asked to use trend websites, such as ‘trendsetter’ and ‘WGSN’ to find out the four main trends that are occurring in this season; Autumn/ winter 2008.
I started doing my research and reading about the different trends, and you do start to realise that this is what you see in the shops, you just don’t tend to realise it.
We were asked to go into different shops, for different market levels, and identify these trends in the shops. I went out to some of the high street stores and sneakily took the things into the dressing room to take photos, when you know what you are looking for it is easier to spot the trends occurring. In the designer and higher market shops, taking photos of the window displays and doing quick sketches of what I had seen in the store felt more comfortable as the staff are more aware of what I was trying to do.
I am going to go out again some point this week to see if I can take some more photos in different stores just so I have a wide selection of different things.
I am also going to use some of the things that I have bought recently and I feel fit with this season’s trend and take some photographs of those. I am also hoping to find some prints/ material and textures that I can use. Using this research I am going to create a trend board for each of the four main trends and also a shop report on the different market levels and different things that I have found out.
After doing this research I do feel a little more confident with the brief and hope to make some real progress with it in the next couple of weeks.
On Fridays sessions this week, we were continuing with creative design realisation. I had finishing making my dress pattern and had cut out the material with the pattern pieces still fixed. I had a really stressful day; I had not had much sleep the night before where I had been quite ill in the week, and was very tired the next day and kept making mistakes. I did have to adjust my dress as I was going along to make sure that it all fitted together ok, I am pretty much just over half way there, so hopefully I can finish that off in the last session next week, and get all the other things that I need for my technical file completed.
I am now really looking forward to Christmas and spending some time with my friends and family, and having a bit of a break, which I really think I need now.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Questionnaire
Results to the questionnaire.
For the start of our new module we started with a small questionnaire. We were put into different groups so that we could mix with different people and where then sent off around the college and town to find out different things.
We started in the college library, starting with finding the reference number for all of the fashion books, which is 390.9. Also looking things up in the magazine archive, and recognising the magazines that cover different topics such as colour and fashion trends. We found a total number of 16, including vogue, collezioni, the hat, drapers, and nylon.
We were asked to take a trip to the indoor market so that we could find the stalls which sell fabrics. The market is the best place in Leeds to buy fabrics as there aren’t really any fabric shops. We found three fabric shops, B&M fabrics, Jacks cloths and MK fabrics. Some fabrics are quite fancy dress but you do come across some really interesting fabrics and quite reasonable prices.
There are also a lot of small bits and bobs stalls selling accessories and decorations that could also be useful.
One of the graduates from the Fashion course now works in Harvey Nicholls on one of the concessions in there, we were asked to go in there to find out her name and who she was. We wear asked to do this so that we felt comfortable going into this type of shop even it is just to look round to see what’s going on in the shop, the trends or to just look around for inspiration.
We then were asked to find out which shops were next to or in-between other shops, or opposite a street. This was so we know where different types of shops are and what market levels they are aimed at.
Also we were asked to find out some things about the shop borders and the magazines and books in there, this will be to help us with our research for future reference and projects.
Our last visit was to the city museum, something that was not related to fashion per-say but showed us different things that appeal to different ages and different people.
I found the trip useful for finding out where things are and the best places to go for the information that I am trying to find.
For the start of our new module we started with a small questionnaire. We were put into different groups so that we could mix with different people and where then sent off around the college and town to find out different things.
We started in the college library, starting with finding the reference number for all of the fashion books, which is 390.9. Also looking things up in the magazine archive, and recognising the magazines that cover different topics such as colour and fashion trends. We found a total number of 16, including vogue, collezioni, the hat, drapers, and nylon.
We were asked to take a trip to the indoor market so that we could find the stalls which sell fabrics. The market is the best place in Leeds to buy fabrics as there aren’t really any fabric shops. We found three fabric shops, B&M fabrics, Jacks cloths and MK fabrics. Some fabrics are quite fancy dress but you do come across some really interesting fabrics and quite reasonable prices.
There are also a lot of small bits and bobs stalls selling accessories and decorations that could also be useful.
One of the graduates from the Fashion course now works in Harvey Nicholls on one of the concessions in there, we were asked to go in there to find out her name and who she was. We wear asked to do this so that we felt comfortable going into this type of shop even it is just to look round to see what’s going on in the shop, the trends or to just look around for inspiration.
