Oscar Wilde Project


Whilst on my placement in London I was set a new brief, it was to develop a range of fabrics for menswear with inspiration coming from Oscar Wilde. I was also given a set colour palette, which included different shades of brown, green and yellows. I started to research Oscar Wilde by using books and the internet, I also decided to visit the V&A. When returning to Univeristy I started to develop a range of shirt and jacket designs on the jacquard designer. To accompliment these fabrics I also created a collection of tweeds. Having been pleased with the results of printing onto my fabrics during the previous project I decided to use this method again. However I also decided to try screen printing aswell as transfer print. To view other samples from this range, please click on the link.

After finishing my project I entered a few of my designs into the Bradford Textile Society competition.

Work Experience

Half way through my second year, I spent two weeks at Drakes-London on a work placement. Drakes specialise in making accessories, such as ties, hats, scarfs and gloves and are now the largest independant producer of handmade ties in the UK. I really enjoyed my time working within the design team and helped to make swatches of their new seasons ranges.

African and Checked Project














For my second project I was given a range of ideas which I had to combine to create my designs. I needed to use checks, ovals and be African inspired. My weaving also had to be double cloth and had to incorporate print.

Please use this link to see the collection of my samples from this project.

On some of my hand woven samples I experimented with printing on to the warp with fabric paint. Other samples I printed on afterwards with heat transfer paper.

Second Year - Crown and Paper Project













During the summer holidays I was sent a brief which said I had to make an object from a range of items which included, leaves, newspaper, magazines, brown paper and wire. Taking inspiration from the Olympic Games which were currently on, I decided to make a crown out of these items. Once I had made the crown I started to develop some drawings and designs using the crowns and leaves which I had made.

Once I returned to University at the start of term, I was able to start developing my designs into fabrics. I created a range of hand woven samples which used strips of newspaper print, yellow pages and brown paper in the weft.

It was also our first oppurtunity to produce some designs on the jacquard. Please click on this link to view both my hand woven and jacquard samples.

Specialist Area

At the end of my first year I specialised in my strongest discipline. Therefore I chose woven fabrics. During the first year I had also enjoyed printing and decided that I could possibly include this with future projects.

First Year Degree Work

During my first year on the course I completed two projects in each displine of print, knit and weave. Below is a collection of samples from the second project in each area.

Print

These designs were influenced from a brief called 'A bad workman never blames his tools.' Most of my inspiration came from different types of tools, however, I also took inspiration from an artist called Jim Dine who also had used tools as a basis for his work.

Weave

These are a few samples from my weave project. I started by creating A1 size drawings of a still life, which included many different objects including flowers. To create the drawings I had to use match pot paints and ink. I also took photographs of the still life so that I could continue drawing from it and develop my sketchbook. It was the drawings from my sketchbook which gave me my inspiration for my weaving. After creating a range of samples I then made a bag using one of my designs.

Knit

For my knit project my inspiration came from a visit to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool. My sketchbook was developed from the photos and drawings I took whilst at the museum. Using my visual reserach I then created some knitted sampes out of linen yarn.