week 21 (24/2/25) - (28/2/25)

 It being my first day back after half term, it was a bit jarring to come back, getting back into the swing of my routine. Luckily there wasn't anything too complicated for me to understand today. Though it was still difficult for me and took a little bit of time to process how to pattern 3D shapes, which Lareen taught us about. While I did take a bit of time to take in a process the information that informed me of how to pattern and how to visualise the design (making a cube on a skirt), that did not stop me from being able to understand it as time went on. It wasn't too hard to understand and the main thing I needed to consider was how each added part went together to create the net that would make the cube. I personally think that I am good with visualising things from a flat pattern piece into what it would look like as a final 3D product, but there is always room for improvement and being able to develop my skills in this way will help me to have a better and clearer understanding of how pattern pieces will look in the future.

I didn't have a study period this day because Calvin had asked us to come up early to complete the photoshoot for our colour garments. I was set to model and not take photos for this so I can't speak on the composition process with camera angles but since I was modelling, I can talk about how I came up with the developed my posing skills. One thing that I can already say is that in the future I need to look up poses on sites like Pinterest so that I can already have an idea of what to do going into the shoot since I struggled at the beginning. A positive thing I can mention about the shoot was that me and the person taking photos of me were able to work well together and communicate about any changes in pose I needed to do to create a more effective physical composition with my body. (i.e., moving my arms up or down and turning a certain way). Overall, when I look at how to shoot went, I can see how the effective communication between me and my photographer have shown a compelling set of photos for all of the garments from the colour project (both mine and the photographer's)

On Tuesday, I was able to listen to a talk by two artists, one from the UK and one from Nigeria. These talks happened during Stretch, and both linked to themes of sustainability and the UN 17 global goals. I believe I was able to gain effective insight into processes I had never even thought about and the consideration and time it takes to create beautiful art out of recycled materials because you must consider colour and texture while carefully picking out what you will use and where. I also learnt about an artist who focuses on historical, cultural and modern injustice and speaking out about issues that some may have never heard about. It was interesting to learn about two different experiences with advocation, one for the reuse and recycling and one for life and protest the injustice that happens around them. I think it would be good to say that I will be inspired by these artists and take inspiration from them going forward with this project.

Later, that day, we began to start sketching down design ideas for our sustainability project with Sam. I found this hard as I felt I didn't have a huge amount of inspiration. I had chosen my theme (using what you have already instead of buying more/ preventing overconsumption by effectively using what is already there) but I still had trouble finding a direction I wanted to follow that would also allow me to apply different techniques in a good enough manner. I also think that I spent too much time thinking about each individual design instead of creating little sketches, this took up a lot of time and I think things would have been better if I had gotten into the mindset sooner that it doesn't have to be a well thought out/ drawn out initial design and it is just vague ideas.

 

I learnt about more 2-dimensional pattern cutting on Wednesday, though it was slightly different. The '2d' pattern cutting is about creating patterns that stick out of seams that act like flaps. I found this informative and watching Lareen talk about the different ways you could manipulate the shape helped inform me of different techniques that could help me create different silhouettes and forms.

 

When Friday rolled around, I had a bit of a clearer idea of where I wanted to go with my sustainability project. I had two main ideas; creating something that has obviously been made by lumping different techniques together, or creating something that looks higher end with sustainable techniques used within it. I lent more towards the latter idea for my final design, but I have left room for addition and improvement later down the line with my final design page being my big idea and leaving anything I could add maybe on top of the design. I will continue to think about different ways I can improve it but I will stick to this silhouette for the garment.