Unit X Blog Post Three

R E F L E C T I O N 

During Unit X this year I feel I have really challenged myself. I have focused on the project but as well as this I have tried to make decisions with my final year in mind. In terms of weaving, I do feel that I have pushed myself quite a lot as I chose to do something which I knew I wasn't very good at; designing on scot weave. Before this project, I have only woven twice before, and so I wanted to push myself and try a brocade which I could use as a means of 'drawing' over my cloth. I initially encountered a lot of problems and I thought I would never understand it, but I overcame the problems and was relatively happy with the outcome of my samples. 

Final arrangement of my work for the Exhibition 

Engagement? ...

I think I have engaged consistently throughout this project. The first three weeks of weaving were extremely full on and after I had finished, it was hard to stop myself from slowing down. Whilst on the looms, I was fully committed to the project as weaving was of course my main priority. In hindsight, I only wish that I had been able to maintain this work ethic for the full six weeks, although I think a small period of refreshment was needed after such a hectic start. In terms of my engagement within other aspects of the unit, I am pleased with the collaborative side to the project. I have found collaborating with the other weavers extremely useful and I hope that it is something that we can continue with in the future. Our group of weavers conducted tutorial like sessions and mini workshops, we also arranged group outings and we communicated a lot using Facebook. At the beginning of the project I didn't know how the collaborative part would come into practice, as I had first thought of collaboration as a final outcome, but in the end it was a really valuable experience and I feel that we connected by learning new skills and supporting each other with advice and encouragement. 

Discoveries? ... 

Throughout this unit I have made some discoveries through learning. The most testing task of all has been figuring out the programme Indesign. I have found using Indesign to be unbelievably challenging but I think this is because I have never been great at using computers. I have always been hands on and I find it hard to express what I want using a screen. However, using Indesign has informed my practice greatly and I now know what to do next time and most importantly; what not to do. Although I was quite pleased to actually have produced a basic booklet, having never had the patience to commit to doing it before, I have learnt some valuable lessons. The main lesson is to always leave around a week to produce the pages and bind it; it was a much harder task than I first anticipated. The best way to produce something on Indesign in the quickest time is to have everything ready first (images/text etc). I have learnt that images need to be at 150 dpi in order to print quicker and that I need to plan time for printing, sourcing appropriate paper and I need to plan time to make the pages into a book.  Additionally, over the last few weeks I have also learnt how to use the jacquard loom. By this I mean that I have learnt how to design the patterns, how to use the computer programme and how to use the actual loom itself. All of which is going to be extremely helpful next year.  Over the last two weeks I feel as if I have been producing things for the presentation rather than more actual work. I now know for next year the timescale of these tasks and how to plan better for next time. 

Learning how to put a design onto a Loom Disk for the Jacquard. 

Choices? ...

In terms of the choices I have made, my decision to make a booklet and present my samples in a handmade box wasn't timely, but I do feel that it was the right choice as at the time I couldn't think of another way to present them in order to display them as a coherent body of work. 

For this project I feel that my research certainly informed my ideas and development. However if I were to do it again I would stop myself from taking risks on yarn choices. I chose the turquoise cotton mix yarn as I adored the colour, but it caused me nothing but problems and wore my patience so thin that I ended up having to remove it. 

Improvement? ...

When thinking about improvement, I am desperate to improve my skills on the computer. Each term I get better and better but it has mainly been down to collaboration. Whilst making my booklet I collaborated with Lucy and Dacia and we each taught each other new skills using Indesign and Photoshop. I am also desperate to improve my technical knowledge of weaving, I always feel behind because I am in terms of knowledge and experience. Throughout the summer before the final year, I aim to read as much as possible and research in order to make the most out of the third year. My goal next year is to try double cloth, as I think that would really help me to develop my practice. Below is an image of one of the most inspiring weavers I have come across. Jennifer Moore produces vibrant double cloth woven pieces. Next year I aim to produce something along the same lines, I think this will be really important for my practice as weaving using two layers would be more suitable for clothing and a more refined finish. 

Jennifer Moore's Double Cloth Weaves are inspiring to my practice. 

Motivations? ...

My key motivations this unit were to weave as many samples as possible in the best way I could, I was motivated to keep my theme coherent throughout and I wanted my work to be the same in order to look like a collection for the exhibition. In terms of process, my motivation was to keep everything hand made to tie in with the Handmade in Britain theme which I feel passionately about. Finally, I wanted my project to look simple and be able to be understood. 

Overall?... 

Overall, I am pleased that I chose to do this unit as I feel it has given my work a push in the right direction. I have been able to try out new ways of making and I am getting to grips about how to present work for next year. I think this project has been a bit shaky for me as I am still unsure of whether I want to be a designer/maker. I feel I have a long way to go yet but my practice has been developing gradually in the right direction.

