Week 1

Blog week 1 year 2 

Today we jump straight into white in white and started trialling sleeves. We started by looking at all the different types of sleeves and how they come in and out of fashion over the decades. Which was interesting to look at because of how depending on the different styles at the time and what was going on like women in the work place in the 80s for example meant that the styles and different sleeves would change. We then got started on the actual making of the sleeves, starting with the in set sleeve which we looked at briefly and then moved straight onto the cap/capped sleeve as they had certain techniques needed. I did attempt a gathered capped sleeve but it was a struggle to do and it is something that’s I’m going to continue at home as I didn’t get a chance to complete it full scale but I enjoyed the challenge. Finally, we had a Quick Look at the bishop sleeve which I found a lot easier as I had just looked at the gathered cap sleeve because it was the same technique of cutting and slashing it open just on the cuff end rather then should end. This first day back definitely felt like we were running into it but I did enjoy the challenge and what I learn overall. 

Tuesday was a half day in college and we started the first textiles samples for white on white which was very exciting. We started the day with looking at the other half of the brief and breaking down what we wanted to do to move forward. We made a spider diagram of a summary of our research folders, I found this really useful so that I could see the different areas I wanted to focus on. I do feel with a half day it’s hard to get alot done but I did enjoy how early I get home because it means I have a full afternoon to work on my course work. Our first techniques was crest sheering with a thin, muslin like fabric in an embroidered hoop. I love this technique so much because of how interesting it is which the fabric shrink up when you take it out the frame. I then started to dress my samples over the mannequin. I found this really helpful to see how I could work the fabric around the body to change to exaggerate the body’s form.  After this, the college day was finished so I headed home and began organising my book and working on my research pages. 

Wednesday is a bit of a funny time table with the new time table, we started with group tutorial where we began to fill out forms for UCAS. Then we have pattern cutting which I felt was really productive for me because I started with just remaking my capped sleeve sample as I was just lost and wanted a fresh start so I knew what was going on and how to do it and this time it went so much smoother and I felt I really understood what I was trying to achieve. After remaking the patterns and sample I went straight into book work as it’s only a short session and wrote up everything I needed to for a capped sleeve while it was fresh in head. We then had individual tutorials which were quite simple as I just needed to fill out my proposal review which only took me a few minutes. Then I just started my research futures into sleeves.

Thursday we officially started working on our portfolios! We started by looking at our books from year one and seeing what we have to work with and what we could us. We could then start working on a plan for the pages. I started by picking a rough section of work to sort into my different pages just to get a rough idea of what pages and how much work I’d need. We then started to learn how to make fashion illustration. We started by looking at different shapes relevant to our subject, mine was my colour project. And drawing general shapes and head like structures until I found one I liked. We then had to practice filling up a whole A2 sheet of paper with the designs to get it into mussel memory. Then we started working on different bodies we could use and just kept repeating the process until we had a more final illustration. I then started the process all over again to make an illustration for my organic structures project as I wanted to redesign my first looks from the start of year one. 

Overall it’s been a really good first week back and I’ve really enjoyed getting back into the flow and routine of college life. This is going to be a busy year ahead.