It's been a while...

And it most certainly has.

So today I'm going to give an update and an inside look on what I've been up to.

So I guess I should start with my drape project, not going to lie I haven't done anything like this before so I am struggling in some areas such as the construction and creating a pattern piece.
Although it doesn't entirely help that my designs aren't exactly simple to make or recreate on the stand for the matter. But I must say I am enjoying what I am doing so far.

Some of the designs that I've made on the mannequins do look quite complex due to the way the fabric falls. The fabric that I had used in these images was hard cotton, grey which was a thick fabric that didn't entirely fall like silk instead it kept it's shape and created a 3D like effect.

I did experiment with a softer and lighter fabric which I didn't really like the feel off. Simply because I thought it made my design ideas look cheap and tacky So I decided to scrap the fabric and stick to the hard cotton.

My main inspiration for my designs were Gareth Pugh and Tainted Wool because they use a lot of over sizing to their best ability so I decided to use them in my designs.

In further posting I will show progression on my sketchbook and the collection that had inspired me with my designs.

Organising??

Found an image on my phone that I uploaded on instagram.

Apparently this was how I organise my colours that I wanted to use in my sketchbook and boards.

And it surprisingly work.

It actually helped me see which colours and shades would be suitable for the project as well as being paired together for my boards.

Experimenting

Experimenting with colour and how to colour denim. Also adding detail on embroidery around the pocket area, giving an idea on how the outcome may look.

Colouring the denim I used multiple ways to see what out comes I could come out with, I used water colour, pencils, water washing and lightly colouring the design. In the end I thought that the best technique to use was to water wash over coloured pencil, using this technique I was able to make the design going from dark to light making it seem 3D. I also added white pencil underneath for detail on the denim.

Sketchbook work

 <<< ^^^Click images to view them larger

For my denim project I've been looking at embroidery, looking at floral designs, oriental, machined and hand embroidery.
The research for embroidery I looked into bloom magazines, oriental and Japanese books as well as some textiles books. I also drew ideas for embroidery, repeating the pattern over again on a piece of paper to view what kind of style and pattern I would of wanted on my designs.
I also added flats to the pages to show where the embroidery would be placed on the designs and how they would add detail to the garment.