Presentation Plans

E X H I B I T I O N    I D E A S

Making my booklet

B O O K   B I N D I N G  

Cutting, holding, glueing, measuring, sticking, pressing. 

Making my booklet into a book has been a bit of a rush. Originally I wanted to stitch my pages together to make my work feel more related to textiles. I wanted people to want to touch it and pick it up and to be interested in how it was put together. However, producing the pages took much longer than I had thought, and so I only had a few choices when it came to binding my book. I thought that glueing my booklet together actually looked the most effective and so I made my booklet in a few hours using a quick handmade method. 

Developing my ideas

W E AV I N G    O N    T H E    J A C Q U A R D

Finished design on Photoshop for the Jacquard loom.

Today was my first time weaving on the Jacquard and I found it both frightening and exciting. Rebecca the weave technician taught me how to put my design onto the programme for the Jacquard. At 12:00 it was then my go to finally begin weaving. The jacquard is so much wider than I have ever woven before, considering I usually weave a narrow fabric of about 4 inches wide. It took a while to get going but I did really enjoy it. I found it really difficult not to snap ends, no matter how careful I was being ends seemed to snap everywhere. Weaving therefore took me longer than I had hoped and I only managed to weave half of my original design. 

Slow start on the loom but the pattern eventually becomes clear.

Hand Made in Britain

C R A F T S 

"Understanding how something is made, why it’s made that way, is more vital to modern life than ever. Craft is a language of material, provenance and making. It is learning the value of things. Sure, handmade, well-made things aren’t cheap but their value isn’t solely monetary. It’s political and social – to know how and where something came into being makes us more invested in it, so much so we become more responsible consumers. The handmade has unique aesthetic pleasures in itself but has also become intertwined with a whole bundle of different values, be they anti-consumerist, ‘localist’, green, or even just plain-old fashionable."

"What a country makes is part of its fabric, its identity."

http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2011/08/17/what-is-the-role-and-value-of-crafts-today/

Making the inside of my booklet

C H A O S 

Throughout this project I have learnt that making a booklet was actually a far harder task than I imagined. It took me much longer than I thought and I found it such a struggle. I began by using Microsoft word and realised that I just wasn't going to get the results I wanted and so I tried my luck at Indesign. I think overall I must have tried the layout at least five different ways. I then went into a tutorial with Sharon and explained to her the difficulty I was having. I was pleased to hear it wasn't just me who found it so hard to use a screen in order to design. She advised me to print everything I wanted in my booklet, cut all of the images up and play around with the layout on a table like I normally would. This was actually a very helpful process. 

After I had reconstructed my pages yet again, I encountered a new problem. Some of the photographs were blurry and I had to go back and change all of the dpi on photoshop. This was a lengthy task which I will know how to do for next time. I also found that being selective over what to put in the booklet was one of the hardest parts of designing it. After I had made a final draft for my booklet, I then had to source paper and learn how to use the inkjet printers. 

Producing the booklet was such a challenge, I worked closely with Dacia and Lucy to produce visualisations for my work, and we each helped each other to use Indesign, Word and Photoshop. Overall my booklet has taken me around 5 days to produce. 

Presentation of my work

M A K I N G   M Y   B O X 

Over easter I was struggling to decide how to present my samples at the final exhibition, this was mostly because my samples are quite small (only 4 inches wide). Initially I was going to mount them, but they just did not stand out enough. I tried several display attempts such as layering them up or standing them upright but nothing looked very nice or presentable. I then remembered the booking binding workshop we had taken part in before easter and so when we returned from the easter break, I went to speak to the technician about my idea of making a box. She described the various options I had and I was quite excited to start making it. 

As my woven samples have been made with the hand made in Britain theme in mind, I thought that making a box by hand would tie in perfectly with my project. The box took me roughly two days to make and I really enjoyed doing something new and learning new techniques. 

 Left to Right: Initial cutting of the card, taping the sides to allow the box to hold its shape, cutting and planning the cover.

When making my presentation box, I decided to go for the same colour theme to keep my work for this project consistent. I chose a neat black covering as I have used black in all of my samples. I then finished the inside of the box using powder green colour plan paper. I thought this colour would bring out the colours I had used in my samples and bring the collection together nicely. 

 Left to Right: Making the cover for the box, attaching the pieces together, finishing the inside. 

Designs for the Jacquard

D E S I G N   D E V E L O P M E N T  

As I finished on the Dobby looms in the first three weeks of the project, I have decided to use my samples as a source of inspiration to further develop some designs to weave on the Jacquard.

Using a cut out to help me design for the Jacquard 

Now I know that I want my designs to be used for a fashion garment, I have decided to make the samples on the Jacquard more graphic so that they will stand out on a jacket for example. I have also made them larger and scaled my drawings accordingly.

