Spirographing and mono-printing.

Reflection.

I've been really struggling with my samples recently, I seem to have hit a brick wall and I'm not sure how to move forward... I've decided to move back first and go back to doing more drawing because it's when I'm drawing that I seem to progress more with my thoughts and my project.

Kaylee Hibbert.

Jay Mohler... Ojo de Dios.

Beatriz Milhazes

From drawing to sample..

To kick start my sampling and to move from paper to fabric I have digitally printed some of my drawings onto cotton.

I chose cotton due to its softness as to me its the feel of the fabric which plays vital role in choosing the right material for childrens clothes as it cannot irritate the skin. BUT... I am not hugely keen on the appearance of the print on cotton it appears to cheapen the look.

Using the embellisher machine I chose bond the cotton prints with other fabrics (wools - another soft fabric) this transforming the print completely distorting the image and merging colours together as well as the fibres from both fabrics

Most successful sample so far..
The overall appearance of the fabric and print
is delicate and when I embellish it with
sequins I will keep it subtle.   

When I ran this one through the embellisher machine areas
peeked I found that this was due to the fact that I
moved it in a circular motion
unlike the above sample. 

this is the reverse side tho the other two samples where its
showing the cotton fibres coming through the underneath, I prefer
the other side to this as  the image remains a little clearer.
I also prefer the more Ink stained prints the
the spirograph image..
..this could have something to do with the colours. 

The two above images are of the two sides 

of the same sample. I embellished this 

print to a loosely knitted wool material and 

as you can see the print is still completely 

visible through the loose knit.

Although I like the appearance of this sample 

the two fabrics were impossible to

 strongly bong together using the embellisher 

machine so it probably won't be 

suitable as a wearable fabric.

Atik Batik

Hand dyed, printed and embroidered garments for both women and children... take a look..

http://www.antikbatik.fr/home/

BOdeBO

A Paris based childrens clothing line BOdeBO was founded in 2001 by Ann Ramirez Matheron.
Known for their modern and original twist on childrens clothes.

http://www.bodebo.fr/

Live Project... IDEA

I've been struggling on choosing my live brief as now I have a definite context and a direction for this project and for Unit X I wanted a Live brief that could assist me with in a childrens fashion context.. however none of the briefs provided have really grabbed my interest which has lead me to think about directing one myself.

MY IDEA... Interactive fashion.
Involving children in the clothes they wear.
As an initial idea I have thought about producing prints onto childrens clothes along the lines of colouring books and when someone buys a garment along with it they get fabric pens/paints for the child to colour in. 
This way it is fun for the child to be involved in the making/decorating of their clothes.

Just a thought at the moment..

PE Evaluation

In the PE presentation I felt I was clear when visually articulating my ideas for my project so far and my aims for the future; however when confronting the verbal aspect of my presentation I struggled with conveying my thoughts and ideas in regards to my project. This is due to the fact that I am less confident at verbally presenting my work so as a result my project wasn’t fully represented. I feel with thorough preparation and practice I could over come this in the future.

In the presentation I discussed two areas of my contextual research, one was the artists I had research which were influential to the drawing aspect of my work, for instance Lesley Halliwell and Ingrid Calame. Influencing my choice of drawing tool and my colour pallet.

Previous to the presentation I had been drawing with spirographs, with such a controlled movement to the drawing I felt I needed a new angle to my drawings. I had all ready looked at Lesley Halliwell for her use of spirographs but while I was using spinningtops with the only control being the choice of colour I figured I needed to finalise my colour pallet, to do some I began by researching artists where colour was the most important aspect for example Ingrid Calame. I  chose to include this contextual research in my presentation I felt it was appropriate because it was an important development.

The second was in relation to my context (childrens fashion), which I researched thoroughly and so was able to clearly convey this to the audience. In regards to my next unit I feel the project I have already explored has more room to develop and so I have decided to continue this on the next unit (Unit X) where I will develop and refine my context to prepare for my degree show and to ensure that it is up to a standard that I can be proud of.

OILILY!

Now and Future.

The 90s.

The 80s.

(Screen Shots from the oilily website)

http://www.oililyworld.com/

Childrens Fashion!!

 Thinking about CONTEXT..

Having given my context a lot of thought and to provide myself with more direction for my project I have decided that I want to produce fabrics for childrens fashion, at the moment this is specifically girls, mainly due to my colour palate. 

De-constructing then re-constructing my drawings..

An experiment with drawings to start thinking about composition.

...Also beginning to zone in more on a colour way.. as I am aiming towards a childrens fashion context I feel the more pinky/purple colour way is more fitting.. with pops of other colours coming through, 
(navy blue, bright greens to provide more depth)

Ingrid Calame.

Colour and expression..

Going bigger.

Still drawing with kids toys... but on a larger scale.

What I love that really works in these drawings is the lack of control that the spinning top brings.. the merging of colours providing a densely covered area combined with the spray and the lines from when the spinning top traveled across the paper.

Big Kids...

Taking a group of friends (In their 20s) I rolled out a huge piece of Fabriano paper and let them freely draw with the toys, inks and pens I left out. 
I see this as a way of taking them back to their childhood and a way for me to produce freely expressed drawings.

Heres the results: