Unit Invention- Final Evaluation

Evaluation

Mark-making drawing with a 2d effect.

At the beginning of this unit, I was focusing on the patterns a lot and didn't feel like I am experimenting with my drawings, therefore while making mark-making drawings (on the Monday drawing sessions), has encouraged me to take the mark-making drawings furthermore by using other drawing materials like making a drawing by using a paint tube as a pen, to create textures and then maybe at some parts doing pattern drawings (if I want to) as shown in the image at the right; 

I think I like making mark-making drawings, which are quick and texture. I can use them as the inspiration for the background of my samples.

Moreover, I think unit invention was a quiet long unit, which is quite boring for me to work on a project for more than 3 months. Therefore, I divided my project into two parts 'Archive collection of Indian embroidery' and 'Royal Armoury museum'. These two parts of the project had a completely different colour pallet from one another. The first part which was more based onto a lighter colour pallet (including different shades of feminist colours and then a strong colour pallet, which reflects war and sacrifices)

Also, throughout unit invention, I have started off doing using a dusky colour pallet and ended up in a darker colour pallet, which kind shows me that I like elaborating and developing with a darker colour pallet. Therefore, I must very carefully work with limited colours, so I don't get confused in developing my colour pallet furthermore during a project.

Moreover, in this unit, I have used soft fabric, I think the only fabric I loved working in this unit was silk viscose velvet because of its smoothness and heavyweight. Therefore, for the next unit, I am thinking of working with heavier fabric rather than working with light waited fabrics (if I want to have some weight and texture to the fabrics).

During the project, I have also realized that I really enjoy learning different techniques on different machinery, which I think makes my mind confuse and won't let me develop from one technique or style. Therefore, I have realized that in this project I quite like working with the ethos software/machine and, it was quite interesting to develop stitches by using tailor tacking. Tailor tacking foot gives a textured and pop-up texture to the surface and multi-header machine(ethos) gives a beautiful embroidery pattern like printing something on fabric but with threads. Therefore, I am thinking to use these sources furthermore to develop into my way of working.

During this 2-week break, I am thinking to investigate different artists and designers who use multi-headers and tailor tacking foot to experiment in their work. I might be using a normal needle to create some samples during this break because I strongly believe that I love to create textures on a hard and sample surface.

Archive Collection - week 8

This week, I have started to work with black and golden colour theme. I have also started to develop into trapping the fabric with Juki machine.

Just to get a slightly different effect on the same technique, I have used tailor tacking foot to trap fabric strips as shown below;

Trapping ribbons by using tailor tacking foot.

I really like making the fabric stand by using this foot. I have reduced the tension of the bombing because I wanted to show the bottom and upper thread at the same time.

Still, I couldn't make the fabric stand stiff and straight to show the stretched thread effect on the fabric, therefore I have tried to change the direction of this according to my drawings as shown below;

Traping thread by using tailor tacking foot.

Moreover, this week I have used the multi-headers machine as well, which really inspired me to create the background by using Juki machine and trapping different fabric pieces onto organza and then, doing embroidery over it by using the multi-header machine as shown down below;

My sample- Digital Embroidery and Trapping fabric

I like the way, I have used a textured background and then did digital embroidery over it. I might take this way of working furthermore. But still, I need to make my stitching lines more neat in order to show what's going on in a piece.

Archive collection - Week 7

This week, I have started to explore different ways of creating textures into my samples. I have realised that I was not creating my samples the way I like to create. I have found my samples to be really flat and boring at this stage of the unit. Therefore, I have started to think and experiment by giving some more texture onto the fabric. In addition to this, I have also spend a lot of time in the print studio in learning different printing techniques like monoprint and Devore printing technique. I quite like the way Devore works with 'silk viscose velvet. But, then I thought I can still create these sort of texture by using machine embroidery, by trapping some kind of heavy backing at the back of my fabric pieces and then stitching over it.
An example of Devore sample is shown below;

Devore onto Silk Viscose Velvet

Also, I think I can do Devore and then embroider over it by using Jukie machine to develop into textures.

My Drawing page - the inspiration for my sample.

I actually like making marks of shadows as shown on the image at the right side which has encouraged me to develop my samples by taking inspiration from this drawing.


Furthermore, to give texture onto fabric I have tried to create my own technique by trapping fabric with Juki machine and then making the fabric stand. An example is shown below;

Trapping strips of fabric by using Juki machine.

