Final display

Now that i have finished all my practical work the last process was to set up the show space at College and put our work up, above is a picture of my finished space, Overall I'm happy with the layout and my portfolio Boards however i feel that my garment would look better on my mannequin which is black to add the desired contrast so i will change the mannequins over before the show.

Final constructed peice

Above are the Front and back views of my final pieces, overall i am really pleased with how they have turned out i feel they look just like my original sketch and the colour palette, fabrics and print have worked well together, i feel the piece is wearable and has fulfilled my aims and brief, however i would have liked to have made a another piece to go with this outfit i feel it was not realistic in the given time frame and this outfit challenged my skills more than i had expected so to make another piece may have been unachievable.

I have found this project a real experimental and  skill and knowledge Developing process helping me to push my designs and confidence with other materials and techniques which i can further build upon in the future and have gained and learned lots of new processes and how they work on different surface and fabrics and how this may effect the finished look all knowledge that is important as a designer to ensure the piece designed and developed is reflective of the design .

Constructing the peice

Continuing on from my last post here is an update with some images from my construction Process. It took approximately 3 weeks to make both the top and Skirt with a few small problems and challenges along the way but overall the process went well and i managed to keep on target and within the time i had allocated for Making.

To help me during the initial pattern cutting and learning to pattern cut process i used a few pattern cutting books, in particular  'Pattern Cutting' by Denninc Chunman Lo this book is brilliant and really helped you to understand and make the pattern and all the important elements to consider whilst pattern cutting, i used it in particular to create my basic Skirt, bodice and dress blocks and then manipulate and altered the pieces to make them shorter and the shapes desired and then to create the design detailing to add onto each. this process was quite technical and i had to keep reading over the instruction to fully understand what to do but the book was very informative and really helped me. the finished blocks and patterns were just as i wanted and fitted the mannequin just right.

the whole process i feel has really challenged my skills as the fabrics i had chosen and the intricacy of my pattern meant i had to take extra care to ensure i didn't snag or pull the fabrics and there were many stages of the construction process which i had to create my self in order to make the pieces fit together in the desired way as my pattern was a one off and there were no instruction of the best way to put the pieces together.

Overall i have really enjoyed the process of seeing my garments take shape and didn't have any major problems, except when putting the zip into the top i found it was quite fiddly to do a hidden zip into the chiffon as it moved and then discovered once it was sewn in that it was too short and made the top not fit onto the mannequin. this meant i needed to purchase a longer Zip and UN pick the old zip out and put the new one in. i tested the length of the new zip first and found, fortunately that that was long enough to allow the top to comfortably fit on thew mannequin making the top wearable. all i had to do then was sew it in.

in the Next post i will put pictures of the Final garments up and do a small evaluation of it.

My final design sketch

Just to Update here is the sketch of my final Design after it had been developed, the Top and skirt will be produced using White Chiffon and Red Cotton, with the chiffon over the red cotton to produce a pink Hue, and then the Print will be in Black to add contrast on top of the white chiffon.
the Design was inspired by the fins and anatomy of the fish such as the fin shapes, gills and eyes. for example the centre of both the skirt and top will feature a Jabara as sampled previously to reflect the layers in the eyes and gills and the sides of the skirt will have fin shaped chiffon detailing to add the textural element.
The colour palette was developed from the fish also, and reflects that dangerous aspect i wanted as red is often the colour for danger. I really like the design and chose it as it allows my to test and try new techniques in pattern manipulation and cutting and tests my skills  further because of all the design detailing. but it is also modern and wearable, and relevant to the current market, but at the same time is a achievable in the given time frame.
The fabrics are also light weight and reflect the movement of the fish and can be printed onto well.

Print Sample from Screen Print

Just a quick update on the Screen print, i had my Screen developed at college the other day and have since created a few test samples on my chosen fabrics of Chiffon's and thin Cotton, overall i am really pleased with the way they came out, however the first few tests didn't work out to well particularly on the larger design as i hadn't perfected the technique and the correct angle to scrape the squeegee across the screen, but the dots came out fine. below are a few of the test that didn't work to give and idea of how they didn't take to the fabric because i was scraping the wrong way, you can see where sections where missed and how blotch thr print came out.

