LIVE PROJECT: COMPLETE!

So I have finished my 2nd year of university! The thought it somewhat overwhelming, and its really got me thinking about what I intend to do after I graduate.. I'm thinking of working for 6 months at home to save up then continuing my adventures to Australia, I wanted to go this summer, but unfortunately money stopped me. So I figured I could go, and meet my best friend over there in winter 2014/ 2015. I want to travel and hopefully bag myself some work experience in textiles over there, who knows what can happen in the future.. watch this space.

Here are (some of) my final pieces for my last major project of second year:

I'm gonna put these on Etsy when they're out of the cabinets in uni.

For me, the Live Project was definitely the hardest project i've undertook so far, I went into this project feeling somewhat uninspired, I've had a bit of an inconsistent year and I've felt all over the place at some points, and this definitely reflected in my approach to this project unfortunately, (hopefully it doesn't show in my work). I've took it as a lesson, in future, I need to know what I want to make in the beginnings of a project, giving me more time to refine and develop my ideas as my collars turned into a panicked rush towards the end. 

However, I am very happy with my collars, aside from my state of mind through out this project. The delicate screen print conveying 'transparent foliage' in Colderidge's poem 'The Lime Tree Bower My Prison' works extremely well on the collar designs, and I love the colour palette I used for the collection. The subtle beading adds a tinge of sparkle.. what every girl needs to complete an outfit. The collars are completely wearable and designed with ergonomics in mind, they have an adjustable jewellery chain, so they can be worn higher or lower, depending on the wearers neckline. I also created several silk fabric lengths to visualise as panels in a dress that the collars compliment as part of my collection:

And, some photos of the silk lengths before mounting/ transforming into collars:

And now, I am cracking on with dissertation research: my title is 'the influence of bloggers on the fashion industry'- I am of course, loving the research process, looking at beautiful fashion blogs all day and dissecting what makes them successful, i'm learning so much in the process! 

xox

Fabric Ideas

A collection of fabric print ideas done on Photoshop for my current project, colours based on previous photos of Dufton Ghyll. Going to be printed onto a medium weight silk. All will be hand dyed, using dying techniques such as dip dye and shibori. 

Final Piece for the embroidery project

Drawing near to the end of my embroidery project, I decided to make a skirt for my final piece, the skater skirt epitomises feminism and is a representation of the development of the skirt over the twentieth century, linking to the family tree concept behind my project (using the idea of ancestry and how families have developed over time). I used various embroidery techniques on my skirt including CAD to produce a Venetian building, transfoils to convey the weathered surface pattern I came across in Venice, and machine lines to represent how families lines run parallel. My favourite aspect of the skirt is the handmade roses- I was able to design them freely and I was able to explore many ideas when making them. 

My final exhibition for my project.. hopefully my tutors were impressed!