 After having feedback from the tutorial, I got encouraged to use these shades of black and golden by using the same technique to develop into my sampling. I also myself like doing embroidery like this, therefore I will definitely develop more in the next week.

Following the same technique but by using the different machine(Pfaff), I have created another sample by using the really simple ready-made stitch on the machine but, by trapping some blue yarn threads as shown down below;

Trapping yarn by using Pfaff and pleating. 

I think a little bit reflection of blue looks fascinating through golden ladder stitch. In the next week, I might try this technique by using blue and golden threads onto a black or white surface.

This week I also, had the induction of Ethos software for the multi-header embroidery machine and I am really looking forward to creating my own file for the stitch out. To me, It looked interesting and I can use various surfaces to stitch onto with Multiheaders, to get a dense design.

Archive Collection - week 6

On the sixth week of the unit, I have continued manipulating my drawings onto the fabric.

My drawing at the bottom and my fabric sample at the top.

Especially with this sample, I think I have more concentrate on the composition of patterns and bright colours. Also, I think, I know how I can work with Jukie, domestic Bernina, embellisher and pfaff machine altogether, which allows me to create a mixed media effect on my samples as every machine and every domestic machine foot perform a different stitch onto the fabric. Moreover, I think the only thing, which I need to focus in this style is to know which machine or foot I need to use first in order to stand out the texture of a stitch. 

In addition, in the Monday drawing sessions, we were asked to place things in different proportions to create drawings by observing it from different angles. Examples are shown down below;

The proportion of different objects from Monday drawing session.

Also, I have attended the drop in session with Karina Thompson, where she gave some feedback about my work, she suggested me some key things which are down below; 

• I should try distressing the fabric which can inspire my line marks in my drawings.
• I should make more out of the time, as my samples were less in quantity and my drawings as well.
• I should spend 5 minutes every day to plan what I need to do in a day.

Distressed Cotton muslin fabric

I did try distressing the fabric, which I did not really like doing for this project and it was looking really different from my other samples as shown in the image on the left; 

It actually looks nice, but in this piece, I was losing the quality of the fabric, therefore I stopped using this technique.

However, I got another idea of creating the same texture by creating the ruffle texture as shown down below; 

Manipulating the fabric

I really like the way, this technique has turned out because it has a bit of 3D effect on the fabric and a movement on the fabric. Therefore i might be taking this technique further more in this project. 

Archive collection - week 5

My colour swatch
from Royal Armouries museum.

This week, I had a group tutorial, where I got the suggestions of dividing the unit invention project into two parts (Indian archive collection and royal armouries), but I have used paisley pattern in the first part of the project and also, I found the use of paisley patterns in the archive collection of the Royal Armouries museum as well. Therefore I decided to take my visual research of paisley pattern in the second part of the project as well, but I will keep it a separate collection by using a different colour pallet which is shown on the left side of the screen;

Also, I am leaving my background of the samples off-white and white to make it look of simple.

This week, I also had the workshop with Karina Thompson, where I have learned the slashing technique. Her samples were beautiful, but this is not something that I want to practice n this project. I did try to make one sample, by using a variety of fabric. it was fun doing it. I think, for a beautiful outcome I need to get some specific fabrics which are woven and which contrast with each other in colour. An example of my slashing sample is down below;

My slashing sample.

In addition, I have also had an induction of Devore print technique with Teresa. This technique was really interesting and really good to show one layer of fabric. I wanted to develop this technique with silk viscose velvet, to show the light and heavyweight of my drawings into the fabric. An example is shown at the left side of the screen;

In addition, this week I also had the induction on the Jukie machine and I loved that machine because of its fast satin to a zig-zag stitch. I just loved the way it allows me to make petals. It is also good for going over a stitch many times, which allowed me to make my stitches look thicker and poped-out.  I think I learned using this really quickly. I have used this machine in many of my samples. An example is down below;

My sample with Jukie freehand machine embroidery. 

My drawing

Moreover, this week on Monday drawings, I have done some still life drawings (shown at the left side of the screen) as well by looking into different proportions and composition of different objects. To collaborate my Monday drawings with my current project, I have started to use the same colour pallet which I am using for archive collection from the Royal Armouries museum. For me, Monday drawing sessions were fun because it's nice to have still life drawing environment once a week. This helped me to stay in the flow of creating drawings by getting inspired from different things rather than drawing what I like most.

Also, I have started to overlap my drawings from Armories museum and Monday drawings as well to experiment how I can use different objects with my drawings (shown down below.)