We then were asked to find out which shops were next to or in-between other shops, or opposite a street. This was so we know where different types of shops are and what market levels they are aimed at.
Also we were asked to find out some things about the shop borders and the magazines and books in there, this will be to help us with our research for future reference and projects.
Our last visit was to the city museum, something that was not related to fashion per-say but showed us different things that appeal to different ages and different people.
I found the trip useful for finding out where things are and the best places to go for the information that I am trying to find.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
The DEADLINE
Meeting the deadline.
This week we gave in our first project. It felt so good to have given it in and have it finished. I’d finished a couple of days before, so it did feel quite weird not having to do any work in those few days.
I really enjoyed doing my project, and I felt that by the end of it, that I had really developed and progressed with my work.
I think that I found a way in which I like to work. Using a figure and the same material and doing a variation of that material on a figure three times, gave me the most potential ideas.
I really liked working with different materials and manipulating the fabrics in different ways. I think this gave the most realistic idea of what an actually garment would look like.
When it came to working on the stand with my three garments, it was a bit difficult to take ideas from a page and transform them into actual garments. After working for a while I started to create shapes and a silhouette and felt more comfortable with actually making my top.
When I had got the shapes all cut out, I pinned them against the top and made sure that it all fitted together before I started sewing them all together. When I had done this, I stitched around each petal so that there were no raw edges, and then stitched each petal together and then onto the base shirt.
I then started on the back of my garment, plaiting the fabric was the most time consuming, getting the plaits all of the same size and then twisting them in so they were tightly compacted and well stitched down was really difficult. I really wanted to carry on going though, because it did make the garment look really good and gave it a different texture. This was something that my designer did in his work.
I put a large bow on the front, like I had tried previously in my sketchbook and then had curled material falling from the bow, which was also like something that I had tried before with curling ribbon. I really liked my top and if it was to be manufactured I would try in a material that had a lot of lustre and a nice flow and continuity to it. The collar would still be stiffened as this gives a nice contrast.
For the next part of that day we started on our new project with just some questions and some research. We are looking at designing for different markets and fabric properties which are appropriate to these. We had questions to do with different shops and different audiences; this will help us when we actually start with our project.
Also this week I had my jewellery elective again, I really liked what we were doing this week, there were only a few of us in the lesson, so we got through things a lot quicker but also in more detail because we had more one to one tutoring. We used wire and twisted them with a hand drill. This made such an inventive pattern and you could use different tensions to create different effects. This would definitely be something that I would consider to use for my final piece, and it would also fit into the theme of my other work which is something that had to be considered.
On Friday we started the second half of our design realisation module. We had to find an image from a magazine with creative darts and fullness and flair.
We started to create our patterns from the previously made basic bodice block. We adapted the block to create the pattern for our dress.
I felt like I learnt a lot on this day and if I had to adapt a pattern in future I feel that I would be able to do it more independently. I finished my pattern on this day so our group was quite far ahead; I also completed my working drawing so I was really satisfied with what I had done. At home I pinned the pattern to the fabric, so next lesson I can start with the construction.
This week we gave in our first project. It felt so good to have given it in and have it finished. I’d finished a couple of days before, so it did feel quite weird not having to do any work in those few days.
I really enjoyed doing my project, and I felt that by the end of it, that I had really developed and progressed with my work.
I think that I found a way in which I like to work. Using a figure and the same material and doing a variation of that material on a figure three times, gave me the most potential ideas.
I really liked working with different materials and manipulating the fabrics in different ways. I think this gave the most realistic idea of what an actually garment would look like.
When it came to working on the stand with my three garments, it was a bit difficult to take ideas from a page and transform them into actual garments. After working for a while I started to create shapes and a silhouette and felt more comfortable with actually making my top.
When I had got the shapes all cut out, I pinned them against the top and made sure that it all fitted together before I started sewing them all together. When I had done this, I stitched around each petal so that there were no raw edges, and then stitched each petal together and then onto the base shirt.
I then started on the back of my garment, plaiting the fabric was the most time consuming, getting the plaits all of the same size and then twisting them in so they were tightly compacted and well stitched down was really difficult. I really wanted to carry on going though, because it did make the garment look really good and gave it a different texture. This was something that my designer did in his work.