Using the Flying Goose Bridge and shapes from the Garden to inspire my drawings.

Unit X Blog Post Two

I N V E S T I G A T I O N S  ...

Where do my samples fit? ...

Since finishing weaving I have continued my project mostly by doing some more research. For us weaver's, the project has felt a little bit back to front so far and so I had produced the work but did not know what it was for entirely. I decided to use the easter break to concentrate on this and after speaking to the tutors about my thoughts before easter, I decided to explore the idea of it being used for edges and finishings on garments.

Initially when I began weaving my samples, I had thought that I would want to produce a jewellery based outcome, but as I was weaving using the yarns I had chosen and looking at the photographs of the japanese garden, it didn't feel right and I found myself becoming more interested in designing a piece of cloth. Because of this, I have found that my skills using scot weave and the ARM Dobby looms have greatly improved. In my samples I used two warps of three colours and I worked hard to figure out how to construct the patterns I wanted on my cloth, it was a real challenge to try and figure out how to draw a peg plan for the patterns I wanted, considering I only started as a weaver this year. Now that my samples have been produced, I am glad that I challenged myself, it was an unexpected development and it has made me more willing to challenge myself further in the project.

Considering branding and style? ...
In order to do some more research into finishings and edges for garments, I started by following Sally's advice and photographing my samples next to various fabrics. I wanted to gain insight into what kind of material worked next to my samples. This process really helped me to figure out where I could visualise my samples, and on what kind of garments. I worked out that soft materials such as cashmere or wool, really didn't show off the woven detail on my samples. My samples only really worked on garments which were shaped and not flimsy like a jumper and so I decided that they would work well being used on a section of a ladies jacket, perhaps a collar, or some cuffs, or just an edge of a tailored garment.

Market Research: Looking at brands such as Per Una, Asos and Topshop 

Into collaboration?... 
The collaboration side of Unit x has been exciting and interesting. I have learnt a new range of skills which were quite unexpected. To begin our collaboration, Dacia set up a group on Facebook to enable us to talk when we were out of the studio and set up events and meetings. The book binding workshop was really informative and it got us all talking about the possibilities of what we could produce individually as well as together. Before the book binding workshop, we also collaborated to learn a new skill called temari ball weaving. We each attempted to create some temari balls and found it a far more intricate task than we originally anticipated. We all participated in the task and helped one another along the way. We used a video on Youtube and some instructions on the internet to weave the balls. It didn't go as successfully as we had hoped but the collaboration of ideas and learning a new skill was still successful. So far through the project we have all stayed in contact with one another constantly. I think that we have all realised that we don't have to be doing exactly the same thing in order to collaborate, instead we can have meetings and share our thoughts and have discussions about one another's work and thats still a form of collaboration.

 plan of action?... 

With the remaining two weeks before the exhibition, I am planning to organise my time efficiently so that my work is presented in the best possible way. In order to do this I have created a two week timetable and written down everything I need to do on each day and at what time. If all goes to plan, I am hoping to create a box for my samples, a few jacquard samples, and a booklet using indesign. I think that this will prepare me for next year and also challenge me again.

Context

V V  R O U L E A U X  

In terms of contextual research, I haven't been able to find a lot specifically related to woven finishings and edges, but I thought a good place to start thinking about context would be VV Rouleaux. Annabel Lewis's shop company supplies beautiful top of the range trimmings and edges, passamentarie and cords, anything you can think of. I thought it was interesting to research this as I believe for this unit my work belongs in a similar market. My work is aimed at a high end market, my designs for edges and finishings could potentially be bought and used for fashion garments. 

Where does my work fit? ...

T H O U G H T S 

Placing my samples next to various fabrics. 

Following Sally's advice, I decided to experiment placing my samples next to different fabrics. I put them next to cotton, linen, cashmere, lycra, and various other blends. I also laid them next to different patterns to enable me to see how they would work on a coloured garment. 

Direction

Where does my work fit?

American Brand Kaadi Lawn SS collection 2014

Using samples as inspiration for further design development

Trip to London

M U S E U M S 

Temari

T E M A R I    B A L L    M A K I N G  

As another collaborative task for this unit, we decided to try to continue the weaving process of of the loom. Online, Camilla found japanese woven balls, and later on we found out that they were called temari balls. We thought this would be a nice process to try collaboratively, as we would be able to meet up as a group, talk about our projects and learn a new technique together. We also thought that this task tied in nicely as the ball making originates from Japan. 

Left: First waste yarn ball, cotton covered ball, making the patterns. Right: An example of the ball we were aiming to make. 

