Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Self Evaluation

How well have you responded to the given brief?

I feel that I've responded well to this brief. I completed all of the tasks in depth and participated in all the group critiques. I made sure to consider all the points listed on the brief when designing my product and I also reflected upon and evaluated each stage of the design, experimentation and making process.

How broad has your research been? Have you undertaken sufficient research?

I feel that I have undertaken sufficient research for the given brief. The project was more about making than research but completed research into existing charity products, my chosen charity and sportswear once I'd decided on my design.

Have you used your reflective journal and sketchbook as an integrated part of your project?

My reflective journal and sketchbook have been very important to this project in terms of idea generation and decision making. My reflective journal has allowed me to consider my ideas carefully before making a decision and my sketchbook is where I have recorded all my ideas through drawing, images and annotations.

Have you been motivated and well organised? Have you worked as hard as you could/ should?

I have been very motivated for this project as it's something very personal to me. I think I have worked as hard as I could, however I wish the project was longer so I could spend more time perfecting my outcome.

Can you prove your commitment and organisation through entries in your reflective journal, timetables of planning documents?

I created a timetable for this project, which I stuck to. I have made many entries into my journal through the entire process, showing that I've been on time and committed.

Have you finished the work that you set out to achieve or progressed beyond what you set out to achieve?

I did complete the work I set out to achieve and I'm proud of what I completed in the two week time scale. However, I wish the project was longer so I could have made the top to a standard I'm extremely proud of.

Are you confident that you are able to make informed choices and decisions when solving problems?

This project has shown me how to be inivative when solving problems. Fabric Land didn't sell any mesh fabric, which I needed for my design, so I solved this problem by going to Primark, buying a garment that had mesh in it already and dismantling it.

Do you have evidence of a sustained and committed approach to your work?

I feel that my outcome, sketchbook and reflective journal prove together that I have been committed and made a sustained effort to this project.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Making Process

The making process was a lot simpler than I'd anticipated in terms of the amount of steps. However I had not anticipated just how difficult working with lycra would be. Creating the front pattern out of lycra, attaching it to the mesh back panel and binding the neckline and arms was simple enough - it was the applique of the logo shapes I struggled with. Even though I pinned and tacked the pieces into place, they kept sliding and stretching which caused the pieces to be wrinkly once attached rather than laying nice and flat against the main black panel. I unpicked these applique pieces many a time before eventually accepting that I was making a prototype piece that I would never get perfect in the time scale.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Idea Development

I began by drawing out my design much bigger and clearer, trying to incorporate all aspects. I then did other sketches that showed the shape I wanted more clearly - a racer back tank top. I decided on this shape as I myself own a racer back sports top and I think it's a popular shape which would give the product sales appeal. I decided to buy a size 10 racer back top from Primark which I would then cut up to use as a pattern, as this was easier and cheaper than finding an actual pattern.

I thought about fabrics and which would go where. I chose to use lycra, as this again is a popular sportswear choice, for the front of the garment and to have the back solely made from mesh. In terms of suitability of materials, I think these work well as they are common sportswear fabrics - stretchy and breathable. My design also includes binding around the arms, neck, and hem to neaten the edges.

In terms of wearability I began thinking about the fact that I'm making a women's product and that this would obviously not appeal to men. However I could put the same design onto a male t-shirt but for the purpose of this two week project, I will only construct a prototype of the female tank top.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Initial Design Ideas

When beginning my design ideas I thought about how I would make it have an obvious visual link with the MS Society. I decided that I wanted to use the house colours (orange, black and white) and the logo - especially the jagged M. I began by drawing, as this is how I initiate ideas, and I just put the colours and shapes together on the body without considering the shape of the garment itself at this point.

As I began doing more and more sketches I tried out different shapes, as well as trying the design onto other items such as a tote bag and a phone case, to see if these products did interest me. However I came back to garment again, as I thought I would, and I noticed that my designs seemed very sportswear-like. I thought this would be a good theme to pursue product-wise as there are lots of sports events, such as marathons, cycling and hiking, that people can get involved with to fundraise for the MS Society. The existing sportswear is also rather garish so I thought it would be interesting to try and reinvent it.

