silly iPhone! -- COLOUR PROJECT

So basically I did already write this post on my way back from nottingham university, but because I had no signal it didnt even save.. grrr!
Anyway I was just writing a post about the colour project which comes after the book project as I really need to catch up on these blog posts!

So where did I start..

I was given a COLOUR, a PARTNER, and a set of rules..

1- the skirt must be made from 5 panels
2- One piece must not be made from what we may traditional consider fabric
3- Some obvious use of pattern should be evident
4- Must only use found materials and objects
And the 5th (which was given to me and my partner by another pair) - Must be some use of text within the garment, excluding the label.

My first thoughts for this project- I HATE the colour purple.. but I do like a challenge. ;)
I began by putting together a purple moodboard which could potentially spark me off onto a wonderful tangent of knowing exactly where to go in the sense of research and a possible idea for my outcome.. but No. I had hit a breeze block far earlier than anticipated.

Judging by the rules I had been given I thought to research some garments which had been made from recycled materials, my favourite being Jen Girards trashion dress.

I had to give a one minute presentation on her garment so I researched into the background of the dress and found that she had used trash from one single skip, this was perfect for the "only recycled materials" rule!

I went to sketch up 8 fashion designs as potential ideas for the skirt.. ofcourse none of them even came close to my final garment but they did help me to expand my ideas!

SORRY FOR IT BEING SIDEWAYS!- it wont let me change it! waaaahhhh..!

Researching illustrators, I stumbled upon Cedric Rivrain, I know that I LOVE his work purely because of the fact i can actually remember his name, I have a shit memory.. people I know will tell you this. but anyway, his illustrations are literally AMAZING and so so detailed!.. so I went on to try out my own illustrations.. ofcourse they were just as amazing as Rivrains.. NOT. BUT.. this was the start of THE AMETHYST INSPIRED SKIRT. I randomly did this design onto a drawing and really liked the sharp angles of the skirt, it reminded of the amethyst stone..

Oh also.. it reminded me of little gems.. quite similar to a stone, i know but I had a go at making some paper gems.. which failed miserably, although I did manage to create 3 wonderful looking ones, but ofcourse they were not proffessional enough tyo feature on my skirt.. :(

I stumbled upon the fashion designer 'Prabal Gurung' in a vague search for purpley designs, lucky, i know! His prints are amazing. I loved the symmetry in every garment and matching outfit he made for his Spring 2012 collection, literally, please look him up, they are so beautiful! For this collection Gurung was inspired by the Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki, and his 'sensual flowers' photography series. Although this is what he was inspired by, it is very difficult to make out that the prints in the collection are flowers, which is why they look so magical, and floaty, and they remind me of when you pour Ribena into a glass of water, how the juice just dances around the water, and then eventually it spreads out.
 So I tried making some similar fabric by splatting inks at white cotton, in shades of blue, purple and pink, absolutely LOVED how this turned out!! Although gayle (teacher) wasnt too pleased at the state of her wall :S - she chilled out after I painted over it though ;)

My friend in my class mentioned about Chibori, which personally I had never heard of before, so I researched into it, and basically... its this..

Well this is my piece that I tried out, but basically you tie stones or watever shape you want to make, and then you steam the fabric for about 10-15 minutes and then you untie the stones, and you're left with this beautiful effect. Which was perfect for my skirt! Seen as it was based on a stone, the effect was perfect! :D

After creating and practising my newly learnt techniques, I got to work on the toile, (using my own measurements, as the skirt was to fit ME :)) I created just an average A line skirt, nothing too flamboyant, as the fabric would be quite loud and I didnt want the style to take away the effects on the skirt.

After making the toile, I could get to work ON THE ACTUAL SKIRT. exciting...

I cut the fabric.. dyed the fabric.. chibori'd the fabric, and sewed it together using a sewing machine. Luckily my hand made card went through the sewing machine.. so this made life so much easier for me, and I cheated with one of my rules slightly.. as I was to use text, I made the hand-made card out of old newpapers , clever me!

And the final piece... VOULA!

ps shit quality, i photographed these out of my book! sorryyyy