Making these japanese balls certainly tested our patience. It was a long process which was extremely repetitive. In brief, we first made a ball out of waste yarn, then re wrapped it in a chosen yarn, and then the very tricky part was all the line making and sewing around pins. At the end of the day we had only just got to the third stage and so some of us decided we would carry on at home or maybe meet up and finish them.

In my experience, the japanese ball making worked well on a collaborative level, as we learnt a new technique which was interesting, however, in terms of my own practice, I don't think it is something which I will want to do again. I don't think making a selection of temari balls will be beneficial to my future weaving or my current project but i'm happy that I have learnt part of a new skill. 

Although I don't want to carry on with the ball making, the raised woven patterns have enabled me to think differently about my approach to hand weaving and it has helped me to think of patterns in different layers and so I may look into some stitching techniques using layers which could be applied to my project instead in order to compliment my future weaving.

Book Binding Workshop

P R E S E N T A T I O N 

As part of the independent collaborative task, I decided to set up a book binding workshop for the weavers. After discussing it last week we found that it was something we were all interested in and would like to learn to do, particularly as it would come in useful for the presentation of our work next year and possibly at the end of Unit X. The workshop was really useful and we all learnt about several processes and techniques, and learnt how to use the various machines. It was useful to do this collaboratively as we could share our ideas on how to use these processes in relation to weave and we talked about how we could present our samples. Furthermore, we were interested in book binding as it is a technique which comes from Japan, and as we had all looked at the Japanese Gardens at Tatton Park for inspiration in one way or another, we decided this would fit nicely into our projects. 

In design Workshop

I N D E S I G N 

Today we learnt how to use the software Indesign. It was a little challenging to pick up but I found it useful and it made me think differently about the best ways to lay out my work for presentation. The keys point that I learnt from the session was that the scale of an image is very important. If you have a selection of images on a page, the larger images are the central ideas, any other smaller images are of things which have helped you to reach the key image (i.e. research/inspiration). Another key thought from the session was that where possible, it is important to use lines when presenting work. Invisible lines on a page make it easy for people to look at it. The lines need to be coherent and consistent through the document. White space should never be more focal than the images themselves. Additionally, when typing on a page with images, the type face should be light and not overpowering if the images are key. Simple or grey font is ideal. 

Unit X Blog Post One

R E S E A R C H

The beginning of Unit X has been extremely busy and the end of week three has come around very quickly. Unit X has been surprising, when we began with the speed dating task in week one, it really opened my eyes up to what the unit was about and it was both exciting and nerve racking. The self initiated collaborative task, allowed me to think about what it was that I wanted to collaborate on, as well as what I could offer to other people. I surprised myself by being able to explain (within just a few minutes) what my skills were and how they could be adapted/transferred to collaborate within another language of design.(e.g. 3D Design)

Unfortunately, it was a bit frustrating at the beginning of the unit, as being a weaver, I had to go straight onto the loom as the looms are on a strict timetable. Because of this, even though I wanted to collaborate directly with a 3D student, I knew it would be very difficult to achieve this for at least the first three weeks of Unit X. Due to the weaving weeks being so intense, it has lead to very little research and no time at all for collaboration apart from a few conversations. However, despite these small set backs, I am still looking forward to the possibility of collaborating further into the project. I have two ideas, firstly to collaborate on a project with a 3D student, and secondly to collaborate with the other weavers, as we are all in a similar position.

Due to our very tight timetable, I went to visit Tatton Park the day before the trip. I found it useful to get a feel for the place, and to do some market research in the shop. Initially, I didn't find the trip very inspiring as I usually like to take inspiration from bright colours, architecture,
, culture and urban landscapes. So in terms of inspiration; I felt slightly out of my comfort zone, but that is what Unit X is about after all. To begin sampling I selected a colour palette to enable me to design my warp. I was feeling a bit lost with choosing my colours as it was so early on in the project and I had  done so little research, and so on a whim I researched 'National Trust Colours' and I found a collaboration between the National Trust and Fired Earth; a paint company. The palette compromises 36 subtle and timeless colours, and has been inspired by revisiting the organic earth shades of the past. From these shades, I selected a few that I liked and chose to use silk as it is a natural fibre.

From Left to Right: Paint from the Fired Earth Collection.  Warp Colours. Weft colour palette. 

The key influences to my work so far have been the colour palette and some of the images I have been focusing on in order to design the patterns on my brocade. I have taken inspiration from a book by a photographer who takes close up shots of the Japanese Gardens at Tatton Park. From the photographs, I have then done some small drawings and managed to explore these drawings using Scot weave. In terms of context, I am aiming to create samples to produce something which could be sold in the National Trust shop or on the 'Handmade in Britain' website. I am passionate about hand crafting here in the UK so I think that is the direction I will go in now, and in the future where possible.

