Locating Week Eight

This week I experiment with placement of my pleated samples, I drew out a few pages of  composition ideas. This process really helped me as when it came to the placement of the samples I already knew that I wanted a brown background in order for the edges to stand out more. However I did still try with a white background.

I got a piece of wood and although I preferred it on the brown wood background I didn't like the composition and so I mimicked the linear form of my sample and cut a piece of wood to the shape and size I wanted. This aloud me to take control of my work more. 

I feel the composition of this piece is strong as it has dense focal points and the eye is taken through the piece. I feel I have successfully answered my brief as it is clear that I have a final piece and also evident that I have explored the materials both through manipulation and through the edges as some of them have frayed and others haven't. I specifically found the edge on the satin interesting as on the reverse dull side of he material when the edges have frayed the shimmer from the weft comes through.I have experimented with scale and to take this further would continue to do so, I could see this on a much larger scale as a gallery piece or taken into nature as the colour scheme implies and nailed onto trees to create an installation.

Locating Week Seven

This week we had a pin up session where I pinned my apron up with all my technical samples. We went around between the girls showing our work and had group discussions this process was really interesting as I got to see how other girls work had been getting on. When in discussion about my work the tutors and peers said they thought my idea of the apron that packs away was initiative and said how they wouldn't have thought about it. We then talked about how I could take my the button whole through to my self initiated.


after trying this I struggled with the idea and didn't feel it was at all for me so I looked back at my apron work and found that I had concentrated a lot on the edges of the apron through the bias binding and edge treatments. I took the idea of edges to come up with my self initiated brief. I decided to go with a neutral colour scheme as I feel this allows you to concentrate more on the edges. I used polyester satin, polyurthane netting to create my samples. As it says in the brief I manipulated the materials and found it interesting how the materials acted differently, some materials made straight lines and edges where as others made curves. I created pleats in linear forms, I found it interesting how come edges frayed and others didn't I explored this by combining materials.

 The pleats almost resemble spines and the rigid qualities that some of the materials have further imply this

An artist that inspired me with these samples is Deepa Panchamia she is a textile artist who creates one off sculptural pieces, she also uses a similar colour pallet although Deepa's work is about layering up the materials if made me think of pleating and was a great inspiration for me work. Also with the context of her work being gallery based this is something I see my self initiated work moving towards.



I looked back to Maxin Bristow an artist I previously looked at for the apron brief and took inspiration from her natural colour scheme I also found the white and cream work with the wood floor and interesting concept. I see this work similarly to Maxine's work being more of a gallery based work for an installation. This is something plan to work with my samples and explore composition for my piece of work.

Locating- Self initiated brief

The Edge

The raw edge of any material is something that is overlooked, as the first thought when creating a textile/fashion piece is “how could I finish this edge?” Ask yourself what if the raw edge was already finished. This brief is an exploration of this.

The aim is to select a small range of materials with contrasting edges and experiment with them. Explore the structure of the chosen materials, think about manipulating the materials and seeing how the contrasting fabrics act when manipulated. Think about clean edges, cutting, tearing, and flexibility. Explore different weights and types of materials (natural, man-made).

The aims:

-          To create a finished piece or set of resolved samples

-          Show an understanding and exploration of material qualities

Locating Week Six

This week I made my final apron, I used the a new pattern with the extra room at the front taken in to consideration. I thought that this would be an easy task as I had already done it with the twill however I was wrong. I got the measurements just slightly off and had not bought enough cotton to create the apron as one solid piece of fabric. The options I had were to buy the material again, to make the apron with horizontal stripes instead of vertically like I had decided or to create the apron as three separate panels and add seems. Seems were on the necessities list for the Apron brief and so is was an obvious choice. I decided to use this set back as an advantage to show more skill in my apron. I added piping on the bias into the seem to create a different type of stripe. I also added two in seem pockets this process was quite fiddly and over locking the seems while keeping the pockets the same size was quite challenging.

I added a button whole pocket to the top right of the apron. this creates a focal point to the apron.I also then made and added the bag to the inside of the apron, this has made the apron alot more practical and easy to carry.





I feel this apron is successful in showing my skill level as it includes; bias binding, seems, over locking, rulo, button whole pocket, in seam pocket, matching stripes and piping. All of these techniques are in the apron brief under the necessities and curiosities.  It is also successful in the idea behind the apron the attached pouch in which the apron goes into. I found this unit positively challenging as it forced me to think in a way I hadn't before and I got to make my initial idea of the apron in a bag come to life for me this was a personal achievement for me.

