Powerpoint presentations

Ok so this is as far as i got on my powerpoint, not very far at all i know but it took me quite a while to arrange my pictures on photoshop.

Anyway so, this week we have started on our melting pot projects and have been doing some drawing excersises for it. My drawings were disasterous but hopefully they will improve in time. I can draw a skirt perfectly well but as soon as i have to put the skirt on a body i struggle. I have had a couple of ideas for the project so i am looking forwards to starting my designs.
We have also done some more pattern cutting, this time doing sleeves and facings, they were relatively easy to do and i think that practicing different sleeve types etc will really help us when we come to making our designs as we will know how to adapt the original block patterns to how we need it.
In construction we have started our skirts, these are going to be finished on thursday, we ahd to put in an invisible zip on the back seam. I havent done a zip in quite some time so i was very nervous about doing it but i think that it has gone ok.
In PPRD this week we were given a couple of assignments, the first being a presentation on a fashion captial of our choice, i think this will be interesting as it gives us the opportunity to work in groups and find out about fashion capitals from around the world. The second assignment is to have a class debate about eco fashion, i am on the against team as although i can see the plus sides of eco fashion i can also see that it is not always practical or cost effective and that i think we would all be upset if our £3 top from Primark suddenly cost us £10 due to them becoming eco fashion supporters.
I am looking forwards to the debate because i think it is quite an interesting topic to talk about and i think that at the end of it we will all still be sitting on the fence about it because it is one of those necessary evils that although we would prefer it if factory workers got paid a fair wage and only organic cotton was used but in reality we all love a good bargain that little bit more so it is very difficult to say you are either very for or very against it.
Anyway i think i'm going to go practice my drawing, i hope everyone else is enjoying the course as much as i am. Much love

Well i haven't updated my blog in quite some time, due to the fact that my internet has stopped working at home. Quite a lot has happened since my last blog. we have now finished our bodices in construction, created a pattern for the skirts we will be making next, used different darting techniques to create darts in different places on our bodice patterns, made a flat drawing of a t-shirt in illustrator, created a logo thingy in illustrator and had a trip to london!
The purpose of the trip to london was to do fabric sourcing, it was a really good day and i learnt quite a lot about fabrics and how they feel. for instance, i never knew how horrible silk can feel. i am definitely hoping to go back to some of the shops to get fabric in the future. Anyway, illustrator calls...

What's the time Mr. Wolf?

so here we are doing illustrator AGAIN! Begining to really get the hang of it now, managed to do this quite quickly but was getting quite frustrated with it doing its own thing again

So, we were doing illustrator again, it was quite enjoyable because we were going at an ok pace so i could keep up to date and know what was going on.
i had a big blonde moment though and only realized when we got back off break that we had created the four suits in a pack of cards. i thought that the heart and diamond were just simple shapes to show us different techniques... it was only when i saw all of the shapes together that i twigged that they were the other two suits. Whoops!

Black and White

TA DA! the finished peice. i am so so pleased with how the skirt has turned out, i had a few problems getting the skirt made because i accidentally did the right and wrong side together when attaching the side seams but i soon sorted it out. I really like my flowers and birds and it is so me! I know that most people had gone for really harsh lines and masculine shapes but i just wanted to create something feminine and beautiful to show that paper can be soft and alluring aswell.
After i had done the skirt i had loads of time to spare and the teacher (eek i can never rememeber her name!) suggested maybe using the rest of my birds to create something on the top half so i created a necklacy/collar thingamy that could be used as an accessory or could be attached to a basic top as a matching garment to the skirt. I am really please with how it turned out...


Over all a very good day!

B-B-Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the Word!

Yesterday i spent the whole day making origami birds for my sculpture in black and white project, it was sooo relaxing and i got so many ideas of how i can put them onto a garment and all the different types of garment i can put them on. Only problem is that my black paper decided to dye my fingers so i kept having to go wash my hands. am a little bit worried about the black rubbing off onto the white fabric i am probably going to be using.

Everyones in the class looked sooo good but i noticed that they were all really harsh looking and quite masculine in a way, i think i may end up being the only person with a really feminine garment.

When i was doing some research i came across a book about Issey Miyake, one of the pictures was so incredible (i am going to try and scan it in later for you all to see) it was like a gathering of angels and it really took my breathe away at the sheer beauty of it.

Speaking of which, i was watching Ugly Betty the other night and she was put in charge of doing the press release for a designer who made his dresses with razor blades, glass and all other sharp materials and and hats out of barbed wire. The dresses were all black but they all sparkled because of the metal and glass, they all had the most amazing wings attached to them and i was just completely in awe of the designer for making them. The only word i could use to describe them was beautiful. If you say to someone that a dress was made with glass and razor blades i think beauty is the last thing they would think of but they were completely and utterly magnificent. They were so dark but yet so sparkling and the light reflected off them so incredibly it was like looking at an angel. If you have ever read the book or seeing the film Skellig then you will hopefully know what i mean when i say that these dresses would not have looked out of place if they had been worn by angels like Skellig. Amazing!