Woven interpretation of the Japanese Gardens and architecture owned by the National Trust 

Now that I have finished my time on the loom, I am going to continue with my inspiration from my samples and the Japanese garden and work collaboratively in various ways to develop these further. As mentioned above, I would like to possibly collaborate on a 3D project, and as well as this collaborate with a small group of weavers. As we have mostly used similar inspiration for the project, we are intending to look at other sources of inspiration from Japan and craft them here in Britain. The samples I have produced and the research so far, have lead me to think about craft and its importance and has made me determined to continue hand making. Due to this, we have collectively decided to learn a few new skills over the course of the unit which relate to our practice and which will enable us develop our work further. These skills will include crafts such as temari weaving, weaving off of a loom, passamenterie, tassel making and possibly japanese book binding. These skills will all come in useful in the future of my practice, as they are very hands on and may expand my knowledge of weaving and different techniques and processes.

Passamenterie corded necklace. Temari Japanese Weaving. Woven Jewellery- Possible collaboration with a 3D student 

A selection of samples

S A M P L E S  

Weaving

O N    T H E    L O O M    A T     L A S T 

It feels like it has taken me forever to get onto the loom for this project. Unfortunately I have experienced some set backs! As the project has felt quite rushed so far, it has been tricky to organise my chaotic ideas and colour pallet so quickly and this has lead me to be a bit delayed. This week I finally chose to weave a narrow fabric, around 4 inches wide. I also chose to weave using two warps to make a brocade. I was trying to design something that would allow me to try several different things as at this very early point I didn't want any ideas to be set in stone and I wanted to get as much from my warp as possible.
On Monday I began by making my cream warp using a 260's silk, which was easy enough and it only took a couple of hours to wind all 8 yards of it. However, I knew I was going to be rushed for time on the second warp as I had previously arranged to meet Ismini in London on Tuesday for the interview for my placement. When I arrived back Wednesday, the set backs began. I started to wind my black silk warp on and halfway through, the yarn ran out. I then spent the rest of the afternoon and next morning trying to source a yarn of the same thickness and very similar colour. I eventually borrowed the end of another yarn but it ran out yet again. After discussing my plans with the technician, I decided that instead of finding another yarn and wasting more time, I would swap my design around a little bit. In my first warp plan, I had chosen a larger black section and a small blue section, but as the black ran out, I swapped the colours around. After this I moved on to make the third colour of pale turquoise. When I wound yarn on the mill I noticed that it was snapping a little but it was too late to alter my plans again and so I continued. 

Threading up took me 2 days in total. I used two ends through each heddle and 4 through each for my brocade, I decided to design it this way so that my brocade patterns would show up against the background. 

Threading up my loom

Once I had threaded up, the next problem I came across was tying on. I hadn't considered this would be a problem, but because of the different thickness of yarn through each heddle, I needed to do it in tiny sections and make sure it was even. I had to weave a section, test the tension and then re do it a few times until it was flat all the way across the width of my fabric.

Above, attempting to get as much out of the blue brocade as possible, (left) but eventually gave up with the broken ends (right)

After this, samples were going smoothly, until I wove some designs using my blue brocade. The blue warp was a nightmare, it was constantly snapping and I was spending double the time fixing the ends and untangling it than actually weaving. I used all of my three colours for a couple of days, but the broken ends began to test my patience and I ended up cutting out my blue warp. After this, everything ran smoothly again and I caught up on a few samples. 

trip to ismini

Evaluation

E N D   O F   U N I T 

The 'Locating' Unit has been by far the best unit on the TIP course. I have really enjoyed it despite initially thinking how terrible it was going to be, trying to work out two briefs at the same time, whilst also beginning the inevitable process of networking. Having to write my own project has been challenging in more ways than one, I have had to learn how to manage my time effectively whilst thinking independently. In terms of contextualising my practice, I feel I have developed a lot over the course of this project and I feel happier where I am now; heading in some sort of direction rather than feeling a bit of a mess. If I could change anything about the project, I would change the length of weeks we had to complete it, as there are still so many things I want to explore. I am a bit disheartened that the construction of my jewellery took me a long time; time that could have been spent exploring more braiding techniques and sampling. I also wish that I had made my warp 8 yards rather than 6 as I finished it too quickly and got to the end with 4 or 5 samples still planned. In my next project I think I would like to carry on with the same market that I feel I have developed into, both jewellery and bespoke work. I would like to try more things with my warp next time like painting over it, bleaching and I would also like to try weaving using braids and generally being more experimental. 

Professionalism and Employability Task

At the beginning of Level 5 when we were handed this task, I had no idea what I was going to write, but as we have moved through this year I feel that I have really progressed and am beginning to realise things about the way that I work and where I hope to fit into the industry. The first term of Level 5 was very up and down; one minute I thought I knew what I wanted to do and the next minute I had changed my mind again. Its been a time of development and I am learning a lot about myself as a creative person; more and more each day. The ‘Locating’ unit has been the most useful and I feel I know myself so much better. I have found it easier and ideas have come more naturally to me. The chaotic mess I was in last term, seems to have become a little more organised through this unit. I think I have worked out that I like to have some sort of final outcome to work towards, what I haven’t worked out though, is whether or not it has to be something I have set myself or if it can be something that someone else has set for me. I have really enjoyed being able to make up my own brief, and work towards something of my own, and I am beginning to question whether this means I might work better on my own in the future.

When thinking about the context of my personal practice, I’m still a little unsure of exactly what path within textiles that I want to go down. There are lots of things I am still keen to experiment with, however, through the last unit I have really enjoyed working towards a final outcome in the textile jewellery area and particularly working towards a bespoke market. Being able to design and make products for this kind of market, has allowed me to think more artistically and less commercially which I have liked doing and I have found it more exciting. At the beginning of the year, I really didn’t know much at all about this area of the market, but my knowledge has greatly expanded and I now know all about the pros and cons of being self employed thanks to some really insightful lectures this term. The key person to really inspire me has been Daniel Heath. I found the experience of Daniel Heath’s lecture really invaluable and it has inspired me to seriously think about pursuing self employment; an avenue which I thought i'd never go down. I gained a lot from his lecture, and I feel like being self employed may be something i’d now consider. One of the key things I took from the lecture, was that each project is new and different from the last one when you are self employed, and I find this aspect appealing as I like change, and I work much better when I am challenged. The other key person to inspire me this term has been Karen Nicol. I found her to be very genuine and she talked openly about her experiences in the industry. One of the key things which I picked up on in Karen’s lecture, was how she was able to work on projects all around the world. I found this so inspiring as bringing culture into my work is important to me and I always look at culture for inspiration. Even though working for myself seems very daunting at the moment, I do think that it may suit both my personality and my creative practice.

As I have already mentioned briefly above, I think that the audience in which I want to work towards, remains in the bespoke high end market area. I don’t think that my practice relates to one age group specifically; its open to anyone in that bracket. I feel like my practice is aimed at this target market because I like to create unique and bespoke pieces which are artistic but still functional as a product. To show an example of this, I haveshown below one of my textile jewellery pieces which I have made recently through ‘Locating’.

I feel that my work is artistic like a bespoke product should be, as well as one off; no piece will be exactly the same  as they are all handmade which means they fit into the bespoke market rather than any other market area. In order to explain the desired audience a little better, I have shown a few examples of other practitioners who are working towards the same area as me. 

The first artist is Erin Considine. Erin is a New York based Jeweler who also works with weave. She makes her products by hand and each one is unique as she crafts her jewellery from found items around New York.  Her jewellery is aimed at a high end market. Other practitioners working towards the same audience as me include Daniel Heath, Claire Ann O’Brien, and Karen Nicol. All of these 
artists are self employed and are designer makers. 

Erin Considine. Lunate Fringe.

In terms of the future of my practice, I have recently put a lot of thought into this. I have decided that if I do want to be self employed, the next best step for me is to get as much work experience as possible with practitioners who are self employed too. After my final year, I then want to continue to gain more experience, and then I would also like to continue to develop my skills and enrol on a MA Textiles degree. I think this will enable me to have enough time, experience and maturity to start thinking about branching out on my own.

Daniel Heath. High-Wire Wallpaper 

I am aware that setting up to work for myself is going to be an extremely challenging process. Between now and then I need to begin thinking about costs, and start researching where I can get possible funding. In order to set up a successful practice of my own, I also believe it will be worthwhile thinking about factors that will affect my practice and I think one of the main factors will be producing my products in an environmentally friendly way. I will               take a leaf out of Erin’s book and use as many natural dyes and pigments as possible.

References:
 Lectures this term
http://erinconsidine.com
http://www.danielheath.co.uk

Jewellery

 A    F E W   S A M P L E S  

Below are three of my five finished jewellery pieces. I am relatively happy with them for my first ever real attempt at making jewellery. After Lesley's last tutorial on Thursday, I took her advice and re developed the fastenings, and I'm pleased with the way they now look. Unfortunately I have not had time to photograph my pieces on a model, however it is something that I am still going to do, but with the fiddly reconstruction of my jewellery as well as mounting, there was no time left for a final photo shoot. After constructing my jewellery pieces, I now think there is one thing that I would change if I were to make them again. If I had time to develop my designs further, I would like to have tried stiffening the back of the woven samples, to enable me to sculpt them into different shapes when placed on the body. This is something that i'd like to experiment with in the next unit. 

