FOLK DESIGN PROJECT

Our next design project is based on the theme 'Folk (costume)', especially that of Eastern European countries. This is a slightly more difficult project for me as i find little inspiration from the idea of folk costumes and would have preferred to take a more whimsical approach to the project by looking into folklore and more abstract inspirations. However, i've started to research countries such as Turkey and Russia and have found some inspiration in the colours and trimmings of their traditional folk costumes, on which i think i will base my design. They use intricately woven/patterned detailing and elborate cuff designs on their shirts which i am going to try and incoporate in my own design.

So far i have simply created my first theme board, so watch this space for updates!

Peclers Presentation

The Peclers presentation last friday was one of the hghlights of the term so far. I've been obsessed with the idea of fashion forecasting since we were introduced to the books in our second week, and have been using them as inspiration and a guide for my own themeboards since.
I love the layouts of the pages and how they follow the trends through from inspiration to key looks to colour palets.
The presentation introduced us to the inspirations and trends for A/W 2009-2010 and did not disappoint. I liked the eco / green vibe from the trends and the fact that they were clearly inspired by relavant issues of modern society and not just fashion. This gave the ideas an edge to them and made you consider them in a new way.
I also loved the idea of use and reuse and the trend of well loved clothes, of quality over quantity and charity shop chic, as i think this is such a relevant trend at the moment. i think people are over the idea of throw-away fashion and want to reinvent their exisiting garments for the new season. This trend also touched upon the mixing of different cultures and becoming more aware of other cultures' fashions - "culture is what's left when everything else has been forgotten".

The presentation, other then inpsiring me, made me think about different jobs witin the industry - apart from design - and i think fashion forecasting would be a different and intriguing pathway to take.

PPCP

I had my first lessons in construction and pattern cutting last week and quite frankly found the whole thing overwhelming! I've had extremely little experience with using a sewing machine (domestic or otherwise) which proved to be somewhat of a problem... but as they say practice makes perfect, and after several early starts and late mornings practicing, I've finally been able to sew a straight seam, without freaking out that the industrial sewing machine is going to eat my fingers and learning that you should always make sure the needle is out of the fabric before pulling it - re-threading a bobbin approximately thirty times does that to a person. I have a feeling that construction is going to be the hardest of all the classes i take, but its definitely worth it when something turns out amazingly!
Pattern cutting on the other hand is one of my favorite classes so far - i love it! i like the logical aspect to it i think, as it gives you complete control over the end product. In theory as long as you put all the darts and seams in the correct places your garment will be perfect. Even today's task of creating a block pattern straight onto the mannequin and then transferring it to paper, which was full of potential errors, didnt change my mind. It actually made me aspire to create a better pattern next time around and to learn from the errors that i made. So i guess if desinging doesn't work out, pattern cutting's where its at!