2nd Year Blues

Not the best of days but, boy oh boy, have I learnt a lot about patterns. We started making our final garment the beginning of this week and although I couldn’t (and maybe still can’t) see the finish line I was pleased to get on with making the garment! So, today I had basically finished my toile just needed to do the button holes, when Hugo made me realise that the my shirt wasn’t sitting on the body properly! SHOCK HORROR! I had to re-do my bodice block in order to achieve a more professional look. Although I was devastated that all my late nights at uni had all been for nothing I knew that deep down it was for the best and in the end, (hopefully) I’ll have a much better shirt. Despite all this I did cry a hell of a lot at the thought of being back where I started 3 days ago! But as Hugo wisely said “its sweat and tears that teach you” - and yes I have definitely learnt….the hard way! Today, I wanted to try the new pattern with added princess line and new collar out in calico first just to make sure I don’t cut anymore expensive fabric for no reason! I also updated my CV and have even started emailing some companies regarding work placements over summer/Easter…unfortunately I haven’t had any replies and its been about a week. Oh well, keep on at it!I feel like I’m really getting the most out of studio time and after college hours…I’ve stayed til about 8pm all week and come in on days we’re not in. I think its just because I’m worried about how little time there is to do SO MUCH work! That’s 2nd year for you! I’m just hoping I’ll get used to it and organise myself better for the next project.At least my enterprise is going alright at the moment, we have an idea, a website, an online survey and we’ve completed our presentation for Monday-Phew!Oh and I’m really loving working for Urban Outfitters the people are so nice and it doesn’t really feel like work, I’m hoping now I have some experience in clothing retail it will help me out with work placements. I could even ask for a transfer to head office if I can’t find anythingNow I have got all the tears out, I’m feeling a lot better about it…surely things can only get better?

Old to New!

My garment pre-tears and redesigning:
Being modelled by the wonderful Nyah Clarke:

My newly designed garment (without sleeves and collar, still underconstruction) with princess line and pleats.....yes it fits better!

Why there is no need to be upset.....featuring Ella Griffiths's lovely batwing jumper toile!

2nd Year-maybe the toughest?

The 2nd year is tough and its only just begun! I think its because we are working in groups and your actions don't just affect your own grade but others as well.
The groups I've been put in aren't the best-just because they both have people who are leaving the course or might as well be leaving as they never come in!But you have to just look on the bright side and just get the best out of what you do have...the rest of my group are fine and I know we will do alright in the end!
I've had quite a productive day as I met up with Stubbs and we came up with our enterprise idea and even made a website-I'm well impressed at our skills! We've basically sorted out all the details just need to research into finance and our typical customer. I'm pleased we sorted it because its been stressing me out A LOT!
And as for application for design-its going good have the research just need to start to design...we need to get together as a group and think about our logo for the swing tickets and how we intend to sell our garments etc.
I'm feeling a lot better about it all. At the start I was so overwhelmed by the work I just felt like giving up! But I'm basically half way through the degree now and I would feel much worse if I was to just give up on it all!
So I just hope that tomorrow I get as much work done as I have today!
We shall see....

Roll On 2nd Year!

So, here we are back at uni after a long, hot and slightly boring summer! I spent my summer doing office work for a temp company - good money but boring work! Oh well, you can't have it all.
So the first day back we met our new 2nd year tutor Gemma who seems really nice- we also received out VERY PACKED timetable! I was quite shocked at how full it was, I don't know why though because I knew that things were going to start getting tougher.
We are not in now until Friday for PPD2, I'm looking forward to starting back properly and getting back into the course again.
My week won't be wasted though as I've recently got a new job with Urban Outfitters, which I am really chuffed about-Start tomorrow!Wahey.

The Best Bits

So here are 15 pieces of work from my 1st year that I feel are my best pieces so far!




I really enjoyed the shop report and felt that I learnt a lot. I learnt about how the finish of a garment, the quality of fabric and even advertisment of a brand can be reflected in the price of the garment.

I feel the trend boards are one of my best pieces, as I decided to use CAD because I wasn't very confident with it. And In the end I was really quite pleased with the results.

This research page is from one of my favourite projects "Creative approaches to fashion". I achieved my highest grade so far on this project and really liked using collage as a form of drawing.
I learnt a lot outside the Fashion discipline in Fashion,Art and Culture and I think this is why I feel its one of my strongest pieces. I was able to experiment with unconventional materials and be completely free with it.
This is my final photoshoot for Creative approaches to fashion and I feel that it really captured the caption "it fell from the sky". I've always enjoyed photography, which is probably why I liked this project so much.
This is a research page from Container Culture. I feel its one of my best as I was able to use quite simple but effective shapes to get my design and ideas across.
This is one of my final pieces from my Jewellery Elective, and although at first I didnt enjoy it towards the end I really started to get into it. I was pleased with the outcome and feel its one of my best as I was able to create a Jewellery piece based upon the art deco era within a week with no previous experience.
Another page from Container Culture but this time its showing design development, I like this page as it is clear where I got my ispiration and ideas from. I had never really done any proper design development before and so was happy with the grade I got for this project.
Another exciting research page from Container Culture. I like it because there's so much going on and it includes different textures where I have sewn into the research to create more ideas.
Design Ideas for Container Culture, taking one object and changing it into something different and wearable.I feel like the layout of my pages have really progressed over year, which is why I'm so fond of the research in this project.
I feel like this is one of my best pieces of illustration work as I really struggle with drawing, but after an intense week of drawing I felt a lot more relaxed about it. I used marker pen to create this image and am really pleased with the result!
As I had development a slight fear of drawing I decided to use CAD and collage to create some of the final images for our first project, this is one of the best.
This is one of my research pages from creative approaches to fashion, this project was a lot like how I worked on my Foundation course. I was able to lay-out and research well in this project and it is one of my best this year.
I find working and experiementing on the stand really helps me to get my ideas flowing. I created this piece for out latest project and was really proud. I havent done much pattern cutting and I was able to create half a garment in a day with no help!
I love this final garment as its innovate and I found the project really exciting. I was able to use moulage for the first time successfully and create something I'm really happy with.
So here are 15 pieces of work from my 1st year that I feel are my best pieces so far!

So that sums up my first year nicely!

Well worth it!

So, with metamorphosis handed in all that’s left to do now is my PPD presentation. I have to say, all that I’ve done is chosen 6 of my 15 best pieces of work, Ian is right about the sunshine being a distraction, I’m well and truly burnt! I will crack on with it though; it shouldn’t take long as everything has basically been done. I’m not sure now I’m going to do my presentation but I want to do something that’s a bit different not just another boring slide show! I’ve been jotting done a few ideas for it “The Life Cycle of a Dawn Shindler”….I think it would all be quite entertaining! We’ll see how it all goes.
I got my results for fashion, art and culture and was quite disappointed with the 61% that I got because I really enjoyed the project and learnt a lot from it. I suppose deep down I know that I rushed into my final piece, but I think that’s because we had a crit about a week before the deadline and I was advised to change my outcome which I had basically made by this time. I think crits are a really good idea and they help everyone out loads but I just don’t think it’s a good idea to have one so close to the hand in date because it makes everyone panic. The feedback really helped me to understand why I got the grade that I did, and I suppose as long as I know I can improve on it.
This time next week I would have finished my first year….*sobs*, I’ve really enjoyed it and although its been difficult at times, its been well worth it in the end!

Body Design

So here are some photos of the moulage work I did in the session about a week ago. I worked with Victoria on this as there weren't enough stands to go around- but it all ended up quite well and I learnt a lot from it!

In the end I decided to moulage my final design as it was be the best way to achieve what I wanted. My final design is based around the body, organs and tissue etc-now you may be thinking how does that have anything to do with metamorphosis? Well, I looked at how the body changes food into energy, taking minerals and vitamins from it-therefore changing it.
I chose to do my final design in jersey because of the way in which the fabric fell, and then incorporated knit around the neck line. The back of my garment mimics the spine by using elastic to gather, creating a spine-like shape, the front is a mixture of pin-tucks and knit based upon tissue and arteries.

I’ve almost finished my final garment just a few final touches, but I think I’ll be done by the end of the week! Wahey! Then its just binding my sketchbook, illustrating and evaluating-but we’re doing that in class tomorrow, so that’s alright.
Working with my 3rd year is going really well and I’m having a great time. I’ve done a lot of different things while working with Jennifer such as sourcing fabrics, sewing tags, tracing patterns, I think is a very good experience. Its basically like being a studio assistant and would look great on a CV.
A few days ago I received my elective result and I got 66%-which was a shock. I’m doing better in Jewellery than in Fashion! Uh Oh! I also got my crit essay result and I got 58%-I was a little disappointed with the grade as I put so much work in, but my tutor explained why I didn’t get any higher and so now I know how to push my grade up, so that’s okay.
Oh and I’ve bought my tickets for GFW, which I’m very excited about.
This year seems to have just flown by!