I did some illustations today, The task set was to draw a friend on different bits of paper, so I took some random pics then did a few sketches ..

I really enjoyed today, we brought in barbies and manipulated fabric upon them and the half scale bodices. I think I created my favourite one on the half scale bodice. Something I learnt today was not to pin into the manikin to much and to pin the fabric to each other, as pinning it to the bodice does not give a true idea of how the fabric will fall. Also pinned to the manikin you can not tell if the whole garment will work as a whole. We went round the room looking at other peoples work and writing comments, comments on my work were as follows :

“love the way you’ve layered the different fabrics ontop of each other, really interesting”

“confident illustration”

“Innovative idea -Don’t forget we to have arms!”

“Really great texture created in this drawing”

“edgy shapes- v good”

“ really like the shapes of the folds with the different materials”

“Like the way it looks fluid”

It was actually really nice to have feedback upon your own work but also to give other people feedback on theirs, suggesting ideas that will help them.
To practice on a larger scale we worked with partners upon a full scale manikin. My partners' word was tied and twisted so it was cool to incorporate that into gathering up. I was really pleased with our outcome, we used the large sheets of paper as a basic starting point for the bottom of the dress then we worked over the shoulders one focusing upon gathered fabrics the other focusing upon tied and twisted then they combined in the middle and across the back .

I went home last weekend ( 4th-5th Oct), it was really good seeing my family and it was nice just to tell them face to face what I’ve been doing and telling them properly about my projects. My mum was really helpful and sent me back up with loads of scrap fabrics to use. On Tuesday we brought ten images into our creative approaches to fashion session and we used the image to create interesting shapes on a model. I think I learnt quite a lot from the lesson, though at first I made the mistake of focusing to much upon my models, wasting time upon faces and putting in background washes, which I was told stops the flow of ideas when your trying to create new and interesting shapes. Next time I will definitely focus more upon the shape and save the model drawing for illustration. I also have decided that my image could have been better and if I had chosen one with actual objects in it I may have been able to create more innovative shapes. However I’m going to take more photographs for my project and then I will do a similar exercise with a more ideal photograph .
I also got two books from the library today they turned out to be really helpful: one is focused upon my chosen designer Hussein Chalayan and the other looks at culture within fashion. In both books I’ve found some really interesting images that I’m going to photocopy and work over.
Friday was actually really interesting as well, I found the work on seams we had done upon the industrial machines, the Friday before quite difficult and it dragged me down a bit. So I had presumed this Friday to be the same but it was so good it got me really excited about design realisation again. We looked at dart manipulation and created step by step samples upon how to do them. I found the whole lesson really exciting and I was really proud of myself for understanding and following it all.

It's saturday and I can't believe that it’s already the end of my first two weeks of university—it’s really weird ! I went job hunting earlier—It’s so hard to find a job here but I’ve given out loads of CVs and got application forms so it should be ok. Whilst looking for shops to ask for vacancies I found this dress in the window of all saints which really fitted in with my creative design realisation project ‘gathering up’. My flatmate and I did all our washing joint which made it so much cheaper then we made tea for the others in our flat. Its really nice because I feel like I’m really settling in now, I feel like my flat has actually become my home. It’s just getting used to a different routine I think.

Today was a really chilled Sunday I read some more of my brief for creative design realisation and I was flicking through all the images I’ve collected through the years that have inspired me from magazines. I thought I might get some inspiration upon what to make for my garment at the end of the module and I have broken it down to four images. I Know I want to make a dress but it’s difficult knowing whether the garment I pick will be to difficult or not, but at the same time I want a challenge !

I've just had critical studies which was so hard to get my head around but really interesting at the same time, we have been set a 700 word essay for Monday so I've started brainstorming. I was really pleased because one of the dresses we have to make comparisons with is Hussein Chalayan's remote control dress, which weirdly is the designer I chose to research for my summer project. I find his work really fascinating because it always has a deeper meaning behind it -its never just a garment. My favourite collection he’s made has to be the alternative catwalk show when the models walked on stage which had chairs and a table on it then they packed up the chairs into suitcase, the covers turned into a dress and the table converted into this amazing teared skirt. The meaning behind it was the idea that people living through war had to take their homes upon their backs literally only keeping the possessions they could carry.

On Sunday I decided to go to the vintage fair in the town hall which I discovered to be an incredible building inside and out. Though I was attempting to stick to my student budget I bought two pieces of jewelry and a vintage purse. As I’m hoping to study Millinery for my elective choice I took photographs of some of the vintage hats. It brought back memories of visiting vintage and antique fairs when I was younger and searching for unique pieces. I like the idea of finding something that very few people have and knowing that the item you have found often has an interesting history behind it. My favorite hat was the one photographed above it had so much detail. The top part of the hat had coiled fabric flowers and feathers which contrasted with the band of netting surrounding it.

On monday we explored a learning styles activity it was weird to see what i thought my learning style was in comparison to the result after the quiz. According to the Questionnaire I have a medium preference to all of the styles, my highest was visual which is what I had expected.
Reading the description it was quite accurate referring to remembering peoples faces and doodling in different coloured pens . However one of the aspects of visual learning
that didn’t fit my personality is having a good sense of direction. I can often see the place I want to go to and the roads leading to it yet I can’t piece together how to get there!

Today I went job hunting and popped into the library on my way back down to my flat, it’s actually a really impressive building. I took some photographs inside of the stairway that was really decorative and archaic. We had our cad induction yesterday which was good because we received our college email and logins and tomorrow we are using the industrial machines ! I’m quite nervous having not used them before. I do feel a bit rubbish because coming from an A level background I haven't had the experience some of the others have creating garments etc. But at the same time I am really excited to learn how to use them and gain a new skill.

It was Brilliant !! Today we used the industrial machines and I was soooo nervous I thought I wasn' t going to be able to control it but actually it was ok after mastering how hard to press the pedal. We followed lines on paper rather than fabric to become familiar with went to start and stop ,following a line. I actually really enjoyed it which in a way will teach me to be excited rather than worried next time we do something new. I'm thinking of getting a domestic sewing machine so I can do samples and experiments at home. It was really cool because we were shown how to stretch a material on the bias so when I got home I was just pulling all my clothes to find they stretch more on the diagonal—I can't believe I never noticed this before !

Today we had a creative design realisation brief which has got me so excited about this module– I can’t believe by the end I’m going to produce a garment , I’m so eager to start learning the stages in production because I haven’t done anything like this before .I think my strengths are probably more around the drawing aspects of the course but it will be interesting to see how I get on because its all so new.