Weave is a project that I was really looking forward to because
it was a completely new technique to me.
We started off with a colour study by trying to replicate some
complicated images from magazines using only red, yellow, blue and white paint. The real aim of this first task was to
perfect colour mixing to achieve the right tones and shades. Every time I mixed a colour, I painted a
stripe of that colour. When this was
completed and I had all of my colours together it gave me a really good idea of
how the colours work together. This task
later came in useful when thinking about colours and weaving.
To weave I used a 4-shaft table loom. As a group we first began by learning to
weave using 12 different techniques.
This gave me an idea of how everything worked and a feel for each of the
techniques. I cut off the practice weave
and was then set the task of weaving a metre of experimental weave. I had to choose a colour palette from one of
my colour studies which I then used for this metre of experimental weave.
My final outcome of this project was 5 ‘concept pieces’ where
parts of my weave would be sewn into a shirt.
To get to these 5 pieces, I designed 16 different concepts of how I
could use weave in the design of the shirt.
Of the 16 designs, I chose 5 that I thought would work best with the
width of my weave.
I decided to stick to the same colours as I had used in my
experimental weave as I thought they worked really well together. With my colours chosen I began to weave for
the 5 concept pieces. I wove 2 metres in
total to use.
To make up the concept pieces I also needed another
fabric. I chose blue denim with gold in
as it was a heavy fabric that would work with my weave and chosen colour
palette.
The next part of the process was for me to cut the pieces
that I needed out of my weave. To do
this I needed to pin my pattern pieces onto the weave and sew around the
pieces. This stopped the weave from
fraying apart when I came to cut them out.
Some of the woven sections of my shirt included a button stand, cuff,
yoke and various panels. I cut my weave
in different ways so that it could be used both horizontally and vertically and
I also cut a piece on the bias.
After all of my pieces were finally sewn together I chose to
embellish them with beads and buttons.
We also needed to have an illustration board as part of our
final outcome. My board had a Chanel
bedroom background which I placed my illustrations of my completed shirt on.
I really enjoyed this project and learning the process of
weaving. Initially working with the
woven fabric was challenging but I got used to it in the end. I was really happy with the outcomes of this
project.
Sam