OMG

I am actually having palpitations this is sooo good

http://www.showstudio.com/project/parisfashionweekaw09/reports/32392/

You HAVE to watch it

Research

Well i am just about to start my research for tomoro, i know its late but hey ho, i'll be honest, i forgot to do it. if i am right in what we are doing tomoro then i think i know what i am going to do anyway and am really looking forwards to doing it. it could go disasterously wrong tho knowing me. oooh speaking of which... my pin box opened in my little tool box thingy and i now have pins everywhere.
i think its going to be good working in white and black because black is my favourite colour and matching it with white is so breakfast at tiffany's and my fair lady.
yeh, am looking forwards to it

anyhoo last thursday.. not a good day, i thought it was pretty pointless, i could see how modelling on the stand would work better than doing a paper pattern for some designs but with this we ended up neatening it and measuring it and i just thought we might as well have done it on paper because we ended up with just as much presision and they all ended up the same. surely the idea of modelling on the stand is to create a unique pattern created by you?
also not pleased that when the technicians checked my work they said it was fine and then, only from looking at other peoples work i realised i had done my darts wrong and had to re-do them, if they had just said oops your doing it wrong when the checked it then i would have saved so much time n my pattern would look so much better because now i have ugly marks where i hav tried to rub out the pencil lines. was not a happy bunny

anyway, research time
much love

grrr

ok, i hate illustrator too
it was fun warping the shapes and stuff but OMG that diver was actually driving me insane, why do computers do what they want to do and mess up what you have just spent 10 minutes doing?!
looking forwards to tomoro although knowing my luck at the moment i will drop my pin box and spill pins everywhere or tear my pattern down the middle.

today has seemed really long but yet i dont feel like i have achieved much at all. we spent all morning making a moodboard on photoshop (see image) and i absoloutely detest photoshop. we had to do swatches on it, which to be honest i think look crap and really wish we hadnt had to put them on. i dunno just feeling a bit down at the moment so getting easily irratable so when things kept going wrong on that damned photoshop i was getting really angry with it.

I liked my moodboard before we had to add the writing, cut out image and swatches as it just looked like a pile of old photos sprayed out on a table. I quite like the idea of using polaroid type photos in a print for a design as i really like the retro feel they give.

The afternoon session was a bit better although my knee was playing up so i couldnt get comfy. we were told to think about 5 people that we consider to be a success and why.

i think i am going to have a think about that and do another post later cos at the moment i can only think of 2.

i think that it has made me feel a bit more determined and when Sarah said about sticking to your values, beleifs and ethics it really hit home for me because when me and my boyfriend split up i found that i was going against my V,BandEs to be accepted by him and his friends but i soon realised that it made me into someone i didnt like. and i think that it is really important to stick with what you beleive in and dont change that for anyone because at the end of the day they are part of who you are and if anyone makes you feel like you need to change that then they are really not worth having in your life.

Never comprimise who you are and what you beleive in

Catch up

never realised before how similar catch up and ketchup are.
anyway.... dont really know what to say. am having one of those mind block things where if you wrote anything it would end up coming out very boring and very much 'on... i did... it was...' and that wouldnt be very interesting to read. so the plan here is to post this and hopefully come back to it later

Seams Galore!

It is official, i am never working with chiffon. it is such a nightmare to work with!
I really enjoyed today, it was really nice and relaxing and i learnt quite a lot. The only time i have ever made anything that required seams was my can-can costume for GCSE and we never learnt about them at A-Level so i found practicing all the different seam types to be really useful.
Its going to take a lot of getting used to those machines tho. Never had so much hassle threading a machine before. It will also take a while getting used to turning the machine off after using it because in school and at home i just leave the machine on till i am completely finished using it for the day. T'was nice to get back on ye olde overlocker, havent used one in so so long! i love them but they dont half scare me when they go too fast, it is far to easy to ruin what you are doing if you're not super super careful.
Am looking forwards to pattern cutting tomoro, it should be good, not used one of those weird ruler thingys before so that should be interesting.
Anyway bar crawl calls so i will let you know how it goes tomoro
Much love x

First official blog

Wow, so here we are with our blogs all set up and ready. What a week!

Gotta admit, i was sooo nervous about doing this course. I got it wrong last year, what if this isn't right for me either?! but by the end of the first day, i felt calm and i just knew it was where i wanted to be.

The first week was slow but yet so much has happened, we've met the course tutors, we've got our equipment, we've had laughs, we've got lost and confused but the main thing is that we've made friends.

I was so worried that everyone would be a stuck up bitch who judges everyone but actually everyone seems really down to earth and easy to chat to. I am really feeling positive about this year and ready to get stuck in. Bit worried about my lack of daring when it comes to drawing and sketchbooks but hopefully my confidence will build during the year.

I think that people havent really go to know me that well yet, like i have shared quite a lot of information about myself but as lauren said, i come across as being very quiet. That opinion usually changes when people get to know me, i am just shy and get very daunted with big groups of people i dont know very well but once i am settled in i will come out of my shell a lot more so watch this space.

We watched last years fashion show during the week which i really enjoyed there were quite a few garments i didnt like but on the other hand some of them really inspired me. The talk of us doing a placement at the end of the year has worried me a bit becuase i dont know what i want to do for it and i am worried that my inability to drive is going to prevent me from getting the dream placement due to not being able to get there each day. but i suppose when it comes to actually getting the placement i will have a better idea of what i want to do and will know what my options are.

Yesterday we were given a brief for our theme boards. I am actually really looking forwards to doing it, i think i am going to go for military as it was the one that inspired me the most.

On another note entirely, my mum told me a very interesting fact today. Jelly Babies were first sold after WW1 and they were called Peace Babies, they were then reinvented in the 1930s and were given the name we all know and love today.

Anyhoo, i think i am going to go to now, sorry for the essay!

Much love xxx

x