I put a large bow on the front, like I had tried previously in my sketchbook and then had curled material falling from the bow, which was also like something that I had tried before with curling ribbon. I really liked my top and if it was to be manufactured I would try in a material that had a lot of lustre and a nice flow and continuity to it. The collar would still be stiffened as this gives a nice contrast.
For the next part of that day we started on our new project with just some questions and some research. We are looking at designing for different markets and fabric properties which are appropriate to these. We had questions to do with different shops and different audiences; this will help us when we actually start with our project.
Also this week I had my jewellery elective again, I really liked what we were doing this week, there were only a few of us in the lesson, so we got through things a lot quicker but also in more detail because we had more one to one tutoring. We used wire and twisted them with a hand drill. This made such an inventive pattern and you could use different tensions to create different effects. This would definitely be something that I would consider to use for my final piece, and it would also fit into the theme of my other work which is something that had to be considered.
On Friday we started the second half of our design realisation module. We had to find an image from a magazine with creative darts and fullness and flair.
We started to create our patterns from the previously made basic bodice block. We adapted the block to create the pattern for our dress.
I felt like I learnt a lot on this day and if I had to adapt a pattern in future I feel that I would be able to do it more independently. I finished my pattern on this day so our group was quite far ahead; I also completed my working drawing so I was really satisfied with what I had done. At home I pinned the pattern to the fabric, so next lesson I can start with the construction.
This is the A4 image that I had to produce for the final part of my project. We had to use the theme 'It fell from the sky' for the photo, and the person in the photo had to wearing the garment that we had made.I chose to use the town hall for the back of my photo because it is such a beautiful building, I chose to use a red balloon as it contrasted with the blue sky and really stood out.
I used photoshop to put the figure into the picture, and make it look as though she was falling to the ground. I am really pleased with this photo, I think that it really captures the theme, and fits with the style of the garment, and has really helped me with my photoshop skills.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Making my top.
Making my Garment.
This week has been really enjoyable. It has been really hands on and really hectic, but I have felt like I have really got somewhere and feel comfortable in the position that I am in.
This week we started making our garment. I spent most of my time unpicking my shirt, trousers and bag, to find the pieces that I wanted to use for it. I decided to use the shirt as a base, but I needed to make it so that the wearer could get the top off and on without any buttons and just pull it over the head. To do this I added a panel of material where the buttons would do up to make it larger and easier to get on.
I based my top on the idea of using the shapes of flower petals to create the shape of the top. Before I was using the flowers on a sting and using it to tie and wrap around the body, but it was too much like embellishment, so making the shapes larger and more exaggerated and using them to create the top was a lot more exciting.
My theme was tied and twisted but my top has not particularly ended up like that. I have developed my ideas further so my ideas have moved further away from where they started. I have used plaited material around the sleeves and on a back panel and as an embellishment on the front but that is as far as it goes.
I spent most of my time this week making my top, I really wanted to get it finished so I knew that it would be ready for the deadline and I could get it to a good standard.
I have also spent some time this week creating my pieces using Photoshop. At first I found it really hard to understand how to use the programme but I think now I have used it a bit I have started to get used to it. I have created some interesting pieces and am actually quite proud of what I have produced.
I have nearly finished my project now, which is quite a relief and I feel like a weight has been lifted. I worked really hard to get everything finished; there are just a few things that I need to finish off in my sketchbook, which I will complete in my last session on Tuesday.
I have also now completed my A4 photo with the theme ‘it fell from the sky’. I went into town and took some photos of some attractive buildings and scenes. My final photo that I chose was one of the sky and of the big clock tower on the town hall. I then took a photo of a balloon on a string and used Photoshop and placed it to it was in the sky. The day that I took the photos in town was quite a dull day so I had to brighten up the sky and make it bluer to make it look more cheery and appealing. I got my friend Christine to put on my top and took some photos of her as if she was holding the balloon. I then used one of the photos and cut her figure out of the picture and put it into my other piece. I got it so it looked like she was holding onto the balloon and falling down from the sky.
Doing this picture made me feel a lot more confident with the use of Photoshop and I was really happy with the final photo outcome. I am also very happy with my top now and overall very pleased with this project.
This week has been really enjoyable. It has been really hands on and really hectic, but I have felt like I have really got somewhere and feel comfortable in the position that I am in.
