As a part of my project I really wanted to try 3D printing. Its a growing part of the industry in its early stages at the minute but it has great potential for expansion. I have read companies discussing how it could be used in the future due to the advancement of 3D scanning. Garments could be created to fit the wearer perfectly with no waste material so it also has some sustainable benefits. For me there are 2 ideas I want to look into which are producing elements to embellish onto fabrics and having motifs come out from the material and re-enter it without having to be attached. I have started on ideas for the first designs looking at the shapes from the light movement images. As the final result will have a plastic appearance I felt these shapes would work best. These are the first ideas:

I want to do straight tubes as well as curved but thought it best to start with the straight lines. As I would like to try and stitch between them or fill them I have looked firstly at a diamond structure similar to the tubular crin. I like this shape but would also like to try others such as rounded holes.

I've then started to bend the shape to get more movement into it.

The first problems I have encounted are when I have tried to bend it off the surface or back on itself. The tube seems to twist and struggles with the shape. I need to re look at whether its how the tube has been built and possibly start from scratch with this one building it a different way. The designs have been built in Maya a program that's good for 3D modelling and saved as an STL file. I've been fortunate that my husband happens to be trained in this program so has been able to assist me in how to use it. It is very different from any program I've used before and hard work to think in 3D but I'm picking it up which is the main thing. Either way its a start and I am pleased with the progress.