Orange

I think its really difficult to update my blog whilst I'm experimenting with ideas, as much of this process is recorded in my sketch book and difficult to repeat and reflect upon digitally.  So, in summary the project is progressing well, and as intended I've continued with my sinamay spheres and used them as a central point of my main sample.  I've also been playing with scale and created much smaller versions of the half spheres using different embroidery techniques as well as applying Canadian Smocking to some of the pieces, which creates great manipulated Elizabethan style fabrics.  Colour is distinctly orange so I do need to include some more yellows, reds and blues in the final samples.  I've included more screen prints than intended, and in particular I've used the screen to pre-print the fabric prior to smocking with pigments, and adhesive for flocking and foiling.  We've now reached the end of term and after this weeks crit I think some of my ideas may have been a little overworked and over the Christmas holiday I need to incorporate some simpler fabric designs into the overall collection.  Part of the process is to visualise the final fabrics using PhotoShop. Here I've taken a small hand stitched sample and repeated it into a pattern form to demonstrate what the piece would look like en masse.

Spiders from Mars

I've now just completed week three of our new Contemporary Textiles for Professional Practice project.  This time the assignment is defined by exterior parties and I have chosen the Hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery Design 2013 competition, inspired by 'The Past is the Future'.   For this I need to create hand stitched samples inspired by a juxtaposition of 1970s glam rock and Tudors.

 

Specifically I have decided to take inspiration from Ziggy Stardust and Elizabeth I.  I've been looking in detail at the design of Elizabeth's dresses how they were embroidered and embellished, all being hand made.  I've noticed that a lot of the clothes worn by her and others such as Henry VIII have lots of puffs on the surface, where fabric has been slit and another layer pulled through to make a puff. I'm trying to base my designs on this construction concept, and I've decided to continue my work and development of my sinamay spheres from the innovation project, as well as looking at Canadian and North American smocking to create puffs and surface texture of varying sizes.  

 

All of the samples must be hand stitched and I'm intending to screen print some of my fabrics to create additional depth and surface pattern.  My colour palette is derived from the Ziggy Stardust artwork, as well as my own 1970s Mary Quant Daisy Diary with lots of reds and oranges.  Finally I've tried to look at the lyrics from the songs go Ziggy Stardust as well as the visuals, although I have to say the words don't make a lot of sense, although based on my colour palette and initial stitch ideas I am immediately drawn to 'Spiders from Mars' which Mark thinks is a bit too obvious!

 

Sinamay Spheres

A selection of spheres ready for hand-in next week!

3D Fabrics

I've decided as part of my hand in for the Innovations project that I will include some fabric manipulation and stitched items.  So far I've concentrated on the 3D spheres made from siminay which has been screen printed, but I feel I have to be true to my own interests and include pieces that I would be happy to present, representing my preferred textile techniques.  I stitched together some little pillows from the 'The Art of Manipulating Fabric', which I found to be quite challenging ensuring that they were truly circular (and in some cases there are just not as round as I would have liked!).  Before I stuffed the pillows I decided to experiment with the shapes creating a very satisfactory, if very temporary, tower.  Once the pillows were stuffed, I tried out some further pebble arrangements to see how I could potentially use the pillows for possible future projects.  In all honesty I think I prefer the outcomes of the experiments than the final planned piece - I guess sometimes the journey is better than the end result!

 

Spherical Innovations

Still experimenting with painted grounds and printed papers, trying out some of the more successful creations in the colour scheme of the brief.  I particularly like the segmented sphere below, each 'slice' of the sphere is created from three folded circles of paper and then joined together.  I've also been using Sinamay as my unusual material, which is a woven stiff fabric used to make hats, which takes pigment print and folds well.  I particularly like the transparency of the Sinamay and I hope to use it for both the panelled and segment spheres.  Some of the initial sphere experiments have not translated so well to fabrics and other papers, so I think I'll be sticking to the two types pictured below.

Innovation for Textiles Practice

Back at Uni and two weeks into the first assignment which is a quick four week project entitled Geometrics - Stripe, Circle, Square, Spot and Line.  The emphasis of the module is 3D items made from innovative materials; we have been tasked to become an alchemist and surface inventor of textiles!  I'm still concentrating on my summer inspiration in the main, incorporating images and ideas from my plug chain and shower head - using the repeating circle shapes and endeavouring to bring these into some type of 3D spherical design.  In my first year I did actually experiment quite a bit with 3D shapes in both my knitting and fabric manipulation, as well as using unusual and innovative materials such as metal split rings and curtain rings; so I really need to up my games even further for this assignment!.  I've kicked off looking at how is it possible to create 3D spheres using paper and card as my basic material, searching the Internet there are loads of instructions on how to make paper spherical shapes (most seem to be targeted at the American decoration and craft market) and not many of them appear to have been transformed into fabrics.  These are sample of my paper experiments:

 

 

Household Geometrics

I've finished off the very un-inspirational summer project of Household Geometrics.  Having scoured the house looking for squares, circles, etc etc.  Its been very difficult to get enthused by such a dull subject, sketching taps and plug holes and kitchen utensils!  I found myself homing in on circles, spheres and rounds once again, this time in particular inspired by the bathroom shower head, loads of repeating patterns of circles within circles; and secondly by an installation on the South Bank of kitchen sieves by the Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa.   The sieves in particular got me looking at stacked semi circles and repeating piles of half circle shapes.  Trying to meet one of the tutors recommendations I've also tried to get messy by stencilling and stamping (made at home from parcel packaging foam stuff) these patterns and shapes on paper and fabrics, as well as more trying Shibori.  I've also been looking at fabric construction ideas and this time playing around with Suffolk Puffs (or YoYos) having found a little plastic 'YoYo maker' tool to make them that gets a great result every time.  I've used the puffs to create masses of puffs overlapping, like the sieve installation taking an individual piece any by repeating that shape to create a new patterns and shapes.