Line swatch

I took a more controlled approach to this swatch to represent the straight lines seen in some of my pictures. I used tread for embroidery and let it hang slightly loose to still keep a painterly feel.

Mood Board

At the moment my mood board is based around the idea of peeling paint exposing a more beautiful surface. I'm experimenting with the idea of revealing and unveiling and using the top coat of paint as a symbol of hiding or masking something. I wanted to contrast the harsh, stripped appearance of peeling paint against the more delicate patterns and colours that emerge as a result.

Colour story

I worked a lot with this particular image and decided to take my colours from it early so I can begin working with the right material straight away. I choose blue and cream for now, leaving it open to some variation while still giving me a chance to keep a mood in mind.

Example swatches

An obvious starting point is to represent peeling paint directly as done so in this swatch. I used sample pieces of  fabric, torn and loosely sewed to give a dishevelled appearance.

Swatches

For my collection of swatches I am looking at ways of representing tearing, ripping, peeling, scratching, bubbling and stripping. Each word gives me an idea for fabric manipulation.

Erdem

I looked at the flower patterns used in the latest Erdem collection while doing my fashion elective project and found that certain images I captured for this project have similar qualities. I represented this with brush strokes and torn up paper and hope to develop this further.

My favourite Patterns

My favourite patterns are ones which are quite linear with broken stripes and scratch like marks as well as solid shapes creating interesting positive and negative space.

Mark Making

While mark making I wove paper to create pattern, used paint with different brushes, tore paper, peeled paper, created stemcils and used bleach on cotton to re create the patterns I found most interesting from my research.

other patterns

I also found interesting patterns in the print room and on wooden surfaces. These mostly resemble painterly marking and scratches which I also want to explore when mark making.

Photographing Pattern

Some of my favourite patterns came from paint peeling and stripping from walls and surfaces revealing different colours underneath.

Starting Fashion.

For the next 3 weeks of fashion I'm experimenting with pattern. From my immediate environment I gathered images of anything I found with a pattern such a tree bark, earth, structures, gates, chipped paint etc. Gathering a huge amount of primary research is vital as it gives me the opportunity to look at and find the patterns I find most interesting to work with.

Medium Weight Material, 3rd shape, Gabardine.

This medium weight fabric was easier to manipulate than the chiffon but still drooped and moved more than Hessian. I was able to create similar shapes to the ones I created using chiffon while still being able to experiment with its tendency to droop on its own.

3rd shape, heavy fabric

The heavy weight fabric I worked with is Hessian. I found this most easy to manipulate as it stayed and bent exactly where it was placed. In this project though I was more interested in softer, flowing materials with movement when I was looking at the delicate wings of insects.

Boudicca

While doing contextual research I came across the sharp tailoring and strict shape of Boudicca designs. They have, however, recently developed what's known as the lightest fabric in the world and have teamed up with The Royal Ballet to display it. The transparent, shimmering nature of this material is exactly how I imagine the wings of an insect to look and feel like and if I was to choose a material to base my collection around it would be this one. "Lightest Fabric in the World" by Boudicca