This week we started making our garment. I spent most of my time unpicking my shirt, trousers and bag, to find the pieces that I wanted to use for it. I decided to use the shirt as a base, but I needed to make it so that the wearer could get the top off and on without any buttons and just pull it over the head. To do this I added a panel of material where the buttons would do up to make it larger and easier to get on.
I based my top on the idea of using the shapes of flower petals to create the shape of the top. Before I was using the flowers on a sting and using it to tie and wrap around the body, but it was too much like embellishment, so making the shapes larger and more exaggerated and using them to create the top was a lot more exciting.
My theme was tied and twisted but my top has not particularly ended up like that. I have developed my ideas further so my ideas have moved further away from where they started. I have used plaited material around the sleeves and on a back panel and as an embellishment on the front but that is as far as it goes.
I spent most of my time this week making my top, I really wanted to get it finished so I knew that it would be ready for the deadline and I could get it to a good standard.
I have also spent some time this week creating my pieces using Photoshop. At first I found it really hard to understand how to use the programme but I think now I have used it a bit I have started to get used to it. I have created some interesting pieces and am actually quite proud of what I have produced.
I have nearly finished my project now, which is quite a relief and I feel like a weight has been lifted. I worked really hard to get everything finished; there are just a few things that I need to finish off in my sketchbook, which I will complete in my last session on Tuesday.
I have also now completed my A4 photo with the theme ‘it fell from the sky’. I went into town and took some photos of some attractive buildings and scenes. My final photo that I chose was one of the sky and of the big clock tower on the town hall. I then took a photo of a balloon on a string and used Photoshop and placed it to it was in the sky. The day that I took the photos in town was quite a dull day so I had to brighten up the sky and make it bluer to make it look more cheery and appealing. I got my friend Christine to put on my top and took some photos of her as if she was holding the balloon. I then used one of the photos and cut her figure out of the picture and put it into my other piece. I got it so it looked like she was holding onto the balloon and falling down from the sky.
Doing this picture made me feel a lot more confident with the use of Photoshop and I was really happy with the final photo outcome. I am also very happy with my top now and overall very pleased with this project.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Developing ideas and Jewellery elective.
This week has been interesting, I only had one full day of college this week, so a lot of the things I have done have been at home. I have worked on my sketchbook, and have now got some more defined ideas for my top that I am going to make.
In our Tuesday session, I had an image that showed a string of flowers and leaves wrapped around an object. I thought I would try and do my own version of this, I used a piece of ribbon, and I had used faux flowers and leaves, I stitched these onto the ribbon, and I thought I would wrap it around the body to create interesting shapes. However where the leaves and shapes where on such a small scale, it made it look more like embellishment rather than something that you could actually use as part of a garment. So to change my idea, I use colour photocopier and place the ribbon of flowers on it and enlarged its size, I then used the shapes created by the flowers to dress a figure. The shapes came away from the body and gave a really interesting and defined silhouette. To take this one step further, I tried to transfer the shapes I had created and cut them out in calico for a full scale figure. The shapes looked good pinned to the manikin, but they needed to be attached to something underneath so that they could move away from the body. This is what I think I will do for my garment. Use the shirt as a base for the shapes, attach them to this and then it will give movement to the top.
I started to unpick my garments and take parts of that I think I will use in my top. I have pinned the neckline so that I can change the shape, I have also added a panel in the front of the shirt so that it can be put over the head rather than being button up.
This week I also started my elective; jewellery. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and it did feel quite weird going into college at half 4. I really enjoyed the session, and it was good to just get stuck in straight away and start making things. We did one process in the night, and learnt how to use different tools and instruments. We used a small sheet of copper, and using a piercing saw, we cut balloons on a string into it. It was really difficult to get used to using the saw, as they were quite flimsy and easily breakable. After a while I had cut my shapes, and also cut the square copper into a circle. We then took another piece of copper, heated it, and then put it into a solution known as ‘pickle’ this softens the copper and makes it bend more easily. Then using a piece of lace we layered the pieces that we had, and it made and indentation and a texture on the surfaces. Then the final stage we used or circular piece of copper and we hammered it and pushed it into a 3d shape, and made it more of a like a half sphere. I’m looking forward to next week, but I think it will be quite strenuous and hard work, but hopefully I will enjoy it.
