The theme of this project was curiosity and I decided to look into superstition as it interests me, it interests me because superstition has been passed down from generation to generation and changed over the years. I find it intriguing how these stories and beliefs can translate across nations and generations. I wanted to look into the history behind it and how we can transfer this into fashion. This is my final garment inspired by Magpies, mirrors, and Blackbirds. Through my research I found that these were the most common superstitions in the UK and felt that it would be appropriate to use them.
When designing my final garment there were many things I had to take into consideration, one of the main aspects I needed to consider was what materials I would be using and where I'm going to source them from. This is why the majority of my garment has been made from recycled or unwanted materials. For example, the dress itself is made from left over fabric from previous projects, the feathers were hand made from scrap fabric then hand painted to create the look of Magpie feathers. As well as this the neck piece is made from unwanted CDs that have been broken up and rearranged to create a mirror effect. The use of unwanted and recycled materials reflects the recycling of superstitions and beliefs through cultures.
This piece of work came from my stamp project, where i designed stamps based off my research to do with self-expression. After looking into the many ways, we can express ourselves. I chose to design this stamp focusing on music as a form of self-expression. I chose to express myself through music by listening to music from the 60's till now. This is why I chose to draw inspiration from the Beatles as they were one of the most popular rock bands of the 60's. As well as this from my research I found that the most iconic moment of the Beatles was this image of Abby Road, by using this image in my design it makes it more recognisable and eye catching to possible customers.
This was also taken from my stamp project. With this design I used fashion as my inspiration, to link it to my previous design I wanted to keep the 60's/70's theme. However, these designs focused more on the 70's. This is because it was an exciting decade for fashion, from my research I found that people would express themselves through a variety of bold colours and patterns, therefore just like the 70's I wanted my stamp to be bold and exciting. My stamp portrays this through the complimenting colours black, white, and red it also shows this through the use of the lively patterns. Overall my stamp reflects not only the fashion of the 70's but also the feelings that came with expressing yourself through the clothes you wear.
To push my stamp designs further I combined fashion and music together which resulted in this stamp design. This stamp shows the many ways that people can express themselves.
This was my final stamp design from my project and was used as my final outcome. The reason I chose this design was because I liked the technique of collage that was used to make it, the colour scheme, materials and images that were used. The use of mixed media portrays the many mediums of self-expression that people can choose from. Overall this stamp design captures and reflects self-expression in an interesting and creative way that possible customers would be interested in.
This piece of work was taken from my final project of my first year. Our theme was curiosity and I chose to look into superstition. This particular piece of work was inspired by the superstition surrounding ladders. To create a wooden effect of ladders I sewed ladders onto light brown velour material. When researching superstition, I found that it came from the Egyptians where they would place a ladder into the Pharos tomb so he could ascend to heaven. If anyone was to walk under a ladder and break this connection they would be cursed. This is why I chose to incorporate a small amount of colour because the Egyptians would have colourful garments and makeup. This was a subtle way to incorporate the Egyptian history without taking away from the ladder superstition.
To push my designs further I experiment with a different garment and colours. I also flipped my textiles design to show the raw side, I liked this concept because it gave the impression of the ladder without being obvious. I preferred this over my original embroidered design as it gave my design more depth and made it more interesting to look at.
These lino prints were inspired by interest in fashion. When designing these I did not want to do your typical fashion model, I wanted to create something that was associated with fashion but in a discrete way so people would have to look twice.
The above piece of work was also taken from my curiosity project. This piece of work is focused on the superstition that if you break a mirror you will receive seven years bad luck. My research shows this is because people used to believe that if you saw your reflection in a puddle and broke that reflection by breaking that puddle you are breaking your soul bringing you bad luck, this was later transferred to mirrors. To portray this, I used dark colours like black and grey, the grey particularly portrays the reflectiveness of the mirror. As well as this I used a design that looked like a broken glass. Adding onto this the pattern is subtle and minimalistic therefore it suits the use of garments, and it is a design that people would wear because it is bold and different but not too bold that people would be put off by it.
To push my ideas on even more I wanted to experiment with the concept of a design that casually looked like broken glass. To generate ideas and to get inspiration I looked at Dior during 2018 Paris Fashion Week. Dior’s designs had a more crystal than glass effect but I was still inspired by the concept as it pushed boundaries and was very bold. I then began to manipulate an image of a broken mirror onto my fashion figure, instead of using a coat as my garment I played around with the idea of using a dress like Dior’s fashion line. I liked all my designs as they captured the superstition surrounding superstition in a creative way that people would find intriguing and be fascinated by.
The above textile piece was a sample. I used this sample to test out different materials I could use, for example bonder web, acrylic paint and felt pens. Adding onto this it was also used to test out different sewing techniques that I could possibly use, this is where I decided to use simple embroidery in my design, by creating this sample it allowed me to recognise what techniques I liked and did not like, what ones I could execute and the ones I couldn't, and what techniques I liked the look of for a final design. This allowed me to create a stronger outcome as I was able to use my strengths in textiles to my advantage, but it also highlighted my weaknesses that I need to improve on in the future.
This textile design was influenced by one of my favourite textile designers Lucienne Day. She inspires me because her designs are so intricate and detailed. I also love her use of colour. Lucienne used a lot of floral patterns and I wanted this to be my main inspiration as well as her use of colour. This is why I chose to use navy and orange coloured material as they are vibrant and complement each other perfectly. I created this by using bonder web to connect the two pieces of fabric together, then I embroidered the white outline of the lily onto the blue silk. After this I sewed French knots onto the lily where the stem is and onto the petals to create a 3D effect. This textile piece resembles Lucienne Days work but it is also original and different from her designs.
This textile piece was inspired by Coco Chanel and the 1920's. Chanel gave empowerment to women through her designs even though at the time woman did not have many rights. I wanted to show the hardship through my design but to also give it a sense of empowerment, even though that sounds contradicting I wanted my design to present itself either way depending on what type of person an individual is. For example, I agree with empowering women therefore looking at this textile piece I would see something that women can wear to give them confidence and empowerment. Whereas someone else would see the hardship women at that time went through, neither are wrong which shows that this design can have different perspectives.
This piece of work is the final outcome for our textiles workshop I participated in, in order to improve and gain skills and knowledge surrounding textiles. This was created by layering four A5 sized materials, I chose card, paper, tissue paper and newspaper. Then I sewed a grid onto the layers of material to keep them in place and to make it sturdier. After this I was able to use the embroidery sewing machine to embroider the tree onto my material. Once I was happy with the design of my tree, I began to cut sections of my work out to create a distressed look. I was happy with my final outcome as it allowed me to gain confidence in embroidering and using different techniques within textiles that I did not have before completing the workshop.
