My First Semester Draws to an End!

I have really enjoyed this semester.  It has been challenging at times but I really liked learning the new techniques and skills in both textiles and fashion class.  I also have learnt really interesting topics in the lectures and seminar groups and I have been able to put across my own personal opinions in them.  The first semester of your first year is when you settle down and find your feet.  You are also advised and encouraged to get involved with a variety of societies that interest you and also come to terms with your course and decide if it is right for you.  I have settled really well and have been able to find my feet in this lovely city of Derby and have become accustomed to it.  I think it will feel strange when I am home for Christmas as the countryside is the opposite to the city style so that will take a while to adapt to.  I got myself involved with things that I enjoy such as the CU and have felt a lot of support from this group and have made a lot of friendships from the club.  I know that I am on the right course because I enjoy it and feel my skills and talent improving in the techniques and influences and also my designing is altering by these effects and I cannot wait to progress  in the spring semester and produce work that I like but is different in the style and techniques that I am used to.

Half Scale Bodice

This is my finished half scale bodice.  I am really pleased with it and I think it looks really good.

Completed Bodice

I finally finished my half scale bodice.  It was stressful and hard at times but it was fun practising the skills and assembling the fabric pieces together to have a little half scale bodice.  I will put photos up soon and I have now moved onto making a T-Shirt in the Manufacturing and Pattern Cutting module.

Snow in Derby

What a crazy week.  I found out that the university was closed on Wednesday due to the snow.  I haven’t seen this much snow in a while and I really like it.  I find it beautiful as it covers everything in sight creating a brand new pure white world.  I love how it creates different textures on plants, this is my favourite thing about snow; the interesting texture it creates.

I took photos of the snow and below are some really nice interesting ones.  I was told that one of them looks like a photo you would find on a postcard which I found quite exciting.

Knit Rotation

After three new weeks of learning to knit on the knitting machines I have come to a conclusion that I really like knitting.  I can create a lot of interesting patterns and techniques with the machine and the transfer tool.  I found it fun after I knew how to fix the mistakes and how to be aware of when a mistake could happen.  I loved the choice of yarn in the university and I found it interesting walking up and down the rows of shelves and looking at the different tones and textures of yarn.   I mainly kept to using the thick stranded wool but I did experiment out of my comfort zone into different textures and thickness.  At times my eyes got sore at staring at the needles when casting on and off. I did get frustrated when I accidently dropped a stitch but I took my time and remained calm and I found it quite funny listening to others getting frustrated as they knitted their own samples.

The final three weeks starting next week involve pattern cutting and manufacturing, where we will be finishing off the bodice; I can’t wait to have a complete little jacket fit for a teddy bear! We are also starting figure drawing and C.A.D which is computer work in Photoshop and illustrator.

Weave Photos link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56137331@N06/sets/72157625302216975/show/

Weaving

We were asked if anyone would like to have a go at weaving.  Because I enjoyed hand weaving in my BTEC National Diploma Art and Design, I wanted to learn how to work the weaving machines and to experiment with ideas and patterns. So on Thursday I went and played with the machines and created some interesting patterns.
I was pleased with what I produced; it’s full of colours and has given me inspiration for the other classes such as knit.  I'm annoyed that I have to wait untill next year to actually have the weave module and learn new skills for it.

I have also finished my four knit samples for my knit class.  I enjoyed the machines and found it fun experimenting and having fun with playing about with different yarns of wool.  It was quite frustrating with the machines as I sometimes dropped a stitch or the yarn snapped while I'm trying to stitch.  But I got there in the end.  I'm really pleased with the results and thought they were unique and interesting full of colour and different but similar patterns linking the four pieces together.

Vogue articles

1935 Cover Design                                                                          2010 Cover Design

After visiting the Design Museum in London I noticed a huge difference in the Vogue magazines.  In 1935 and around that time Vogue had illustrators create the covers for them and I thought this was really interesting and lovely to look at.  Now it is all computerised and the magazine has a publisher to create the cover from using softwares such as Photoshop and also using Photography skills to create and enhanse photos of famous people the public look up to.

London Trip

I went to London for 2 days as a course trip this week.  We visited the Japanese exhibition on Thursday evening.  It was really interesting to see this style as I had expected it to be different.  I took a lot of notes and sketches related to my modules research.  I really liked this exhibition, it was full of interesting detailed garments expressing the human form and also pushing the fabrics to limits of what they can be used for.

