Week 23 (24/3/25) - (28/3/25)

 My first day back to college after work experience was calm because we were back after doing something that had broken our routines, I am glad that it was like this, and we weren't thrown into lots of work all at once. During Lareen's lesson we talked a little bit about our times at work experience and what we learnt about which was interesting because almost everyone went to different places and did different things. We then continued to work on the project which for me meant that I would continue to work on designs to see if I can improve some of my previous designs that I like the look of and seeing if I can make them more concise and clearer with a bit more technique added as well. I think I was able to decide on what style my dress will be but I am not fully set on it and I will ask Lareen about it next lesson to see if I can make any other types of improvements.

During photography there wasn't much independent work done but while i was doing independent work, i was going through my zine and considering what the best way to lay it out would be, i also considered how i could change the colour scheme/ theme of each different section of the zine but i will get to it when i move onto the next area of my zine since currently i only have my Bauhaus hat section completed. I think i have a good idea for how to lay out my zine so i can continue to develop it over the course of the year.

Tuesday's stretch lesson was taken up by a talk in the fashion studio by an artist who works with weaving paper fabrics. She went into detail about how she mixes different materials with paper and ink to create unique textile artworks. I think it was very intriguing when she talked about how the fibres are made because I can see all the time and effort it takes just to make a small batch of yarn. Overall, I think it was an informative talk that showed me an interesting way to create fabrics.

With Sam after lunch, I worked on fully completing my toile for my final design, which I managed to complete. I think overall, I believe my toile is successful and shows how the different elements of my design come together to create a fully completed design. The only problem I have right now is my waistcoat pattern, I think I need to redo my design for the waistcoat to be more attainable for me to create. I think this because I am having problems with the way the waistcoat fits onto my body. I say this because I want each part of my garment to fit on someone's body, because of this I have been using my body as a reference since I fit into size 12-14 clothing, and I have a proportional body shape. Hopefully it will work, and I can still have this be a part of my design.

When I got into Lareen's lesson on Wednesday, I started to think about experiments that I could do in relation to my designs that I was more likely to carry on with into my final design. Specifically, a panel that comes off the dress that I tried with pin tucks and bagging it out. I think that this experiment was a success, and I realised a few things while doing it that will help me out when it comes to patterning my final piece. The main thing I recognised was the fact that I did not need to create the design on both sides so I will need two different patterns for this element of the design. Other things relate to how to keep the pin tucks clear and so they stand out from the fabric since I don't want them being flush with the base of the fabric of the rest of the design. I will continue to do experiments like this so that I can figure out the best course of action.

On Thursday, I spent the entire day catching up on bookwork and experimenting with different ways I can enhance the layout of my sketchbook, using things like masking tape and post it notes. I will carry this on into my future projects, hopefully having a clearer understanding of how I may want to lay it out from the beginning of my projects. I think I was able to write down adequately my thoughts and feelings on each of my experiments and I will be able to continue this when I move into more of my book.

 

On Friday, I took the opportunity to pattern out the alternative design for the waistcoat that I think I will carry on with into the final design. I am struggling with only figuring out where the front facing will work for the button extension so I will ask Lareen about that on Monday where hopefully I would have finished a nice majority of my final piece. For the rest of the lesson, I worked on the toile for the waistcoat, and I continued this at home and spent the afternoon finishing the toile for definite.