Carousel-week 2 Fashion

A1-Evidence

Design at the end of the first day.

Swatches we made (Above before heat press)

Appliques made with Bondaweb

A2-Primary and Secondary research


We had a lot of primary evidence, this is because Fashion is a very hands on and so we were allowed to use a sewing machine and iron to help create our designs. We made Appliques using Bondawebs. We were first taught everything and then we were allowed to pick our own small image and make the applique.

This week for the carousel we went to the fashion department to design an imaginary TV's Crew t-shirt for them to wear. We used disperse dyes to create said designs. These dyes began as powder until water is added. Each dye came out as an earthy colour and so at first we didn't know what colour was which. So to begin with we had to make swatches so that we would know what the colours would come out as after being heated in the heat press that heated up to 180 degrees! This is secondary research as we were unable to use the press due to the extremely hot temperatures as it is extremely dangerous and we may burn ourselves and s we just watched. It is heated so high as it allows a chemical reaction to happen to the dyes to make the colours more flamboyant onto the 100% polyester fabric.

A primary research was we used paintbrushes and pencils to create our design. To begin with I wrote 'Crew' forwards using a pencil before leaning against a window to trace it backwards because all of our design had to be backwards so that the design, after printed, would come out the correct way round. This also made my design come out better as I didn't have to struggle writing backwards and tracing it help a lot, because I can't draw backwards.



A3-Skills that I have learnt

As said before fashion is a very hands on subject and so I was able to learn a range of different skills. I used a sewing machine for the first time and learnt to hand sew using just a needle and embroidery thread. Most of my skills were successful and I was able to make a decent looking crew design with a camera, clapperboard and microphone.

One of my skills was making appliqués using Bondawebs, I decided on making a microphone. I made a simple outline of my design which I could add onto my fabric. This went well as I was able to make an adequate looking microphone and decided when using the sewing machine to add in the microphone's details. This is a new skill for me and I had never heard of bondawebs before and so it was interesting to learn about.

Sewing Machine

Another skill I learnt was how to use a sewing machine. This was rather daunting as I had never used one before and I definitely didn't want to accidentally sow my hand especially with how fast the machines can go. But luckily I found the machine rather easy to use because I could control the speed of the needle myself and I got the hang of it pretty quickly.However not all of it went well as I did accidentally sow one end of my fabric to the other end and had to cut it but luckily I saved my design.


A4- Processes and methods

A process we had to making our appliques from bondawebs. This was new to me and so I had to listen carefully to the instructions so that I completed it correctly. My process was making a microphone. The first step for the method was to trace my chose design onto the smooth side of the bondawebs. I did however trace my shape on tracing paper so I could have my design backwards. Afterwards we pick out the fabric we wanted to print our design onto. I chose this dark silky fabric and we had to place the rough side of the bondawebs onto the wrong side of the fabric. We moved over to the iron station and had to iron our design onto the fabric for around five seconds without steam. After ironing we had to wait for the piece of fabric too cool down so that the adhesive could set properly. After this we were able to cut out our design and peel back the adhesive so we could stick it onto our design. I  decided after to stick my design on so that it was secure but it also allowed me to add the additional details onto my microphone.




A5-Tools used throughout the week.

The tools I used in my week in fashion were dyes, paintbrushes, embroidery hoops, needles and embroidery thread, iron, and a sewing machine.

I used the dyes and paintbrushes to create the fist stage of my design. The dyes were extremely expensive and so we had to be careful not to knock over the paint holder full of them. We used these and the paintbrushes to make swatches and to actually paint our design. I made my design simple and easy to paint as I didn't want to mess up my design with paint all over the fabric.



Embroidery Hoops

We used embroidery hoops to help with our sewing as it made the fabric go tight and so we could sew easier and the needle didn't sew the fabric together, which unfortunately happened to me once and so I should've been more careful. The sewing machine looked at first confusing but it was in fact simple too use, especially what we were sewing. The thread did sometimes unthread itself from the needle a lot and so we had to try and rethread them through the tiny eye of the needle but it only happened a couple of times to me.

On the last day we did some hand-sewing to add to our final design. I had done sewing before but I was a lot younger and could barely remember all of it except from the simple running stitch. During this lesson I also learnt how to do a cross-stitch which looked nice inside the 'r' from 'Crew'.

Overall the whole week was exciting and I got to take part in tasks that I would never usually do in the Media department and I have learnt a lot more new skills.
My favourite skill I learnt was the sewing machine as I had never used one before and I really liked the outcome of my design after using the machine.