CRITICAL EVALUATION

  This semester has been quite a roller coaster for me as I had never done something to this magnitude. I do need to remember this is a degree programme so I need to speed up a little more however I have achieved on many things like shirt making , learning new techniques , specialising my skills more and discovering about  Artists and Designers I had never heard of through research. I have many regrets though. Here are the lists :

• Never leave things till last minute

• Always remember to document the work during sessions

• Annotate more 

• Research more

• Visualise more for ideas

• Think positive and be committed to your work.

For this semester I felt like due to other commitments, I struggled to find time to finish my work on due date hence I lacked motivation and my confidence just level went down . For my next semester I want to start fresh and think positive . I must remember to update my blog regularly and I found doing my journal on a blog is so much better than writing on a notepad which can be time consuming. The other good factors about blogging is that your work looks presentable and the tutor is able to read the words properly without the struggle and it saves you money too.

LECTURE TOPICS

The lecture seminars I have attended this year has helped me in some way but truthfully speaking , I didn't understand any of it. I found the lecturer very boring and inconsistent because he kept talking rather than explaining the images shown on the screen. I did made several notes about the Artists and designers talked about on each lecture sessions which helped me discover about the history of art movements and learn about the work of each artists whether a fashion photographer or print maker like William Morris who I used as an inspiration for my main project. I learnt how he was very much into making things by hands.
    The art movement I chose is Renaissance and before this course I never heard of William Morris or knew about artists relevant to renaissance apart from the famous painting of Mona lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci . I had seen paintings before but never really thought the artists behind the masterpiece so it was interesting to learn more in depth about them .
    The lecture seminar has made me more aware about globalisation and how some manufactures uses sustainable fashion to keep the environment green . It has helped me understand about the mass production and the difference between designer wear  and high street clothing such a Primark who uses cheap labour in order to generate rise in sale and how some critics still arguing about this fundamental issue which is still happening till this day. I used to look at designer clothes before but never imagined about all the hard work and dedication that goes into it so watching fashion videos like the one of Valentino's 'the last emperor' made me appreciate about haute couture shows. Before I never understood the fuss about rich socialites buying expensive haute couture gowns and why they had be a member of the exclusive club to go and see the extravagant shows . Fashion is changing everyday and now it has become accessible to everyone and even haute couture designers are promoting their business to younger audience. Therefore I guess even though i didn't understand half of what the lecture guy was talking about , I learnt something valuable which  helped me about the pros and cons of the fashion industry and the history behind it .  

FINAL LINE UP

It's nearly end of semester one . Time has flown by so quickly  and I feel like I have achieved a lot in such short period of time. I documented the journey on my sketchbook and on my technical file of the work I have progressed so far. I had to present my final line up of fashion illustration alongside my chosen samples on a A3 board . I made sure I had everything included from my checklist. I produced 7 garment ideas with different patterns. I used some inspiration from the dynasty series which was famous during the 80's. I liked the costumes of the cast members there especially of Alexis played by Joan Collins with big volume sleeves and tight pencil skirts she wore in some of the scenes. I chose some of my strongest samples which I thought looked good as a pattern on a garment.

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP

Today I learnt how to arrange my print patterns on a garment (flat drawing) using Photoshop editing . I have always been fascinated about photoshop however I lacked knowledge regarding the programme . I was pleased to learn about it from the basic. At the beginning I couldn't memorise which button to click because i wasn't familiar with the icons but tim the technician was ever so helpful and by end of the day i was working independently.  I used my figure template and created garment shapes to edit my screen-printed samples using photoshop. I enjoyed learning how to blow up the patterns into different scales in order to create unique repetitive patterns.

    I like the fact the using photoshop makes the garments looks neat and presentable rather than the traditional way of drawing and painting the whole thing by hand which can be time consuming sometimes. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about photoshop and looking forward for more sessions in future to gain more experience.

SAMPLE DEVELOPMENT

    After my India visit i was eager to try out new techniques so i look at contemporary designers for inspirations and came across Harriet holing 2010 graduate collection. Her beautiful collection inspired me to use fabric dyes for my sample development. I already experimented with this technique in will's friday session so i was able to work independently in the studio and at home.  I love how she used multi-colours to create dream-like patterns. The dyes looks like a ink splattered all over the chiffon material.

                                                                 HARRIET HOLING

I created my own version of Harriet holing inspired samples . I used Procion dye over the plain white cotton material to dye. I remember about the time settings and how leaving the dye for certain period can create different effects . I wanted the colour to be pale pink so in order to match with my colour palette I left the cotton material for approximately 5 minutes for better results.

 I used baby blue from my colour palette and screen printed my stencil design over my dyed material . Somehow it accidentally created ink smudged effect and due to that some of blue appears lighter shade than I originally wished for. I added embellishment like shisha mirrors and herringbone stitch over it for decoration. I used the concept from a bag i bought recently from india and was intrigued by the stitches which tempted me to try it myself . Lot of contemporary designers have used inspiration from India and Designers like Matthew Williamson whose Spring/summer 2011 collection saw lot of shisha mirror emblishments and other traditional beadwork . 

                                               MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

DEVELOPMENT OF SHIRT MAKING

 Today i finally achieved my goal of finishing the Shirt . I am pleased with the outcome along with the techniques i dealt with such as overlocking seams, adding collars , button holes,  adding pockets, how to add a yoke using gathered stitch and other useful stitches . The shirt making session has helped me expand my skills and desire to continue learning. I consider myself as more of a textile person and i was quite reluctant about fashion construction at the beginning but i got adapted to the skills and quite enjoyed it. I still have long way to go though like remember to document everything on my technical file and annotate more about my work.