Chiodi's Textiles Blog

So far on Fridays we have been learning how to use Photoshop and different Stitch techniques.

I have never used Photoshop before so I was nervous going into it as I have no idea how it works. I found the first session on how to create a professional mood board so useful and I felt that I really learnt something new that I could now do in my own time. However in the second session on colour and how to colour in your illustrations that we scanned in and change the colour of water coloured paintings really difficult and I don’t have any idea on how to get the look I am aiming for. I am going to have to practice Photoshop a lot I think before I start achieving a good level of work that I am satisfied with.

Maggies speed dating workshop with the sewing machines was really enjoyable I found that I learnt lots of new technics that I could just go and use and apply to my own work whenever I want to now. I found the ruffling machine scary but when you get used to it, it produces really cool results.

When talking in a group with others that are doing the same trend as me, Woodland Undergrowth. We spoke about we thought that the trend held history and that William Morris’ work would link to the trend neatly.

it reminds me of old tales, myths and legends such as Alice and Wonderland, Peter rabbit, Toad of Toad Hall and Mid Summers Night Dream. I feel that I get this impression from the light magic part of the trend.

The trend also talks about being dense which suggests to me that is contains layers, this could mean physically or metaphorically in the sense that my work could contain lots of layer or the fact that a woodland is made of layers.

The trend is part of the arts and crafts movement and I think that it is also very art nouveau. it has a tapestry feel to it in the way that it is thick and tells a story or tale.

I feel that the trend is very narrative so I want to incorporate some sort of story in to my work.

Orla Kiely

Orla Kiely, OBE was born 1963. She is an Irish fashion designer based in London. She began her career designing hats, and moved on to design work on handbags and a variety of other items including kitchenware and cars. She received a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art. She worked with several companies before setting up her own business.

Kiely was described by The Guardian as “the Queen of Prints.” Her designs have been used for a variety of objects, including kitchenware, stationery, furniture, wallpaper,and a range of Citroën DS3 cars.
She has also designed a refillable water bottle called the “Wottle”, which is a collaboration with the water filter company Brita. The bottle features her green-stem design and is made from high-density polyethylene, a recyclable plastic material, and produced by a company in Suffolk.

Her work is sold everywhere from department stores such as John Lewis and House of Fraser.

Clarissa Hulse

Clarissa Hulse designs beautiful and luxurious homeware from her studio in North London, with an emphasis on botanical imagery and bold colour.

Born in Prague, Clarissa lived a nomadic childhood, spending time in Thailand, Spain, Italy and Greece. This eclectic background has had a huge influence on her approach to colour and design.
“I have an obsession with colour – it is definitely the hallmark of my work. Also the beauty of nature completely fascinates me – I draw most of my inspiration from the countryside. Perhaps this enthusiasm stems from my childhood – my Greek mother was a keen gardener – she used to let me roam in flower beds while she was gardening and taught me the names of all the species.”

After graduating in textiles from Brighton Art College, Clarissa began to produce hand-printed scarves which became highly sought after on both sides of the Atlantic. This evolved into a line of home accessories, and over the course of fifteen years Clarissa has built the business to become one of the most respected textile brands in the UK. From a small collection of silk cushions, the range now includes bed linen, lampshades, towels, ceramics, an array of gift items, and two multiple award-winning fabric and wallpaper collections produced in collaboration with Harlequin.

Biba 

West London based Caroline Gardner is best known as one of the UK’s leading and most prolific stationery and gift designers. Her distinctive designs now stretch across a wide variety of product categories, including paper, accessories and lifestyle. Her signature look is an ever evolving modern classic. Products and designs born of traditional production techniques and values, set apart by a distinctive and playful blend of modern hues and scale. A portfolio drawn together by Caroline’s distinctive design handprint of quirky use of colour and placement.

Today Fashion Formula came in today to talk to us about what they can offer and how the digital print process works.

I found the talk very interesting and it now has made clear how the process work. In the talk Alex spoke about how you can choose from over 75 different fabrics. Within my project I want to use organic and natural materials so it was good to find out that source 3 recycled fabrics and 3 organic fabrics. I also found out that pigment printing is the most environmentally friendly so hopefully when I look in to this further and choose a final fabric I will be able to use the most sustainable and environmentally friendly method.

The company do all sorts of printing from fabric to wallpaper. They also have a resource where you can print your samples on to fabric and paper to see if the colours work. Getting the right colour is a big process as different fabrics pick up and react to pigment differently.

I am looking forward to the final outcome of what I can produce and how well it will work from being digitally printed.

I really enjoyed the first weeks session of Photoshop and Speed dating. I had never used Photoshop before so learning a few basic’s and how to make a professional mood boards was so helpful for me.

Since learning these skills I have made a few more mood boards to incorporate in to my work. I feel that for me it is going to take a lot of practice to get a high standard on photoshop just because I am so new to it.

Then in the afternoon we did a crash course on ten different sewing machines which was so useful. This allows us to get inducted and learn loads of new techniques that we may want to take forward. I now have loads of different samples that I can use as a reference in the future.