In the bottom image you can see how the print missed section and was unsuccessful yet the actual transfer onto the fabric worked well and as i had wanted blended into the fabric well and could still be seen through similar to the laser printing technique of applying the print. however the dots in the Photo above have worked really well and have taken well to the chiffon fabric. through practise and perfecting the technique i was able to print the other print design repeatedly the same and fully which was a  relief as these first unsuccessful prints had concerned me as it would have meant making a new print design and screen had they not worked.

Below is a comparison of how the print looked once i had masterd the technique and the blotch not so good print next to it to the right. these were a test on the thin red cotton i would use for my final piece.

overall I'm really happy with these samples, even though the printing process is lengthy the ink dry ed really quickly on the fabric which made reprinting on top much quicker and smudging not possible. 

Further Print Developing using CAD and sampling

Continuing on from my last post this one shows my developing Prints using CAD, specifically Photo shop. Like i explained in my last post i wanted the print to give an edgy feel to the piece yet be modern and compliment the design which would also be relatively modern yet constructed to traditionally flatter the female form. so i wanted to develop a print that would compliment and blend with the design but also challenge my skills and techniques, so i chose three designs to develop in CAD to do this, and exhaust all the possible design layout and design style options.

below are a few of my print designs using CAD.

The above four samples for possible print design where created using photo shop tools such as, cloning, effects, magic selection, duplicate, layering, etc and the process for each was similar as my knowledge and skills using CAD are not very advanced however i really like each of the results and would use any of them for my final design. this technique of creating a print design was time consuming to start as i was not too familiar with how to use the program but once the basics where mastered the results where good, and the finished images where polished and could be very varied. Photo shop is a great tool for all sort of CAD image editing needs, it can create many different results and has many tools to help with every possible need i.e editing, changing effects, colour, merging,cloning and many more but it can be difficult to master and can only be learn ed through practise and trial and error. it can really develop an image in ways that wouldn't be possible by hand and is a tool that i will use in the future particularly for print developing as it gives the designs more depth and a polished edge.

The bottom two print designs i particularly like as they blend well together and make the viewer look at the design more closely, and i feel would compliment my final design well finishing it rather than overpowering it. however i feel they would work best if they were laser printed onto fabric because of the small detailing and intricate pattern and this method of print is not available to me so i will have to simplify the design and create the print using the screen printing method used in previous projects. creating possible three separate design on a single screen and then hand layering them up while printing them myself. however this is probably the best available option and i will be able to perfect my screen printing technique.

To ensure that i stay on target i will take the three main prints and have a screened developed from them in the next few days at college and test the prints on my fabrics to ensure this method suits my fabrics.

Further research into the work of Georgia Hardinge

whilst carrying out further research into Hardinge i came across some of her early 3D pieces that related to my own ideas for my current project. the piece i was drawn to is pictured above, i was immediately drawn to the construction and textural design that has the 3D element. the piece takes a 3D shape and repeats it placing it in the most flattering way on the form which causes it to almost mold and flatter the figure because of this placement.
this really interested me as it shows how placement can also effect how the end result looks on the figure and something to keep in mind on this project and future projects.
further images of the piece below, and another piece from the same collection showing a similar repeated textural design .

The pieces have been created in cotton fabrics in single colour tones of creams throughout, focusing the attention on the actual textural detailing on the design and also works well to create the textural detailing giving them a sharp crisp finish.the textural element is a repeated 3D structure continues and repeats in a flattering placement on the entire design.

the piece reminds me of the spines of animals and fish with a modern twist element i feel the designer was trying to reflect in the pieces.

this design would have required advanced knowledge of pattern cutting and manipulations as well as both advanced and basic sewing and construction skills, and a good understanding of placement to flatter the form.

as mentioned previously this piece interests me as it shows how a structured Textural piece can be interpreted and created to both flatter and be wearable. elements i wish to incorporate into my own designs. it also has a similar textural construction to my ideas for this project and gives me ideas on how i could  intrprets the shapes and feature of the fishes. 

like i discussed on my last post i feel this designer style of wear ability in intriguing designs that are both modern and constructional inspiring is what makes this work and the designer inspirations to both my self and other in the fashion industry. and will continue to both inspire me for this project and future projects.