Jewellery Construction

M A K I N G 

It's taken me quite a few attempts to be able to construct my jewellery pieces. The method that I ended up using to create the secure loop at the top was as follows:

1. Cut a small strip of bondaweb and lay across the frayed edge of the fabric and iron on
2. Peel away bondaweb
3. Cut the same size strip out of a piece of thin black cotton
4. Iron the cotton onto the bondaweb
5. Lay the necklace/chain along the fold line
6. Machine stitch a straight line using invisible thread

After trying different ways I found that this way was the strongest, and I also found it easier to thread chains and yarns into the loop as  I had an extra piece of stiffening cotton to keep the loop upright. 

Thoughts so far

D I R E C T I O N

At the moment I'm feeling a bit confused about which direction I feel I am working towards. So far L5 has been up and down and one minute I think I know what I want to do, and then the next minute something has changed my mind back again. Its a time of development and I am learning more about myself as a creative person and how I like to work. This project has been particularly good, and I have found it easier and ideas have come more naturally to me. I think I have worked out that I like to have some sort of product to work towards in the end, what I haven't worked out though, is whether it has to be something I have set myself, or if can it be something that someone else has set for me? 

After thinking about this a bit, I went to speak to two of the tutors today to find out some more about Unit x.

 We had to make our unit x decisions quite early on this year, and at the time I decided on College 2 which was to work as part of a design team. The other options are College 1 which is for teaching, College 3 which is about thinking in new ways, and College 4 which is aimed at people who are thinking of self employment. I picked College 2 as I have always thought that I would want to work as part of a design team, however I think I would have been happy doing any of these Units as I'm still really unsure of my direction. Today I went to see Fiona who told me more about College 3. It sounds really interesting, learning to think in new ways, becoming more ambitious and learning to look outwards. It also sounds very challenging, at least to begin with. You work as part of a group of around 8-10 people collaboratively. I then went to see Sally who told me more about College 4. This also sounds really good as you can work towards a final outcome, but of your choosing. (Different to 2 which is set). College 4 also gives you the opportunity to do a lot of sampling and thinking about manufacture and bespoke production of products. 

I am going to think about it a little longer before I make my final decision. 

Contacting Erin

S T U D I O   V I S I T S 

As I am lucky enough to be going on the art study trip to New York, I decided to contact one of the designers who I have been inspired by through this project. After researching her work I knew that her design studio was based in New York, however I hand't thought to contact her until one of the tutors mentioned something about it in our last New York meeting. Fingers crossed that she will reply as it would be an amazing experience to see the space that she works in and to gain a bit more insight into her practice. 

Japanese Braiding

B R A I D I N G    T E C H N I Q U E S 

I have been exploring lots of braiding techniques, one of the main techniques is called Kumihimo. Kumihimo is a type of japanese braiding which looks really complicated to begin with, but once you learn the rhythm its easy enough to follow. The problem with it, is that if you do it by hand it takes a really long time. With practice you begin to get gradually faster. This week I have also experimented with braiding with bead, plaits, and making my own braids by using the cording foot on the bernina's.

On the left and right hand sides are the braids I produced on the cording foot on the Bernina. In the middle are the glass bead constructions I have been sampling. 

Daniel Heath's Lecture

D A N I E L   H E A T H

Today we were lucky enough to have a lecture with bespoke artist and designer Daniel Heath. I found his lecture really inspiring. He talked to us about his work for an hour or so, and was really honest about how he got to where he is now. It was exciting to hear about his journey and he gave us some top tips. One of the main tips he gave to us was that if you spend money on anything, make sure it it photographing your work. High quality photographs play an enormous role in getting your work out there. Another point he made, was that if you want people to see your work, you need to make it easy for publishers to feature in their magazines. This means the less work they have to do, the more likely they will feature your work. In other words, if you send them your high quality photos, and even go as far as writing a blurb about your work and sending it to them, they are more likely to put your work out there. Following on from this, it is a good idea to keep your contacts from university. These are the people who will be able to help you later on. Daniel told us how one of his friends did photography, another could make table legs from wood, etc and these contacts have been vital to his work. 

To be successful, another key point he made was that most projects are worth doing for the press, they may not necessarily make you a profit, you may only break even, but they are worth doing strictly for publicity. You need to get your work out there through as many opportunites as possible. Its all about word of mouth. Another good way to show your work, is through London Design Festival, and simialar festivals which enable you to meet other designers for possible collaborations, and to get your work known.  

I found Daniel's lecture so inspiring that I decided to go and speak to him some more afterwards. I wanted to find out more about being self employed, do you get lonely? Is it hard making every decision on your own? I spoke to him for about half an hour and he gave me some good answers. He told me that it isnt really lonely, as you are always working with others to produce you work, he said that sometimes it is nice to be on your own after a busy week.