My drawing

Archive collection - week 4

For the 2nd part of unit inventions, we have been taken to a trip at the Royal Armouries Museum.

In the museum, I was really fascinated by the naturalistic pattern on some armours, which looked royal and privileged. I have seen most of these designs on the armour in silver and golden colours, which has made the armour piece look worth, also it made me think that these armours might be used by the high approached people in the war e.g. monarchs, troopers, etc

I have taken many photos of the details given on the armours from different sections of the museum. My photographic collection contains French designed guns, Muslim knives, swords, Indian swords and armours and also British armours. An example is given down below:

 Field armour from the Royal Armouries Museum. 

I really like the decoration been produced on these type of armours at the museum. I really loved the movements of patterns in these designs, it's flowy and merged, but exquisite.  I could see some birds, animals and figurative images of a person on them. Therefore, this type of archive collection describes us as a new generation that creativity is all in ones' hand and no matter what we have we can't stop creating beauty through our talent.

My drawing study from the Royal Armouries Museum.

The image at the top (my drawing study...) is been collaged with my drawings and the drawing inspiration. I have started making my drawings in my own way, by rearranging the shapes of the decorative patterns and objects/shapes on the armours.

Also, I was really interested in the combination of heavy-weight red velvety fabric with the metal. I think the red and little goldish shades on the metals makes the metal look more visible and attracting at the same time. Maybe, the colour red might be used to show the war aggression and anger. Therefore, I had decided to use this as my colour theme.

However, I was also attracted by the Indian collection in the Royal Armouries Museum because my first part of this unit was based onto Indian, embroidery patterns. An example of my drawing from the Indian section is shown down below:

My drawing and inspiration photographs from The Royal Armouries museum.

I really loved the way my drawings started to collaborate with colours and patterns from the museum. Therefore, I started to take this drawing style furthermore to make different samples, specifically from the Indian section in the museum.

This week, I also prepared the screen for foil and flock printing. I was inspired by the samples of these techniques in the print room. I had never learned these techniques but with the help of a technician, I learned this technique. I love the way flock printing has turned out. It gives the print a velvety and soft texture. which I had decided to take it furthermore in my sample making. An example is shown below;

Flock printing in black. 

Archive Collection - week 3

Sample making and experimentation

This week I have started sample making. After merging and exaggerating my sketchbook drawings from the summer project in adobe photoshop and illustrator, I have started to work with different fabric pieces.

For this project, I have decided to keep my fabric selection smooth and flawless. I wanted to choose my fabrics which are light weighted and little flurry. The reason I want to use these type of fabrics is to describe the movement of a dress, while a person(who wears it) moves. Therefore I had decided to choose fabrics like velvets and silks.

Also, I found my colour pallet a bit conservative and,  while experimenting with different colours, I found accidental colours more pretty than my actual colour pallet. Therefore, I had decided to go with varieties of colours which are in my sketchbook as well, that is how I would have a range of colours to experiment around.  (colour swatches image to be added)

I had made some sublimation prints because I thought that would be a quick process to get my patterns onto the fabric, but I did not find it challenging for myself and through sublimation prints, I am also losing the crispness of my drawings, therefore I might use industrial machines to hight light the details of my sample in future.

An example is shown down below:

I have printed this onto silk polyester fabric name) fabric because I was looking into Ali Zeeshan's wedding collection and have seen his collections, which was made out of heavyweight and with the combination of light weighted fabrics, which was exquisite. I loved the way he has used simple printed patterns and embroidery pattern with a lot of negative space onto a fabric. Therefore I have started to make my sample by using printing and embroidery techniques.

This sample has a busy background, therefore instead of exaggerating the pattern at the back, I should have a plain and clean background to highlight and attract the main pattern.

In addition, I have made another sample (shown at the right).

For this sample, I have used sublimation print again because I wanted to have an accurate pattern and colour. Then, I have used pfaff machine to do embroidery over it. This is an unsuccessful piece because my embroidery pattern was really intricate for the machine to pick up the small details, therefore I thought of using ethos machine to get all the details beautifully onto the fabric. In addition to this, during my tutorial, I have got some suggestions of maybe using coaching technique to make the stems of the flowers and using fabrics as threads to hand embroidery the tiny flowers. Therefore, for the next time, I will be elaborating my samples more by increasing the use of hand stitches and Juki machine.

Overall, I feel like my samples are not really complimenting the main theme of wedding embroidery, therefore I think I should start using hand embroidery quite or embellishment work more. I might make new samples, but I think I can still develop into these samples to make then richer in colour and texture. I should be using different proportions of the stitches and play around a bit more with rich colours. 

