Final Evaluation

Declaration of Authenticity; I confirm that the attached assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.

Evaluating my Research & Experimentations:

Having been given the theme of Data for my FMP, I decided to focus on the concept of space. In particular looking at rovers and Mars.

Before I had decided my concept of space within the overarching theme of data, I created a Mindmap of initial ideas of everything that links to data this included different forms of data and the dictionary definition of data.

One of the thing I wrote on my Mindmap was NASA Perseverance Rover as it was very current and it’s mission was to go to Mars and collect data in many different forms. Once I had settled on that concept I created several moodboards to visualise my ideas, the theme and also the colour scheme. I found these initial moodboards really helpful to look back on throughout the project and also to base and develop my work from.

I have tried to develop my ideas within all aspects of my research, I have especially focused on my secondary research through moodboards and photos.

I have found moodboards very valuable throughout my FMP as they are a good way to visualise ideas and look at different techniques.

I personally don’t think my work changed much throughout my FMP, I just developed on my previous work, trailing a variety of techniques and undertaking more research working towards creating a final piece.

I have looked at a variety of different artists and materials. However, other than Chesley Bonestell’s work and style and Tomoko Nakamichi‘s pattern magic work none of the artists I looked at had any particular influence on my work other than giving me some inspiration. I also took inspiration from watching the film, The Martian as it was set on the planet Mars and it gave me quite realistic understanding of what the planet Mars is like, the colour of the planet, what the surface is like.

Chesley Bonestell is artist who has made some incredible space paintings including ones just looking at the planet Mars, I struggled to find what exactly chesley bonestell used to create his paintings.

Tomoko Nakamichi has written a series of Pattern Magic books, which include a range of her own pattern making techniques.

I think I have done well on the practical and practical blogs as most of my time in college work was solely focused on that and the experimentation process. I personally found the practical blogs easier than research ones as I am writing about what I did, the process, what went well, what did not go so well and then at the end writing a small evaluation on the techniques and the final outcome and if I am happy with it.

I probably could improve on my artist research and taking more influence from some of the artists I have researched. For my initial research I looked at 3 artists, from the brief and then I also looked at a collaboration of an artist and a clothing brand. I did take inspiration from these initial artists research but It had no further influence on my work and I did not do any experimentation in a similar style using my own theme.

Looking back at my FMP studies I don’t think that there is anything I wished I had explored further as I tried to cover as many aspects as possible within the time given for my FMP.

Evaluating my final piece:

I have included formal elements in my design such as shape, colour and texture.

I have included shape with in my bodice with a 3-D pattern magic cube, I have used colour within both my bodice and my skirt, on my skirt I have used a variety of shades of red, yellow and orange. When my garments are worn together there is a contrast of light and dark colours between the garments. Finally, the Suffolk puffs and french knots add texture to the garments.

For my final piece bodice I used black cotton jersey fabric and a shiny metallic silver Lycra. I then used white embroidery thread to add my french knots onto the bodice. I also stuffed the cube with toy filling and used a small bit of netting to hold it in place. As well as cotton thread to stitch the bodice together.

For my final piece skirt I used calico, I then ice dyed the fabric with ice and powdered dyes and for the Suffolk puffs I used 3 different cotton fabrics for the outer circle and for the inner circle I used fabric from a t-shirt and a shirt as well as another grey fabric. As well as cotton thread to sew the skirt as well as the Suffolk puffs.

The techniques I have used to create my garments are pattern cutting, construction, French knots, Ice Dyeing and Suffolk Puffs.

The design of my final piece garments is trying to show the NASA Perseverance Rover heading towards Mars for its mission to explore and collect data on the planet.

The black fabric used in my bodice represents outer space and the french knots represent distant stars, the 3-D pattern magic cube on the bodice created using a strip of silver fabric is an creative interpretation of the NASA Perseverance Rovers. Once I made the bodice I stuffed the cube with toy filling and cut a netting cube net to stop the stuffing falling out.

The ice dyed bubble/balloon skirt with suffolk puffs was inspired by the planet Mars, with its colour shape, texture and craters.

I hope that the theme and link to data is clearly conveyed through the design of my final piece garments.

I am very happy with my final piece bodice and skirt I think they are effective. In particular I like the the Suffolk Puffs on the skirt as it adds another layer of texture and design to the skirt they are all 3-D. I also love the cube because of the 3-D aspects and french knots as they have a texture.

I hoped that my design and final piece would be reminiscent of a costume and I think that I have achieved that effect.

I don’t think that there is anything I would change about both of my final piece garments, the only thing that is a little bit annoying is that the skirt is slightly too big but this is not a major issue. This happened when you gather the fabric at the waist and at the bottom of the skirt and you are trying to gather the waistband to the right size and if you gather it too much it would be too small and you cannot amend it.

I have done a photoshoot to style my finished garments I took photos of both of the garments on a mannequin in front of a ring light. I also got a friend to take a few photos of myself wearing the garments as I made both the bodice and the skirt to my size. I did have to pin the skirt at the back so it fitted me for the photos. I managed to get quite a few good clear photos of my final piece. After I had taken the photos I added a couple of photos to the NASA Perseverance Photo booth and that created a few interesting and cool images.

Overall, I am really happy with how my FMP project has gone and the final pieces I have created.

Reflective Journal including recordings of 1 to 1’s

I did originally plan to do a weekly reflective journal throughout my FMP. However, I only ended up doing it for Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 as the important information about my FMP and practical work I was writing up within my blogs.

Week 3 – 08/03/2021

For this week I wrote in my project action plan and timetable that I planned to create some garment ideas and choose my Final design. However, as it was the first week out of lockdown back in college I ended up deviating from this original plan and I undertook some further research, created a survey and started to create some samples. 

