Tag: sewing


Oct
2020

TADF- Denim Challenge

categories: AAD010

Denim Challenge-

Before completing the denim challenge I wanted to research artists that inspired me, such artists came to be Vivienne Westwood and Jennifer Davies. Westwood’s free and punk inspired designs are something that I really enjoyed and much like Davies she uses a lot of layered fabrics to create a handmade and rough look to her designs. I was heavily inspired by a few of Davies’ pieces particularly the ones where masses of denim were overlapped quite chaotically. I found something in that very fascinating and it inspired this idea primarily. I completed a couple of digital drawings as a rough guide for the jacket (at this point I knew that a jacket was something that I wanted to tackle). I added fishnets and chains to the design as I wanted a design that would match my own personal taste in clothing and also something that I knew would break up the layers of denim. I started by taking the dimensions of a pre-existing jacket and cut the jacket up until only the seems were left, this was I could accurately reconstruct the jacket into the patchwork/ layered idea that I was originally going for. Sewing is something that I don’t take much pride in nor did I trust my abilities enough in making the jacket stay together so I opted for safety pins instead.

As you can see I achieved a super layered and messy look with the different types of denim and also used some zippers and braces from overalls and jeans. The sleeve of the jacket is my favorite part as it is super theatrical and dramatic. I achieved this with long strips of fabric that overlapped in order to create a thick veil of overhang. The finishing details were the embroidered “Hate” on the shoulder and the leather on the other shoulder. I was able to dye some of the fabric in water and acrylic paint and some bleach, I also did this for some areas of the fishnets.

These are some close up images of the jacket for a better look of the layered look I was trying to achieve. 

Initial Sketches and Planning-

 

Its very clear to see that I stuck to my initial sketches quite closely as I was a huge fan of how these looked. I had a lot of ideas in my head and these sketches for me were the fastest way for me to be able to document my ideas into a visible form. I think that the jacket turned out even better than my sketches, I am very pleased that I was able to make these ideas a reality even with my limited knowledge and capabilities with sewing and working with textiles.


Oct
2020

TADF- Weaving Paper and Sewing

categories: AAD010

Weaving-

Firstly I tried out some paper weaving with different techniques (whilst keeping my colour palette in mind). I found that the different ways I was weaving created a different look die to the tightness of the weave. I really liked the appearance of the green toned paper weave I completed as it is quite perfect to me, this one took me quite a while to complete as the paper strips were quite hard to work with. I wanted to try and do a 3d version of the weaving so I wrapped some woven paper over a bowel to get it into a curved shape then gently slid the bowl out from it. I quite like how the woven strips are so large it looks quite interesting in my opinion.

After weaving paper I wanted to try and weave some material. I started with some wool and a piece of card behind it to show off the weave pattern. I think that this looks well, however it wasn’t as tight as I would have liked it to be, this was even more difficult to work with than the paper though, if I were to do it again I would defiantly use two different colours of wool as to keep it looking less confused when weaving. The last two that I did are multi media weavings consisting of denim strips, shoe laces and wool. I used two sticks and wrapped vertical strips of wool along it to be the base for my weaving. In my opinion these are the mist effective looking out of all the weaving and due to the different directions and imperfect manner in which I wove them together they have become something interesting to look at.

Sewing-

To work on some of my sewing skills before tacking the denim challenge I took some scraps of denim and some wool and thread and began to teach myself how to sew. I tried some basic running stitches, blanket stitching, embroidery, rice stitches and some crosses. I surprised myself and was able to do a lot more than I thought I would have been capable of doing. I adore how the “hate” embroidery turned out I think I kept the lines really accurate and the wool worked really well in making the letting stand out a lot and have a 3d effect. The hate patch is also quite large (about 30cm) in length and I will definitely be pinning it to some of my denim jackets and jeans. I tried to keep within my colour scheme so I chose some simple blue tones to tie in with the denim.

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