Sampling Evaluation

Now that this Sampling project has come to an end, my reflection is not what I expected it to be had I been asked at the start of the project. Splitting this project into two halves has really allowed me to see where the positives and negatives lie within my work.
My visual research started off quite vague not allowing any real connection to develop but after I had focused in on decorative pattern from lace and perfume bottles, my work began to have a stronger sense of direction. The way in which I was drawing really leant itself well to the marks that can be made with the sewing machines. I definitely went on a journey in my machine embroidery workshop making a lot of decisions rather than sticking to one path and following it to the end. Although I wish my end idea had come earlier to me, I feel that this really taught me about the creative process throughout the first 4 weeks. My colour choices went from pink and orange to shades of blue and then ending up at a monochrome colour pallet. Colour is always something that has been important to me and I never really considered not using it, yet for this workshop it was the best decision I made. I have a habit of complicating things and delaying time if I’m unsure of something but this realisation allowed me to see that sometimes simple can be more effective. I feel that from being in a confused question bubble, I ended up at a point where I created some really original samples that had a strong context within the visual elements of my drawing and sketchbook work. I ended this workshop with a lot of new ideas that I wish I could have developed further.

Although I feel that my first workshop eventually ended in a success, I know my dye and fibre workshop has really let my project down. Due to personal reasons, I missed two weeks of practical workshop time. This workshop had a lot of potential in really bringing the two elements of this project together and I could have used it to my advantage in combining techniques from two different areas of specialism to create distinctive and exciting samples. I wanted to experiment with the different techniques within Shibori such as folding, pleating, stitching, binding etc….., to discover the marks that could be made from each process. Initially I was going to experiment with dip dyeing, which I managed to do on a very basic level, and then moving on to being more purposeful and in control of what colours I wanted to achieve within exhaust dyeing. Once I had been able to create some controlled samples I wanted to work back into some of them with machine embroidery carrying on the successful techniques I was using at the end of that workshop to build a strong connection between each half of this project. For this reason I know I haven’t met my personal brief even close to what I could have. I think I’ve definitely learnt good things and bad things from this project. I need to be more decisive and confident within decisions even if they go wrong. There are many areas I am pleased with but also areas I wish that I could have achieved more from. I intend on taking everything I’ve learnt so far and put it into making my next project much more of a success from start to finish.

Dye and Fibre Workshop

I was really excited about the Dye and Fibre Workshop as although I really enjoyed working with a monochrome colour pallet within my embroidery, I was surprised at myself for this choice as colour has always been something that I find inspiring and important. I felt that because I struggled with my colour choices in the machine embroidery workshop, this new workshop was the perfect opportunity to explore this element properly and effectively. 

                       

                           

I narrowed down a colour pallet continuing on from development in my sketchbook.




The burn tests allows you to identify the fibre of the material. Synthetic fabrics do not work as well as natural fibres with particular dyes.

There are different sorts of marks that can be made through how you manipulate the fabric your working with. I explored some of these techniques with dip dying in direct dyes.

The materials I used were mainly silks but also some cottons.







Dyeing Yarn with direct dyes using a more controlled technique of exhaust dyeing.





Although this was my first time trying to achieve a particular colour, you can identify the difference. I was hoping to get a more sky blue colour in the yarn as opposed to turquoise blue cotton sample which I feel you can see in the photo above.


After researching more into Shibori and the techniques available I saw that a lot of the marks made on the material through tecnhiques such as folding, pinching, gathering, stitching etc, had an apparent resemblance to some of my linear lace drawings.