Locating Week Five

This week I began my twill I used a medium weight calico for this i firstly began by creating a a paper pattern. After I was happy with the pattern I pinned it to the calico ready to cut out however what I didn't realize when drawing up my pattern was that at the front of the apron there needed to be more room so that it wasn't tight straight down and the apron isnt being used a unisex apron there needs to be room in the front to fit a variety of body shapes. To overcome this I placed the pattern at an angle off the folded calico which when cut gave extra room at the front.







I found the making of the twill surprisingly easy as the body of the apron was one solid piece. For the straps I used the calico and made large flat rulos, I chose to use this method as if I did flat piping with a top stitch there would be an edge showing of the material and I feel only being able to see the seem on the rulo straps creates a more professional finish.


After creating the apron I thought about how I could finish the edges initially thinking mited corners however as I am going to use a strip cotton I decided that a bias bind edge to the apron would be best as it would show the stripes in another way and is also both a curiosity and necessity of the apron brief.



The twill has reassured me that the apron shape I have designed is right for what I want as the open back allow the apron to fit around a variety of body shapes, once I had made the twill I got a male and female to try it and found it fitted well on both genders his was something that is crucial to the apron that I wanted to make.

After making the apron I pinned pockets and created some pocket placement ideas onto the twill I made a large button whole pocket across the top of the apron however I don't feel this was successful as it made thee apron misshaped and  became ill fitted on a male, therefor I will not being doing that for my final Apron.The process of creating a twill was highly beneficial to me as if I was to go straight onto my cotton there are things for example the pocket I would have put on and it wouldn't of been right, the twill has aloud my to further develop my practical and design skills. In the next week I plan to create my final apron and explore more with pocket placement.

I was also inducted onto the omni stitch machine this something  I would like to use in the future however not in this project as I feel it leans more toward the female gender when on a garment.

Locating Week Four

This week I began to start looking at material choices for my apron, as the apron is for both  the male and female I wanted to choose a patterned cotton with no preference or implication of particular gender. I decide to go for a stripe or a spot I sketched out some ideas within my sketchbook.

I decided that the most successful idea was the apron with a vertical striped body and horizontally striped straps. I like the idea that the eye follows the stripe up and then has to change direction the point of interception between the two different stripes creates a focal point for the apron as well as this any button wholes or pockets could also have the stripes horizontally and any bias I may use will create the stripe in another form. 

As I didnt know how to make pockets or the types there were I learnt how to create a button whole pocket and a patch pocket these process were something I found enjoyable however I did have to have a few attempts at the pockets because for the button whole it was quite fiddly and the press of the material was extremely important to get and even button whole, also with  a patch pocket if the corner are not tuned out properly the pockets look unprofessional.

I enjoyed the buttonhole process and so I reserched into this and found the artist Maxine Bristow

. She is a textile artist who works with buttonholes to create gallery based peices. Her work has strengths within its composition. This is something I want to look into for my slef initiated brief 

My plan for the next week is to create my twill as a mock up in medium weight calico to get an ides of the sizing of the apron as well as designing some ideas with pocket placement before making my final apron.

Locating week Three

This week I began to sketch out some ideas for my apron. I sketched out a few ideas of decorative aprons however this wasn't something that I wanted to do I came up with a few ideas one being a pac o mac style apron something that could be folded within itself into a bag there fore the material would have to be strong washable in some way and durable. I thought more into polyester as it didn't crease and was still lightweight however in the tutorial we spoke about how cotton would actually be a better fit for the apron as it is lightweight, washable flexible and a natural material as apposed to the polyester I was first thinking. I was quite worried when first going into the tutorial as most other girls had thought more about embellishment and the decorative style of the apron, whereas I concentrated more on the function, practicality and process. However Lynn said the way I looked a the apron brief was fine and that my apron will be more about process such as seams pockets ect. Lynn also mentioned about trying a patterned material this is something I plan to look into. I invasion this apron to be a consumer product as I feel the idea behind it is strong for this the context is all about the product and making it practical and unisex. It is not and apron that is used for a certain thing eg cooking  or art. It will be a practical durable apron that should have a large variety or consumers.

I also looked into who I want my apron to be for, I want this to be a unisex apron so it caters to a wider consumer therefor I finally chose my apron shape to be a loose apron with a cross back strap so it is possible to slip on over the clothes rather then wasting time with fastening up this also works with the idea of the quick durability of the apron within its own bag idea. As I want this apron to be unisex and plan on using a cotton i don't want it to be plain white as it it would show the marks all over.

Over the next week I plan on stating a twill of my apron aswell a deciding on a pttern which i want to use.