I then decided to do some research into current sportswear to see what fabrics and colours are used. I discovered a lot of mesh fabric, and a lot of monochrome.

This research linked well with my designs as black and white are colours the MS Society uses, so I could just add orange to make the garment more vibrant. Looking at all the garments that use mesh also gave me inspiration for fabrics. So far I'd only worked on shapes and colours in my designs and not thought about fabrics, therefore I decided to incorporate mesh into my sketches.

As I continued to play around I began to notice that I was drifting further and further away from the charity. I ended up just having a black mesh sports top with the jagged part of the M down the middle, which didn't really provide a visual association to the MS Society. I therefore went back to trying to include the M and the S from the logo, and began working from a zoomed in section of the end of the M and the beginning of the S. I also then tried incorporating all the colours (black, white and orange) with the mesh and I played around with the shaping of the top.

I ended up with a sketch I was rather pleased with, that I felt could work and had a visual association with the charity. I decided to then develop this design.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Product Research

After my charity research I began looking further into charity products/ merchandise. I initially looked at the products you see the most such as the ribbon badges for Aids and Breast Cancer Research, the Marie Curie Daffodil, the Royal British Legion poppy and the Comic Relief red nose. All of these products are extremely recognisable which is what makes them so popular but not all charities have items like this. I also looked at art works created for charities/ have been sold to raise money for charities. For example the ceramic poppies or 'Blood Swept Land and Seas of Red' created by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, displayed at the tower of London. I also looked at the tops Stella McCartney designed and sold at Glastonbury for Oxfam.

The MS Society has a vast range of products but they do not produce anything that I, someone closely involved with the charity, would personally buy and wear. They sell badges, wrist bands, trolley keyrings, t-shirts, running vests, flags, balloons, sashes, rosettes, bunting and a frisbee (to name a few). In terms of me producing a product I want to create a garment as that's where my interest lies. I feel that this works well as the existing garments produced and sold by the charity are not very visually pleasing so I think it's a way for me to experiment and create something a lot more exciting.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Initial Thoughts

As soon as I received this brief I knew exactly which charity I wanted to focus on: the MS Society. I chose this charity as it holds very strong meaning to me because as a family we are very involved with the society. I knew looking at this charity would mean the project would become a very personal I began by researching this charity further in depth, looking closer at fundraising events, products, colours and the logo.

I then put all this information, along with images, onto a research sheet which I then presented to everyone in a critique. I was very nervous for this presentation as I knew I'd have to be quite open about my personal reasons for choosing the MS Society, however they made me feel really comfortable and were very supportive. It was interesting to see which charities everyone had chosen and their initial ideas gave me more inspiration on what I could do.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Wrap/ Unwrap: Garment Construction

The garment construction itself was quite a challenge. I used 20mm knitting needles to create the jumper using bin bags cut up into yarn using this technique:

The jumper knitted up pretty fast due to the large needles and the holes were just the size I wanted them. Although it was a rather tedious process (4 straight days of knitting) I am pleased with the result. It looks messy in some places but this was to be expected when working with bin bags. Looking back now I wonder if it would have looked more effective in black, however the skirt is made from black bin bag and my last garment was all black so it's probably good I moved away from it.

The under skirt was the most challenging thing to construct. I had never made anything using a commercial pattern before so I was excited to try it but also quite apprehensive. I used the size 10 pattern which fits my mannequin and a black wool crepe material. I feel I followed the instructions well and I eventually came out with a skirt I'm rather happy with. The only issue is that I caught it on the waistband which created a small pleat but besides this and the tiny bit of hand sewing I need to do by the zip I'm very proud of what I have created.

The bin bag overlay was very simple. I just took a bin bag and cut it so it was about the right size and just began stretching it. I pulled at it to create the interesting textures that I had explored in my sample on a much larger scale. I ended up having two layers as the first piece I did wasn't quite as long as I wanted it so I put that on top of another piece. However I feel this enhances my design as it adds an element of layering to my design, as well as wrap, reveal and stretch.

Wrap/ Unwrap: Idea Development

I decided to take design three forward and to develop it I began by creating a more in depth drawing. I then thought about materials and how I would construct the garment. I would use white bin bag to knit the jumper and black bin bag for the asymmetric skirt. The bin bag skirt would be an overlay to a simple black mini skirt underneath as the bin bag is rather see through.