Unfortunately I went to a talk on future of fabrication to find out that they are thinking of using bacteria to grow frocks… this to me defeated the purpose of textile designers and the process of knit and print and weave which is what I’ve been learning on my degree which I am enjoying.  It will also push fashion towards science and technology more rather than designing and creativity and most importantly artistic.  Also it will remove jobs from the industry as textile designers will not be needed and I don’t think they will pay for someone to sit and watch the bacteria grow.  They also said they had a sample of pig skin for leather that they could grow to create leather – this would save a lot of hassle with killing animals for their skins and also will allow there to be a sustainable quantity of the material.  So why haven’t they presented this and done something about it?  This annoyed me quite a bit.

On Friday we visited the Design museum and I jotted some notes of some of the fashion illustrations which I thought were interesting and inspiring.  They were all very unique and I was also able to see the vogue cover designs, I noticed how they were different from the recent vogue magazines and I really liked them.  The architectural design was also interesting and I was able to take photos so I created bird’s eye views and was able to see lines and textures that I linked with knitting and weaving features.

Overall I thought the trip was good and useful for my own personal understanding and research into fashion and textile design.

The Discussions in the Seminar this week

I found the discussions of our task of visiting Nottingham very interesting.  I was able to find out from my peers that they actually went into the shop and asked if they could take notes of the clothing and completed the task this way, were as I looked at the shop and the clothes and remembered the information in my head and then jotted it down when I left the shop.
I found out from the discussions that Paul Smith employers were very helpful and gave really good information to the students.  I now have a very positive respect to Paul as he is very generous and wants to help those around him to follow their dream just like he has.  I loved his shop it was very homely and creative and I was very inspired by how he displayed everything his actual shop was like an art work.
I also found out that Vivienne Westwood employers were very stuck up and rude to the students who came in to the shop.  The employers actually told them to leave, which I thought was very rude and unpleasant.  I still like the retail designs she creates but if she is going to have her shop assistants pay no attention to students who want to learn and only take notice of those with the money then she will loose a lot of respect.  My peers in the seminar said that they lost all respect for Vivienne because of this issue and I agree with them.   

This Week

On Saturday I visited Nottingham for the day to complete the seminar task of visiting Nottingham and the Nottingham contemporary gallery.  I found some interesting pieces and the theme I think was to express worldwide issues that affect the people.  The work was very abstract and expressed in a different way to paintings.  We were also asked in this task to visit certain designer shops and collect information about the clothes and style trends in that particular shop.  I really loved Vivienne Westwood’s style. Her clothes are full of detail, unique style and colour which inspire me because I really like these elements so it’s interesting to discover that a well-known artist uses these elements in her work.

I also went to a knitting club at the University on Monday and got to meet some new people as well as practise my knitting skills and I was able to learn how to cast on so I have decided to make little wall hangings out of knitted squares and embroidery for my friends back in Northern Ireland.

The pattern cutting and manufacturing has been going well it’s exciting to learn new things each time and I now know how to create certain seams and how to make a pattern piece for a basic bodice which is great knowledge to have.

knitting!

how to knit tutorial

Above is a link to show you how to cast on for hand knitting.  I used the youtube website to learn how to cast off so I found the guidance very helpful.

I find knitting relaxing and fun way to calm down and relax after a stressful day at university.  I learnt how to knit from my mum for my textiles module in my last course, but I forgot how to do it and also didnt know how to cast on and off.  That is why I went to the knitting group and to also make new friends with the 2nd and third years.

New modules and exciting techniques!

Now that I finished Print for the 3 weeks I was rotated with group D to Pattern Cutting and Manufacturing in Fashion.  There was a lot of knowledge to take in that day but I’m excited to learn new skills in this area because I like fashion and after doing a module in my last course I really enjoyed it, so I’m excited to make a fashion garment sample in the next 3 weeks.  For my lectures we were told that we had to go to Nottingham the next week for market research so Janet Kerr and I decided to go on Saturday 23^rd which is tomorrow.  I want to spend time and study the gallery and the retail shops to get an understanding of the style and retail market of each shop. Also if we run out of time to visit everything we will then head back next Tuesday as this is the lecture class but due to the visit there is no class timetable.  I have been busy developing my drawing skills and keeping up to date with my work and building on my designs and ideas thoroughly during the weeks.