I have found the whole experience really invaluable and it has inspired me to think about pursuing self employment; an avenue which I thought i'd never go down. Another point which I took from the lecture, is that being self employed is quite exciting. It is possible to travel through work, gain experience from everywhere, and work with many different people. Each project is new and different from the last one. I find this aspect appealing as I like change, and I work much better when I am challenged.  

Today has definitely given me some food for thought.  

http://www.danielheath.co.uk 



Development

S K E T C H I N G  &  T E S T I N G 

This week I started sketching some shapes which I could cut my weave into in order to make some interesting compositions on the body. These are just ideas, as I am not going to cut my weave, but following Angela's advice I thought I would experiment a bit anyway.

I have also started to think about how accessories can be developed from what I already have in my sketchbooks. On the left I dyed and bleached some tassels which relate to my earlier drawings, I have also taken a couple of new photographs for some new visual research, and I have begun to collect things in order to construct my jewellery. 

Development

A C C E S S O R I E S /

A D O R N M E N T

This week I have attempted a go on the Berninas in order to develop my project further. However, after a long day testing small samples and trying to figure out how to work the machines again, I don't feel as if it has been successful at all. The problem is, that I just cant get the machine embroidery, to feel the same as my weave. My samples from the loom, are so intricate and delicate, nothing that I have produced on any of the machines feels similar at all. I have tried the cut pile tufter and the loop pile tufter, the embroidery foot and the pink tuck foot on the berninas and also the embellisher. None of these machines can produce the same qualities that my weave samples hold, and I also havent enjoyed working with them like I expected to. Ive decided now to go home and brainstorm a bit more, I want to do some accessories and designs but I dont think I want to use the machines to produce these. Ive decided to go and think about hand making some instead.  

In order to add more visual imagery to this bit of the project, I have taken some more photographs with an urban theme. I found the roof tiles of my flat really interesting and so I want to explore this pattern further, and maybe try some layering and bring my shiny iridescent colour palette back in.

Sourcing Jewellery Materials

N O R T H E R N   Q U A R T E R  

Today I have been out sourcing materials in order to construct my jewellery. I thought this would be an easy task but I actually came across a massive problem. I spent hours trying to figure out what to use to make my woven samples into jewellery pieces. I searched the shops high and low, I looked through chains, cords, leather, beads, but I could feel that somehow nothing was right. It wasn't for a few hours that it suddenly hit me that none of these materials felt right for my samples.

 The problem is that my woven samples are so delicate and intricate, that I feel like none of the products I have seen reflect these delicate qualities. After having a break and thinking some more I have now decided the best thing to do now is to go back home and decided exactly which samples I am going to make into necklace pieces and which ones I am going to keep flat. After I have made these next decisions, I will revisit and try again, my other options are to make something myself... 

Jewellery Construction

D R A W I N G   O U T   M Y

I D E A S 

This week I thought it would be best to draw out the ideas I have in my head of how I am going to construct my jewellery in order to find out if I have thought it through properly and find any flaws in my plans. 

Tutorial with Angela Davies

A N G E L A   D A V I E S

This morning I had my tutorial with Angela Davies. I was looking forward to this as its always to helpful to get opinions and thoughts about your work from people who have never seen it. I found her tutorial really useful and she gave me some great new ideas. Now that I have finished my weave samples, I felt a bit stuck with what to do next. I told her about my idea of possibly moving my practice into accessories but she said first, it would be good to develop my thinking on how to construct my samples. Angela told me about a new designer, David Ogle. Ogle has recently been exploring how light, shape and technology interact with one another and has created large installations throughout London. Most of his installations are underground.



'David Ogle, who is based in Cheshire and works with light, was given the Subterranean challenge and in nine days has painstakingly transformed one of London’s unseen spaces with fluorescent drinking straws, fishing line and a weather balloon. The location is not for the unadventurous contemporary art aficionado. Its entrance is at the unglamorous end of Waterloo station, under the tracks, which is normally used as a (council-approved) practice area for graffiti artists and as meeting point for street drinkers. Outside the exhibition, the tunnel air has the aroma and sense of threat you would expect of any such abandoned urban environment.'

Angela told me to look at the styling of his work. It feels very urban and contemporary which is useful to my project. She also said it may be good to take photographs of my samples with light shining through them using inspiration from his work.

Angela also told me that my work had a tribal feel to it. Something quite a lot of people have commented on. She said it would be useful to do some more visual research into this. Her last point, was to think about shapes and lines when constructing my weave samples. We were talking about how you could cut them using inspiration from the lines I have found through my images of light, as well as Bradley Basso's glass architecture. However, I did not want to cut the samples themselves, so instead I am planning to scan them and think about postitining and shaping in that way.