I am happy that I slightly changed my plan for this week, I think this will end up happening throughout my FMP which is fine. I will still use my project action plan and timetable as a guide and plan. Instead of doing my garment designs this week I intend to do it over the next 3 weeks leading up to half term. 

I have also ordered 3 fabric swatches from fabric land, as we still are unable to go into fabric shops I wanted to feel the fabric and make a better decision of which fabric is best before buying it.

Target for week 4 ….

My target for next week is to trial techniques which I may possibly use in my final piece, do research on the techniques and use moodboards to support and further visualise my ideas.

Create a Mars survey results post, analysing the findings.

I am also going to have a 1 to 1 with my lecturer to talk through my ideas and to ask questions.

Week 4 – 15/03/2021

Monday – 1 to 1 with Lecturer 

I had a several question to ask my lecturer I started by asking where I would be able to get hold of the Pattern Magic books.

• My lecturer ordered them from a library.

I asked whether there is a criteria that you have to meet in order to achieve certain grades.

• I now have the criteria sheet and understand what I need to do in order to strive to achieve a merit or distinction.

I finally explained my current ideas and how I envision my final piece will look. I asked about how I could combine a sleeveless pattern magic bodice block and a balloon/bubble skirt with an invisible zip down the back to create a functional dress.

• My lecturer said I could create a bodice block and a skirt separately and when put on together it would not be that noticeable that they are separate pieces. I now plan to create two separate piece a bodice block and a skirt block.

For this week I wrote in my project action plan and timetable that I planned to trial a wide variety of techniques that I may incorporate within my final design and blog about the process. This week I kept to my action plan and I created samples for sever techniques.

 The techniques I have trailed …

• Dry brush painting with acrylics onto fabric.
• Dyeing with salt 
• Ice dyeing 
• Dyeing with sand and rocks
• Steamed Rock Shibori

I also made a list of all the fabrics and other materials I am going to need for this project and ordered most of the materials already to ensure that it arrives in good time.

I have also made a post analysing the results from my Mars Survey. 

Unfortunately next week we only have two days, that we are actually in college. I plan to stay longer where I can to maximise the time I have in the workshop over the next two weeks before the Easter break.

Target for week 5 ….

Create my pattern magic bodice pattern.

Sew my pattern magic tester bodice together.

Week 5 – 22/03/2021

For this week I wrote in my project action plan and timetable that I planned to create patterns for my garments and start to sew my practise version of the garment as well and evaluate the process within my blogs. I have definitely stuck to my plan this week with only two days in college I focused just on the bodice. So I made the pattern for the bodice as well as sewing my practice out of fabric and I have blogged the whole process.

I plan to have a 1 to 1 with my lecturer next week to review my project so far and talk about certain aspects that are missing or that I should focus on over Easter.

Target for week 6 ….

Create the pattern for the balloon skirt 

Sew my practice ballon skirt together.

Create my garment design ideas drawings.

Create a detailed plan for Easter looking at the things missing or needed within my project.

Comparing the dyeing methods I have trailed

For my FMP I really wanted to explore some different and unusual dyeing methods.I have trailed 4 different dyeing methods, I wrote about how I created my fabric sample using each methods in Dry brush painting with acrylics onto fabrics, Dyeing fabric with salt , Ice dyeing and Experimenting dyeing fabrics using dye, sand and rocks.

I found that the first two dyeing methods I trialed did not really work how I had hoped, this was dry brush painting with acrylics and Dyeing fabric with salt. The dry brush painting was very blotchy and I did not achieve a lovely brushed effect, also another key factor I found about this method is once the acrylic has dried the fabric became very tough and rough and would not be a nice fabric to create a garment from. The other method that also did not have the results I expected was Dyeing fabric with salt, I thought that by using salt the sample would be specked as the salt would resist the dye. However, this did not happen and once the sample had dried and the salt has become crystallised, I rinsed the salt off of both samples and there was no pattern on the fabric it was just dyed a red and orange colour. I personally found these two methods unsuccessful, however there are two main factors that put me off of both methods even if the had worked which was for the brush painting with acrylics what the fabric felt like and for the salt dyeing the amount of salt that I would waste. I will definitely not be using either of these methods for my final piece.

The last two dyeing methods I experimented with was Ice dyeing and Experimenting dyeing fabrics using dye, sand and rocks both of these methods worked and I loved the outcomes of both fabric samples. I had never done Ice dyeing before so was really interested in experimenting with the method I found it pretty simple and straightforward to do. I absolutely love the final sample for my Ice dyeing, in particular that water marks in the fabric from the ice melting and then drying on the fabric, also other how the powdered dyes mix as the ice melt. The final sample I created from experimenting dyeing fabrics using dye, sand and rocks had a slightly similar affect to the Ice dyeing. However for this method I diluted the powdered dyes, where as in ice dyeing I used them in the powdered format. I also for this method I had to pour the dyes on so I had more control of how much colour I used, where I poured it and how it mixed, this final sample had blotches of colour as it didn’t mix with the other coloured dyes. I don’t think that the sand and rocks did anything but I cannot say that for certain, one factor I found hard about this method was trying to rinse off and remove all the sand from the fabric as it seemed to get stuck in the fabric.

I do love both of the samples and the process of both Ice dyeing and experimenting dyeing fabrics using dye, sand and rocks. However after comparing both of the process together I think that I preferred the ice dyeing process and sample slightly more than dyeing with sand and rocks. I will therefore be using the method of ice dyeing to dye the fabric for my final piece skirt.