Archive Collection - week 2

Developing my work.

My sketchbook development.

This week I have started to make paper cuts by following the patterns from my visual research. Then, I  started to collage my photographs and paper cuts all together to see how I can experiment new ways to develop into drawings and sample making. 

Also, I started to use photoshop quite a lot because I wanted to develop my summer project drawings furthermore e.g. (image is down below)

My photoshop designs.

The reason I wanted to use Photoshop was that I wanted to experiment with my colour themes and patterns by changing the compositions and proportions. 

However, after my tutorial, I got feedbacks of making my pattern quite simple and I should start to extract the areas from the designs to make a pattern look more visible. 

Therefore I have decided to work with fewer patterns, but than doing experimentation with them by using varieties of machine embroideries. 

Archive Collection - week 1

Indian Embroidery!

Why Indian and Pakistani bridal dresses are almost the same?

Inspiration of patterns

For this project, I have looked for Indian embroidery archive collection from Whitworth art gallery, Manchester art gallery and MMU special collection. I started off making different patterns without following any specific colour theme, but my key inspiration was the patterns from India because for this project I wanted to explore traditional Indian patterns. 

My visual research for Indian embroidery has described me the different uses of animal and flowery patterns on Indian archive collections.

I did different drawings by getting inspired by my secondary and primary research, which has allowed me to develop my drawing skills by using a variety of materials. There are some examples of my sketchbook work down below:

My work from the sketchbook

As India and Pakistan used to be one country before 1947, therefore, India and Pakistan are still a subcultural continent. There are Muslims who believed that making motifs of living things is forbidden in Islam and their architectural and textile designs were inspired by geometry patterns, but at the other hand, there were Hindus who mostly made motifs by getting inspiration from nature. However, two completely different beliefs of a culture are living on the same continent and as the modern era came along, these two started to adopt one another living-styles and started to mix up with each other. 

"While people from central Asia brought a range of textile designs and modes of the dress with them..." (Berg encyclopedia of world dress and fashion by Jasleen dhammiya, pg:61)

The reason, to put this quote is to explain that during the separation of India and Pakistan, most migrants have brought their clothes and accessories from India, which means Pakistanis and Indian cultural values and textile work is almost the same. 

Keeping all these details in mind, I visited south Asian wedding dresses shops in the  Wilmslow road, where I have found some exquisite wedding dresses, with a lot of embellished, printed and embroidered wedding gowns. My visit to these shops was not much beneficial because all of these shops make their dresses from India or Pakistan because of the lack of workers who got trained accordingly to the culture. Also, having this kind of embellishers is expensive in the U.K. So 9 in 10 shops do have factories and a wide range of workers in India and Pakistan, that is why the shopkeepers do not have enough information about the patterns and colours.

In my drawings, I have tried to collaborate mostly with the nature-inspired patterns more than geometrical. This is because I like more ethnic and nature-inspired designs than geometrical.

Moreover, throughout my visual research, I have noticed that the patterns are not clearly representing nature, but they are made in a sense which shows the movement of a plant and the smoothness of a soul - which gives a drama to a pattern.

Bridal dress colours

Bridal dress from India

Why red and gold?

In most South Asian countries,  red is still considered as a symbol of happiness and expansion to a new life of a woman and is considered auspicious and good fortune. That is why, for centuries, red has been the colour of marriage in South Asian countries.  

In addition, gold has been considered as the sunshine. It indicates the purity of sunlight into one's life. 

Goggled photograph, but some colour swatches are added by me.

Why I don't want to choose red and golden as my colour pallet?

The reason I don't want to work with red and golden colours is that now the tradition and the values have been developed in both countries(India and Pakistan). South Asians are changing their minds for a bridal dress. there are so many varieties that one can easily approach whatever they want to. People are going for lighter colour pallets especially rose pastel colours

According to my point of view, I think people in South Asia are more attracted to western culture. I feel like western culture is going towards colours rather than having traditional white bridal dresses, and South Asians have started to go for a lighter colour pallet, which means we can break the rules of these traditions unless it doesn't harm anyone.

However. my colour pallet for this project is shown in the picture on the left side. I think my colour pallet is neither too bright nor too light. it is peaceful but with a little drama, but still, I think it's too pink and I should play with contrasting colours more. 

Mostly, I think for this project I am more interested in the colour and pattern inspiration of South Asian embroidery work onto a bridal dress.