I then did some idea specific research, looking at jumpers/tops that had large holes to reveal underneath. This helped me see how this idea has been explored before and also gave me an insight into what my design would look like once constructed.

Alexander Wang Fall 2012

Hiroshige Maki / Gomme A/W 1993

I then looked at how I would construct my garment in terms of pattern. The jumper will be made out of 6 pieces or 7 if I include the turtle roll neck. The front and back, side panels and sleeves will be identical and then woven together. The skirt will be made from a pattern I already own for a 'wiggle skirt'. The pattern creates a skirt that's just below the knee so I will cut pieces to my desired length. It will be made out of black fabric and will be kept very simply as it will only be an underskirt. For the bin bag overlay I will stretch out a black bin bag to create the desired texture and shape and then wrap it around the under skirt. I may sew it onto the underskirt or I may just have it tied around the waist, depending on whether I can put the bin bag material through the machine.

Wrap/ Unwrap: Initial Design Ideas

To begin my design ideas I created a mind map exploring the things I had been inspired by so far in the project. I thought about how I could explore the key themes, what materials I could use and what kind of garment I could create. This was a useful process as I started to piece together smaller ideas.

I then went on to drawing as I find this the easiest way to form ideas. I started by simply drawing shapes on to figures to see what would work,. I then took the shapes I found most exciting and combined them with ideas I also had for materials. I ended up with six fully formed design ideas which included variations. My favourite designs were possibility one, three and four. I also really liked possibility five but I thought this was too similar to the garment I created in my previous juxtaposition project as it's very geometric. To decide which design to create I thought about which was the most visually exciting then the practicalities of making. I thought my fourth idea where you unzip the dress to reveal a concealed yellow under layer was the most visually exciting, however with my limited sewing experience I didn't think making a garment with many zips would be possible. The easiest garment to create would probably be idea one however I didn't think this was very visually exciting and it's a shape that's done often. I was then left with idea three which would be a challenge to construct but still possible in the time scale. I was very interesting by the textures created with stretched bin bag for the skirt and my knitted bin bag ended up being my favourite sample from the investigation stage. Therefore, I decided to take this idea forward.

Wrap/ Unwrap: Bin Bag Dress

I realised from creating samples that bin bag is an interesting material to work with so I decided to play with this material on the mannequin. I simply ripped at a bin bag and worked with the shapes and textures I was left with. I ended up with a very punk-esque dress that looked more interesting when photographed under the bright lights. I was very happy with this maquette however I was unsure as to the practicalities of putting bin bag through the sewing machine. Therefore I don't think I'll be making an entire garment using just bin bag as the fabric.

After doing this maquette I decided to look at Gareth Pugh's A/W RTW 2013 collection which featured gowns made out of bin bags. You wouldn't know these gowns were made out of bin bag unless you were told and I was extremely inspired by this. I would love to create a garment like this however due to my limited sewing skills and time scale this would be unrealistic.

Wrap/ Unwrap: Investigate Through Making

We were given the task of investigating the key words; wrapping, binding, folding, layering, stretching, wrinkling, tearing, reveal and conceal, through making samples. I was very exciting about this task as it seemed very experimental and playful. I used a variety of materials including, paper, tissue, thread, fabric, cardboard, bin bag and foil to create my samples. Due to the limited monochrome materials, creating the samples themselves with a limited colour palette was difficult so I decided to then photocopy my samples in black and white and put those into my sketchbook. I created some interesting samples that I felt could be taken forwards into design ideas and also some that didn't work as well.

I then took some of the samples and recreated them in actual fabric. This didn't work out as well as I'd imagined it, so I decided to use textile techniques on materials I had used. I ended up knitting with bin bags which was a challenging process as the bin bag on small needles ended up being extremely tight, however it worked well and they ended up being two of my favourite samples.

I also decided to take forward a photo I had taken of my stretch bin bag sample to create a repeat pattern. I feel like this worked well, especially in the different colour ways, however this wouldn't work in terms of the 'limited colour palette' and I want to create a garment so for this to be useful I'd have to print it onto fabric.