Manipulation – Kayleigh Mace

Development Sketchbook

Kayleigh — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 00:05:25 +0000

To evaluate my design ideas I am recording them in a development sketchbook. I'm using this method so that I can record scale and placement ideas, technique research and the development of how the idea could be used in a final sample for fashion. These are examples of some of the pages in the sketchbook and I pretty pleased with them. I'm not normally one for lots of annotation but I'm making a conscious effort to record all of my thought process.

Scale/Placement/Fabric text/Paper tests/Technique and designer research

Colour ideas/On the stand/evaluating garment options

Sleeve development/Design research/Fashion drawing ideas

Hand stitching ideas

Kayleigh — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 17:57:29 +0000

So I've started on some hand stitching ideas working with acetate and organza. I had seen some designs created using quilling a technique I haven't used before and one I had wanted to explore in my project. I started by cutting strips of acetate 1/2 cm and 1 cm thick and attached some of them together using a Casal Guidi technique called single Italian insertion stitch. The technique is used to attach two pieces together with a lacy, open effect however is with the holes being spaced exactly opposite each other it appeared less lacy in style. The top colour of the strips attached was varied to show how both would look on top.

The results below worked really well and the organza held its shape without creating areas of different tension. The gold thread particularly has received a lot of praise since the sample has been displayed on my wall in the studio. It was also noted how nice the shadows it created were when they appeared later in the day due to the artificial light. This is something I need to look into how i could recreate and whether the idea would need to be layered onto a white fabric to create the same effect. It may also be nice however to see if would be appear on the skin if there were no other fabric underneath.

Another idea I worked on was creating a 3D surface by looping the acetate and attaching it down. The idea looked good in the hoop however it did manipulate the fabric when taken out. It is an idea that would need to be stitched onto a sturdier fabric to hold it flat or have weight added underneath to pull the organza flat. I used a clear thread which works well but I do feel some decoration between the loops would allow for it to be hidden.

Going forward I will be looking at scale and quantity of these ideas and, seeing how they work on the body. To do this I will recreate them in paper to allow me to work quickly and create them in larger quantities easier.

Idea development

Kayleigh — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 23:22:16 +0000

So looking at my visual research to date I was struggling to see ways I could translate them into design ideas. It was suggested I try and find a way of tying it in with the other side of my project by manipulating the imagery. To do this I first tried using photography by slowing the shutter speed like I had for my light movement images but this didn't work well. Next I tried pulling the images through a scanner which gave much better results. I moved the images in wave shapes, staggered the movements and twisted the paper around to get different effects. The end results I am really pleased with and should give some good ideas for shapes to recreate that are not so illustrative. These were some of resulting images:

The only thing missing from these images is the colours so maybe I need to do some more visual images in the colours of my palette. I also wanted to look more at details within my original photographs to help with smaller scale details to be taken into design ideas.

Embroidery Workshops

Kayleigh — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 15:43:58 +0000

This week I attended a full day embroidery workshop where I was inducted on the specialist industrial embroidery machinery. This was followed by two full days of self-directed study so I could familiarise myself with some of the machinery I hadn’t used in a while. Having an Irish embroidery machine at home means I’m very familiar with that particular machine however, it has been some time since I have used a Conely and tufter. In the workshop I was introduced to the two tufters and two Conely machines that produce chain stitch and moss stitch. Two other machines we were inducted on that I haven’t had much experience on before were a ribbon Conely machine and a three chord Conely machine. I was also shown how to switch between a chain stitch and moss stitch on the Conely machines so that I wouldn’t have to wait for a particular one to become available.

When I have previously used Conely machines I have struggled with the control of the stitch and fabric but this time I found it much easier. It is previously been a machine that I’ve shied away from using in my work because of this however I feel much more confident now that I could use it in a design. I did have a bit of trouble with the three chord Conely machine to begin with however having tested if with different decorative yarns and more practice I seem to have picked up the knack. The decorative work that this machine produces I think would tie in to my work nicely so it was great to finally start to feel better with it.

Having the two days of self-directed study days meant I could push some of the techniques and explore different thread types on the machines for example the tufter. It also gave me an opportunity to explore different base fabrics and how they would take the threads and, whether in fact I could even use them on a particular machine. Being able to spend so much time solidly on these machines has also meant I’ve been able to produce a good range of technical pieces for my technical file. Below are a few of my preferred technical sample pieces that I’ve produced and ideas I hope to push forward in my project.

Moss Stitch on cotton and organza.

Chain and Moss stitch onto a Plastic fabric. Interestingly the stitches came out longer on this material than on the others so some experimentation with needle height will be required.

Moss stitch also didn't quite work on the plastic but i have been advised to try using a stabilizer to help keep the threads in.

Moss stitch on wool that was then 'distressed' using the embellisher. Some of the stitches were lost however the general lines stayed but simply became blurry. This sort of distortion could work well in the project and is something i intend to test further on different materials.

3 cord Cornely with a decorative wool yarn on top. The effect replicates some of the light movement images I have taken where the white colour almost appears 3D in the image. Again this is a technique i intend to pursue and use in my work and, continue testing different decorative threads.

Ribbon Cornely work using a gold ribbon and blue decorative thread. When working around bends the thread stitches the edge of the ribbon giving a quilling effect and almost distorting the fabric slightly.

Irish machine embroidery using a different coloured thread on the bottom to the top and spacing the stitching to reveal the colour. I liked the effect this created and almost looked like a shadow.

Trapping threads in between layers of transparent fabric in the embellisher and attached other threads on the top to create layers of colour.

On a side note from having to use the different machines I was also able to find my new favourite Irish in the studio which happens to be machine number one.

Manipulation – Kayleigh Mace

Development Sketchbook

Hand stitching ideas ﻿

Idea development﻿

Embroidery Workshops

Hand stitching ideas

Idea development