Ending on a good note!

The Garment

Here is the final garment...

...we used Leah to model the garment, very simply in front of a white background. We wanted the garment to look quite subtle, and not too dramatic, sticking to the all white theme...

The garment didn't exactly turn out how we wanted it to, but we learnt from it, and the idea behind it was a very good one. I really enjoyed the process of getting to it, and working as a team was great fun and so helpful, especially when trying out new technique's and making of the garment, you can bring in all of your different ideas and knowledge. It was a great project!

Collaborative Creation

After finishing our final designs, me and my group came together to create a final garment idea which we were all happy with. It didn't take us long at all to decide on a final design, I think we just had similar concepts, Leah's theme was deaf people and how they communicate, Sophie's theme was blind people and how they communicate, so they all related to miscommunication in some way, making it easier for us to combine our ideas. Here is our final design....

As you can see in the design, we decided to go with the drop-hole technique, as its something we enjoyed doing and liked the look of. But also we had the idea of making the holes become pockets with gloves attached to them. We also had the idea of putting some sort of clicker in the gloves which would lead to a light, or motor or something technical. However none of us are great with technology like that and we had a limited amount of time. So we continued with the rest of the idea. Using one of my design ideas, we made the garment A-line, and the front to cross over as you can see in the design.

This idea links well with my concepts. The gloves in particular are partially hidden and unexpected by someone looking at the garment, so it raises questions. The whole garment is white but made up of two different fabrics which have different textures, and the sleeves go into the pockets to continue into the gloves, so it all works together to create one garment. The garment is also very much interactive due to the gloves.

Here are some images of the making....

....it was slightly harder than we thought it would be! So we did have to make some adjustments, such as the back of the garment where we had not left enough fabric for the zip, so we left it open! But we did manage to finish what we could, and you will be able to see the final garment in the next post...

Final Design Sheets

 

Initial Designs

Some of these designs are related to the idea of combination garments and others inspired by the drop-hole technique, which I mentioned in previous posts. The first three design sheets, I have used quite classic and simple garments, a shirt, mac, and maxi dress, and the last two design sheets I have also kept quite simple, as I am just getting used to the ideas, but I will develop them more to suit my concepts in the final designs.

Drop-hole Technique

Taken from the book 'Pattern Magic', me and my group tried out the drop-hole technique in class, which was amazing, however it was quite complicated so we didn't manage to finish it, but it was something really unusual and intelligent, that I would never have even thought of, or have been able to create a pattern for. All of the techniques are Japanese, which is quite obvious by the way they look, and the methods used, which can be quite complicated. As I haven't got any images from class to show you, here are some from the book, the first one is the technique we attempted.....

Concept pages

Combination garments

Continuing from the previous posts, the puzzle that I worked with had lots of combinations or ways to put the blocks together, which linked into the idea of layers and confusion from the babel theme. So I thought it would be a good idea to have layered garments which contain some structure, which can have elements of them which the wearer can remove, such as removable sleeves for the summer. It links with the perception theme and miscommunication, as you do not expect that they can be removed, as they are well hidden. It is interactive too, as the wearer is making the decisions about how they want to wear the garment and what they want the overall layered look to be like.

The process of doing what I did with the puzzle or having a number of combinations is quite spontaneous and accidental, which reminds me of Jackson Pollock...






















...his abstract expressionist paintings using the 'drip and splash' technique were based on the whole idea of spontaneity and chance, and they were about being free and interacting with the canvas, rather than focussing on something else, such as an object or person, to create it.

Another thing I've decided on is the colour scheme based on my concepts. I had a few intitial ideas:
1. be spontaneous, and pick a colour out of the bag, maybe not a great idea seeing as I've got such a range of pantones!
2. do opposing/clashing colours, such as orange and pink, bright and pale...
3. choose one colour, but different shades..

...I ended up choosing number 3 because I think it will work best with my design ideas as there will be lots of layers, with different tones of the same colour. I've chosen a colour pallete of nude colours and some slightly darker and brighter ones which will go with the more pale colours, to give a nice contrast, and unexpected clash, and act as highlighters, creating a depth in the layers.

Some of the colours I've chosen: