expansion overload 3rd year final collection!!!!

Mood Wallage!!!!!

The expansion from the last collection has taken me on a crazy journey, through classes with Julian Roberts at Massey Uni with The Cutting Circle http://thecuttingcircle.com/  which was an amazing opportunity I was excited to be part of. But also exploration of my personal capabilities in risk taking and freedom of design. I'm still at the beginning of this process of collection design but I am looking forward to the exciting possibilities this freedom and risk will find. Exploration is key.

This mood wall contains

miranda brown     walter van beirendonck     Vionnet     Dior     john galliano     dinosaurs     stegasaurus          larry's eye         a world map            3 of Ahmads  awesum pencil drawings               Ruse drawing                 Julian Roberts       subtraction cutting     fabric     jean m auel the clan of the cave bear series        indian women dying cloth     kiwi     sew, make, do, fuck u     brand me, label me, consume me, subversity     renaissance dinosaur     embellishments     gold     blue    lineal     playful     sculptural     textural     colourful       evolution         challenge        integrity      



this is where i begin, now its time to explore and create mistakes if necessary, take risks, have freedom of choice, drive myself crazy with questions that sometimes have no answears, find solutions for problems

Shaping Sustainable Fashion, changing the way we make and use clothes = my new bible = http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=102583

Sustainable Fashion & Textiles - Design Journeys,  Kate Fletcher http://www.katefletcher.com/

There are so many more excellent books out there on this subject, these 2 are among the best in my opinion, if the subject interests you then these are 2 very good starting points, but also good to have on hand as referral items. 


I plan to start with a few experiments and evolve from there, I am looking at interesting ways of utilising what i have already in the way of waste materials. But also not limiting myself to just those and incorporating, if they compliment, fabrics from my storeroom.


Thats where i'm at!!!!!! Get to it!!!!!!

Peace!!!

Digital Textiles Final Outcome!!!!!

magical mystical shaman!

In Honour of my magical mystical friend!!!
Thank You my magical mystical friend!!!


You will forever be remembered throughout all of my days!!!
In all of these ways
through laughter, love and joy
with peace, love, truth, grace and freedom
the flight of fancy in the touch of your fingertips
and a giant heart, so simple and pure

I remember thee for thou'st hast given me heart
to live in life free and right, true and knowledgeable
with all that I possess and all that I gain.

You will forever be remembered throughout all of my days!!!!

In Honour of my magical mystical friend!!!
Thank You my magical mystical friend!!!

digital textiles cont.

background for digital textile print.

This background is a collage of different types of fabric in a similar colourway, some shiny some not. that has been glued and then scanned. After that I have messed around with the curves in photoshop to get a brighter textural base. I wanted something shiny and sparkly to represent Larry's magical ways.

Larry Mathews inspired Digital Textile

Larry Mathews inspiration wallboard!!!

I am using my friend Larry Mathews as inspiration for my digital textiles block, he was a precious soul and i want to remember him in a tangible way.

to the left is the pinhole potrait larry took of himself with an umbrella. this is the image i have centred on from his collection of pinhole potraits. which i am the guarder of!!! he did an amazing series of alot of dunedin locals!! we will be exhibiting them at some point!!! they are also to be returned to owners as he requested!!!!

I am intending on abstracting larry into a continuous line movement type thing as seen on the right, there will also be words incorporated peace, love, truth, freedom, grace.  i love the way lines move and evolve over time as continued on one after another. 

Larry Mathews self pinhole portrait

me!!

waste what? just entered a competition, yay!!!!

fashioning-the-future awards
just entered my latest work in the fashioning the future awards @ the London College of Fashion, that's pretty exciting, here's hoping someone thinks it's worth a look!!!!!

wish me luck!!!!


and now shortlisted, post it away!!!!! yus!!!!!!!!!!!

Waste What!!!! - final outcome!

front - final 3

back - final 3

And Done......  And so happy with it, I feel as though i've more than proved my point, that waste fabric is not really that at all, it's potential is emmense!!!!!!

These 5 pieces are the result of a lot of research into the fashion culture, systems and practices.

I kept coming across the same idea of the 15% (1) left on the cutting room floor. This figure I know can be changed to 0% by experimentation and communication of these ideas into the public forum, educating the masses on a new way of looking at the clothes you wear. And purchasing accordingly in a slower fashion sense. 

The process of working has been educational. It consists of sorting, laying, draping, placing, constructing, sewing, pleating, gathering, notch system, cutting and binding. In the beginning stages of sorting I realised that there was a heirachy in the scrap bin of different sized pieces and how usable they each would be. 

The 5 pieces include 2 pairs of lycra leggings, 2 merino tops and 1 merino dress. 

The merino garments were draped from the shoulders down, working on all 3 pieces consecutively to ensure I had enough fabric to complete them all. They were pieced together around the dummy form, gathers and pleats were added to create ease. This was a time consuming process but well worth the experimentation. Each piece has been documented with video. The front of the dress and one top are sleeves which I had an excess of in this one bag. They were gathered from certain points to create a drape over the breasts. It has been about finding the right fit for each negative piece, placing and constructing whilst draping. The utilisation of a notch system to align certain pieces whilst sewing.

The leggings I made by drafting a close fitting leggings block and placing pieces on top of that, cutting crotch shapes and piecing the top sections together. The bottom sections are made from side/bottom panels of a dress that were left in the scrap bin, unwanted and unloved!!! These were turned upside down, crotch shapes cut out where they met the pattern and gathered into the smaller yoke. Waistbands and cuffs were added to finish. They are comfortable and easy to wear.

So with a little bit of knowledge and understanding of letting constrictions and conventional ideas go you can still create wearable items. It is a sustainable and ethical solution to the 15% waste problem.

  
(1) Timo Rissanen From 15% to 0: Investigating the creation of fashion without the creation of fabric waste.

Waste What?    Illustration

slow fashion - the future of clothing

kate fletcher
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/clothing/269245/slow_fashion.html

http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/resources/factsheets/issues/slowfashion/


what is slow fashion?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/05/what-is-slow-fashion_n_116990.html

 http://www.slowfashion.org/

http://theethicalfashionblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/what-is-slow-fashion/

slow design and profitibility

http://m.ecouterre.com/how-can-eco-designers-stay-profitable-while-advocating-slow-fashion/