30 April 2015

Webbing smocking

My recent samples are going for a bit of feminine theme.. I don't know if it's good or bad..

gathered and smocked webbing
 
opened smocking





Ribbon smocking

here are images of a new sample.. inspired by one of my 3D drawings
smocking is slow, but when you finished and opened it up...











6 April 2015

term2 reflection and term3 intention

This Design Process portfolio evidenced the development of my final year project, which recorded in the form of a blog. My design process consists of 3 phases—research, development and production. As the blog had been conducted during term 2 of the academic year, it focused on the middle and the most significant phase of my design process—development. This part is what I usually enjoy but struggle at the same time, because it requires the fearless exploration that is easy to get lost.

The blog looked into the marriage of visual and material aspects of my textile design, which evolved throughout the blogged period. Week 1-3 focused the early stage of translating the paper-based design into textiles, week 4&5 featured technical exploration, and week 6-8 remarked step by step development of visualisation towards the final collection.

In week 1-3, I have continued the drawing work from term1 alongside the technical sampling of embroidery, and found the key technique that I called structural  embroidery within the blog. Simultaneous development of drawing and embroidery samples was the first attempt for myself, but it worked well as a result. By looking at the main theme "construction" as well as surface quality of drawing, I have succeeded in establishing my own style of embroidery. In the next stage, week 4&5, I concentrated on technical exploration that based on the idea of structural embroidery. Although the experiment went chaotic after the use of various materials, I was able to understand the situation by blogging, and it made the following step clearer. Week 6-8 was the most difficult part as I needed to select the relevant ideas that I once broadened out. Assessing the each component of my own textile design is not easily done, but the blog allowed me to look at the work from the third person's point of view. The project is now reaching the final phase—production—, and progressing forward to the conclusion.

In the final phase, the most challenging thing is to make the right decision on every aesthetic choice—design, colour, technique, material and silhouette. Consideration to silhouette is what I have less experienced in the last 3 years, so I need substantial research and drawings before commencing the final samples production, in order to achieve the project's aim. Also, getting a clear vision of the final visualisation and presentation will be an essential task.
Expressing my aesthetics through textile design is the fundamental issue, and in this project's case, it is boldness that I have investigated through hand embroidery. My intention is to create wearable, sculptural embroidery pieces that have got an impact but the quality in details, and the pieces will be visualised on a real model. Therefore, silhouettes that the final sample create are as important as the samples themselves. This project is expected to concludes as a collection of embroidered textiles which is lively exhibited, instead of being hanged neatly on a wall, and gives a strong impression to the audience.