In our Tuesday session, I had an image that showed a string of flowers and leaves wrapped around an object. I thought I would try and do my own version of this, I used a piece of ribbon, and I had used faux flowers and leaves, I stitched these onto the ribbon, and I thought I would wrap it around the body to create interesting shapes. However where the leaves and shapes where on such a small scale, it made it look more like embellishment rather than something that you could actually use as part of a garment. So to change my idea, I use colour photocopier and place the ribbon of flowers on it and enlarged its size, I then used the shapes created by the flowers to dress a figure. The shapes came away from the body and gave a really interesting and defined silhouette. To take this one step further, I tried to transfer the shapes I had created and cut them out in calico for a full scale figure. The shapes looked good pinned to the manikin, but they needed to be attached to something underneath so that they could move away from the body. This is what I think I will do for my garment. Use the shirt as a base for the shapes, attach them to this and then it will give movement to the top.
I started to unpick my garments and take parts of that I think I will use in my top. I have pinned the neckline so that I can change the shape, I have also added a panel in the front of the shirt so that it can be put over the head rather than being button up.
This week I also started my elective; jewellery. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and it did feel quite weird going into college at half 4. I really enjoyed the session, and it was good to just get stuck in straight away and start making things. We did one process in the night, and learnt how to use different tools and instruments. We used a small sheet of copper, and using a piercing saw, we cut balloons on a string into it. It was really difficult to get used to using the saw, as they were quite flimsy and easily breakable. After a while I had cut my shapes, and also cut the square copper into a circle. We then took another piece of copper, heated it, and then put it into a solution known as ‘pickle’ this softens the copper and makes it bend more easily. Then using a piece of lace we layered the pieces that we had, and it made and indentation and a texture on the surfaces. Then the final stage we used or circular piece of copper and we hammered it and pushed it into a 3d shape, and made it more of a like a half sphere. I’m looking forward to next week, but I think it will be quite strenuous and hard work, but hopefully I will enjoy it.
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Reading week
This week, I took the time off, to go home and spend some time with my family and friends at home.
While I was at home I was able to show my family the work that I had been doing in my first few weeks at uni.
It was nice for me to see what they thought of what I had done and to get their feedback on it.
I spent most of the week working on my portfolio of 30 sheets, of different textures and line and proportion.
I got quite a lot done, so hopefully will remove some of the pressure for when the deadline is coming up.
I have also been getting some good ideas for my garment that I have to make from shirt, trousers and bag. I have worked on my sketchbook, and worked with materials over the week, and I have found that this has really helped me develop my ideas.
I also purchased a manikin this week, I'm hoping that I can use the materials that I've got and try using them to create shapes and ideas for my garment.
This week I have to focus on my Critical studies presentation that I have to do next Monday. I found it really hard trying to create the presentation. The texts that we were given were really quite complicated and I had to work for a long time trying to get some meaning and understanding from them.
In the end I took the things that I did understand and have incorporated those into my presentation.
Tomorrow I have the tutorial with my critical studies tutor, and hopefully he will be able to give me some feedback on what I have done, and I can improve on it after that.
Since coming back to Leeds, I have found it really hard to get on with my work, I think going home and then coming back again has made me miss it quite a lot, But hopefully will get back into the swing of things when I go back to college on Monday.
While I was at home I was able to show my family the work that I had been doing in my first few weeks at uni.
It was nice for me to see what they thought of what I had done and to get their feedback on it.
I spent most of the week working on my portfolio of 30 sheets, of different textures and line and proportion.
I got quite a lot done, so hopefully will remove some of the pressure for when the deadline is coming up.
I have also been getting some good ideas for my garment that I have to make from shirt, trousers and bag. I have worked on my sketchbook, and worked with materials over the week, and I have found that this has really helped me develop my ideas.
I also purchased a manikin this week, I'm hoping that I can use the materials that I've got and try using them to create shapes and ideas for my garment.
This week I have to focus on my Critical studies presentation that I have to do next Monday. I found it really hard trying to create the presentation. The texts that we were given were really quite complicated and I had to work for a long time trying to get some meaning and understanding from them.
In the end I took the things that I did understand and have incorporated those into my presentation.
Tomorrow I have the tutorial with my critical studies tutor, and hopefully he will be able to give me some feedback on what I have done, and I can improve on it after that.
Since coming back to Leeds, I have found it really hard to get on with my work, I think going home and then coming back again has made me miss it quite a lot, But hopefully will get back into the swing of things when I go back to college on Monday.
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