Going Digital...

I have recently completed a module called 'digital design' using software such as Lectra Kaledo Print and photoshop to create repeat patterns for an appropriate target market. I chose the interiors market, and designed for the use of wallpaper on a small section of a wall in a living space... here are a few of my final designs and a few of the designs in different colour ways...

Etchasketch

As development for any projects I do I always find it very worthwhile to take drawings from sources of inspiration, here are a few I took from fabrics to gain a better understanding of how light shining on a smooth fabric will effect the colour and shading....

Knitty Gritty

I feel like Ive nattered on about what I like and what inspires me but haven't shown much work for it... so here is a random assortment of recent knit work I have done...





This hand knit piece was part of a collection I produced experimenting with how to create surface pattern and depth on the surface without changing the colour of the yarn. I found mixing knit and purl on the same row worked really well especially if the yarn had a slight sheen in it.
here are a few more samples from this collection...

Wonderland

These photographs are by Tim Walker, I love how the the whole scene is part of the fashion not just the garment.
My favourite one has to be Lily Cole photographed in India... just look at all those colours, details, the pose, the train... its all so beautiful. The intricate detail of the stairway, leading your eye to the flowing of the beautiful train.
I just love this image.

Take a seat...

Before coming to University I completed an Art Foundation course, and for my final project, I completed one of my favourite days out with my friends and went to a flea market. Where i found the most tatty old chair I have ever seen, riddled with woodworm, a ripped seat and scuffed to the bone... it had 'TAKE ME HOME' written all over it!

I took it home, sanded it down to the bare wood and treated the poor thing for its infestation of woodworm. A week after its beauty treatment, I painted the chair gold, applied crackle glaze and painted it magnolia.
I then made a new seat for the chair and and re-upholstered it with my painting of a rose. I loved this project, I put my heart and soul into it, and was so pleased with the outcome.

All is not lost... oh no wait...

So... you know that feeling when you feel like you have left something behind... but you can't think what it is... I had that exact same feeling today when i came to finish some of my work off on the computer and when it came to putting my USB sticks, full to the brim with design work... they were nowhere to be found... I had left them in a computer earlier today and they had been removed and taken by someone... the phrase 'if you don't laugh you'll cry' has never been more appropriate. Rise to the challenge Jones... and start again...

You trendy thing...

My 'textiles girls' and I were invited to the Bradford textile competition conference a few weeks ago... what an experience!

The day started off as an early morning road trip from University with my friends off my course, which then lead to us getting lost, stressed and insulted by the locals. The talk itself seemed rather irrelevant to us as we had already entered the competition last year but we gained a great insight into the anticipated trends of 2011!

The one which caught my eye was...

Floreal- A sort of 'rock and rose' theme, dream for the hopeless romantic, think running through fields of gold into the arms of that rogue. Plenty of loose, barely there fabrics in muted shades mixed with the deep and meaningful colours, deep pink and dark green.






This theme then morphs into 'meandering' a theme based on dreams and travelling, but in a 'head in the clouds way' rather than actually going anywhere, colours including bronze, deep orange and deep grey/ black.
This is a theme i really like the sound of, the sort of dreamy, floaty fabrics and nude colours... I can't wait!

What a legend...

We were lucky enough to have a guest speaker in out 20th century fashion lecture a few weeks ago, Roland Klein. I am a very visual person so someone talking for an hour in a lecture theatre does not usually captivate me for the full 60 minutes, but I think I speak on behalf of all of my coursemates when I say we were completely in awe of him. I was facinated by what he had done and where he had been, working for designers such as Dior and Jean Patou, it was hard to believe this man was actually in our lecture! He told us he was embarrased to have been referred to as a 'legend' by a previous group of students who had met him, but i completely agree with them!

The simple life...

I don't know about you... but i just think it is the best feeling to get away from the hustle and bustle of University life and go home for the weekend, re-charge your batteries, get some rest and generally 'sort your life out' and my friends and I say...
Living on the Wirral peninsula I am lucky enough to live very near lots of beaches and love going there to take photographs, here are some of my most recent favourites...

Great impact... yet barely there...

This garment is taken from John Galliano's Summer 06 collection, in my eyes Galliano can do no wrong, but even to the non- biased eye this piece holds incredible detail. This is an example of one of his more restrained pieces; barely there in the nude colour and weightless look fabric.
The sharpness in the piece is reserved for the line edges on the diamond pattern across the stomach of the model, created by gathering to give crisp, prominent edge.

Purls to die for...

The colours, the layering, the surface pattern, everything about this collection screams Autumn/ Winter. These pieces are taken from Angela Missoni's A/W 09/10 collection form Milan fashion week in February. I think this is one of my favourite Autumn/ Winter collections of this year, the muted earthy tones which have been put together compliment each other perfectly.
The great detail in pattern is not restricted to the use of colour but comes into its own in surface pattern created by different knitting techniques using rib and pleats. The natural slouch in the material compliments the laid back ethos of Autumn and adds to the texture of the fabric and overall texture and pattern of the garments.