Sweatshops debate

The discussions we had this week where interesting. Our Tudor brought up Primark store and how it used sweatshops to create the really cheap clothes.  There was a documentary on the television about this but I didn’t see it which I was quite annoyed about because it would have been quite interesting an inspiring for me personally to see it.  But I learnt a lot from my course peers that had seen it.  I also discovered that Primark is the best shop for students because of its cheap prices! But I don’t normally shop there because I find the clothes aren’t the best quality and I like buying clothes that will last because I create my own style and buy the clothes that I like and not because they are in the fashion.  My favourite shops would be New Look and Dorothy Perkins, Peacocks and International etc.  This is because their style of clothes suits me personally.  I must research these companies and find out how their clothes are made.  The thing is I think the sweatshops are a good thing for those countries where there aren’t any jobs for the people BUT the conditions must be very high standard and human rights needs to be in order.  Also the pay must be reasonable as these people work hard for as the saying goes – tuppence worth!  The work that these people do should be praised by respect as no one here in the UK would do this kind of job but expect others to do it in really bad conditions for their pleasure.  This is wrong and should be changed.  We have to respect other people and not abuse their rights and also their willingness to do this job.  If this means the prices should be altered for the garment well then let it be that way, for someone’s life to be changed and improved I would quite happily pay a bit extra for a t- shirt!

We all have a part to play in this.  The company must change the labour standards and us as customers much respect the decisions and support it by continuing to shop at the shops that are changing the manufacturing process.  Globalisation has caused a split in the rich and the poor and caused serious issues that need to be changed.  The fact that we have destroyed culture, health and people’s needs so that our pleasure can soar!  If we don’t want to help and change this issue then where are our hearts something must be done - Soon.

Another week of University

I really enjoyed this week.. It was busy but really fun as I learned new techniques in Printmaking. I have done Printmaking in my last course, but we just used a paper stencil which was very delicate and somtimes broke which ment that any pieces of artwork I created wasnt as good as I wanted it to be.  The facilites here are alot better and the technology is a higher level which is expected at a University.  It ment that I didnt need to make a stencil and my designs were copied and exposed onto a emulsion that was put onto the printing screen so I was able to enjoy myself experiementing with the screen printing process.  I also learnt a new printing process called Transfer Printing where I can add materials such as plants, leaves etc and metal items as well as coloured transfer paper onto fabric and the machine presses the materials together and all colours are transfered onto the fabric, also the materials sush as plants act as a barrior to the colours so there is a white image of where the materials where, which is really interesting and gives interesting textures and details to the fabric piece.
I really love printmaking now thanks to the new processes and I can see improvement each time I use the techniques.

I also had a lecture on Globalisation which really inspired me because I have been to Romania as you know on missionary trips and have seen poverty at really bad levels and it changed me personally and economically by wanting to give away the things that I dont use or need to help those less fortunate.  I cant wait for the discussions next week where I should be able to put my opinions forward.  I will look into other authors who have studied globalisation and documented it in books I really like the Britannia Mill library as it is full of useful books and information that I havnt had the privilage of using before.

Visual studies on wednesday was alot better than the last week I enjoyed interpretating the marks that were made from the previous week into an image given to me by the tudor.  I really enjoyed the session and liked the techniques used to create the images so I will do some more studies in my sketch book to enhanse my drawing skills.

Well thats all for this week another update soon!

 

I really like this fashion garment from WGSN.  It is full of colour and pattern and really stands out because of the bright colous used.  it is a summer dress because of the use of summery colours,  also the style of the dress highlights summer.

I found this image on WGSN.  It inspires me because of the crazy colours mixing together to create a formation of interesting detail and colour.  The bright blue strikes me as it slices through the image sharply because it is such a cold colour where as the other colours are warm and inviting.  The figure looks like she is enjoying the event and makes me want to try this crazy event out!

First Week in Derby University

Such a change in scenery to home in Northern Ireland. Settling in well and getting used to the course.  Learning so many new things which is exciting for the weeks to come.  Not used to the city as ive been brought up in the countryside but Derby is really nice, peaceful at times and fun at other times.