Developing Samples from Samples.

So far, this week has consisted of dyeing up 13 fabrics.  That was monday afternoons task which I have to say was pretty knackering.  However, now that I have done that,  it gives me the opportunity to do a big bulk of printing this week. 

A board showing my Fashion Research and who I am aiming to target. 

Numerous dye baths are underway.  You have to be organised and tidy to make sure all the timings and measurements are correct for your dye baths.

A full rack of Hand Dyed Fabrics.

A pile of coloured fabrics waiting to be printed onto.

We all have clothes stands now for our growing collection of samples which is making the end seem increasing close.  I can't wait to see what we all produce by the end of our final 3 months. 

Here are images I took of one of my sheer samples.  I have Layered and Manipulating the fabric to gather a bank of interesting layers and lines to draw from. 

Working on photoshop.  I am increasing the scale of the lines and making the image size 90x40 cm big which is a good sample size.  This will help me put my samples into a fashion context.  

Thursday and Friday will consist of printing and photographing my samples on the body. 

Developing Samples.

 I found this beautiful shell online at dorsetgifts.com and I have decided to base a collection on this shell.

Weeks 1 and 2 of the Stripes Collection.

I love the colours and the intricate lines are absolutely stunning.

Preparing a screen for printing. 

Dying up silks and wools with cold water procion dye baths and hot water acid dye baths. 

I'm using a dip dyed effect.

Here I am starting to think about printing and the composition of the fabric.

Dye, Print, Discharge and Embroidery.

Working on the Mannequin. Using the shell as inspiration for Shape.

Some developing Samples.

Printing with Acid Dye.  I prefer using dyes for printing as you aren't at risk of loosing the quality of the fabric which can happen with printing with pigment. 

This is called discharge and it takes away the colour of the dyed fabric.  There are other ingredients added to this mixture to create a gloopy paste which you can see in the picture directly below.  The smell is also pretty awful but you get used to it after a while.  

Dyed and Discharge on Silk. 

I'm loving the colours of this. I think its really beautiful and sophisticated. 

 Weekend Embroidery work.  Embroidering into a Wool Sample. 

I'm thinking about weights of threads/yarns to echo the Shells Stripes. 

Unpicking the Weave of the Hand Dyed Wool Fabric. 

Its starting to come together.  Here are some folded finished Samples. 

2 weeks worth of work.  I will now take forward what I like and develop my collection from here. 

Thinking About Colour.

To push my project forward I have really taken time in considering my colours. Moving away from my comfort zone of blues and greys I have spent the week analysing the colours within this image below in particular to create a more sophisticated and exciting palette to work with. 

I bought a selection of beautiful shells online from dorsetgifts.com for inspiration on pattern and composition. The colours also tie in very well with my new colour palette. 

Here are some of my considered palettes. 

Taking a step back to see how my work is all tying together. 

I love dying up fabrics so after I had worked out my colour palette with paper and gouache paint, it was time to move to the dye lab to work with colour onto materials. I think I love it so much because you have to be so precise and organised in order to record the correct measurements. 

I have completed 23 dye baths and I am now more or less happy with the colours on fabric. Each dye bath consisted of 10 fabric swatches ranging from silks and wools, to linens and cottons. Another material I have been working with is seaweed and I have sourced a seacell fibre which I am going to try and spin into yarns using a drop spindle. This fibre dyes beautifully which is really exciting. 

My desk has been used as a mini washing line this week for all my colour swatches. Because of the different materials and weights of fabric, each fabric comes out of the bath completely different to the next. For example, a cotton might come out green and the silk might come out a beigebrown. Trial and error is key as some colours in the bath you'll like and others you will think are awful. Dyeing is all about being patient and determined and because I can be a bit of a perfectionist, I really got stuck in. Hopefully this will benefit me later on when I start producing my final sample collection.

Next week I have planned to do lots of drawing and I will also try out some embroidery and embellishment techniques.

Developing Samples.

The week before Christmas consisted of lots of sampling to give me confidence in the direction I would like to move in with textile techniques and compositions.  The colour is very safe for me at the moment so my next task will be to really consider and analyse the colours within my photography and the shells I have collected. 

These fabrics started off as plain white.  With various processes and technqiues they are now ready to be used as the material for the cutout pieces I intend to create which are inspired by the form of seaweed. 

Natural Lightweight Wool with Hand-Painted brush strokes. 

Considering Composition and Placement. 

Fixing the cutouts to the base fabric. 

Playing with tassels which are inspired by Seaweed and the shine from Shells.

Manipulating the tassels.

Image taken in Cornwall.  Colours have been enhanced and altered on photoshop as well as the composition. 

The inspiration behind this sample:  shallow and sheer waves, barnacles and seaweed.

Working into the sample with French Knots.  Inspired by the shoreline and barnacle. 

Detail.

Finished piece.

I just thought I would add this image in as I like it because the combination of colours and textures.  I would like to create my own colour combinations of threads and this will be able to happen when I have worked on my colour palette more. 

Detail. 

Table of samples.