Year 5 and 6 Fashion Workshop

I created a presentation titled "fashion can be made out of anything" with short slides displaying wacky and inventive fashion garments created with everyday objects from food to newspapers.

The children remained focussed through the quick presentation and it gave them ideas to create their own designs. We cut out t-shirt, skirts, dresses and trouser silhouettes and took into the classroom lots of everyday objects for them to stick onto the cardboard silhouettes. They also have a fashion show at the end of term which many of the children told me the workshop had given them ideas for.

These images show some of the children's work. Each piece was very inventive and unique.

Different colourways

To get the most use out of my large 1metre squared screen I have used it various times to explore different colour-ways as well as how many layers are most successful. I had 6 layers created which I made by colour reducing my drawings onto photoshop into 6 layers maximum, trying to merge together similar colour tones onto the same screen.

I wanted to try the screen with printing discharge onto dyed silk for a clean looking white print contrasting against the dyed navy. However, when I printed this on and the discharge was still wet, I noticed I really like the dark on dark colour tones so I printed a dark navy/black on top of the discharge. This does look more of a winter colour palette though, so for now I will remain focused onto bright colours for Spring/Summer. Plus, when the print was steamed I was really satisfied with the contrasting white and had comments from peers that it appears sophisticated. I also believe my samples have now developed into more professional looking prints and are more scarf-like. I now need to compose various screens which explore different scales.

screen printing bird print

After screen printing a blue tonal 5 layer print onto cotton with a bright scarlet background, I chose to use completely tonal blues for the motif's layers onto silk with a bright orange background to make the scarf pop. I am really happy with the vividness of colour on the silk twill and also believe my drawings are clear, crisp and textural. I will next continue to develop up to four more colourways with this screen before moving on and creating new screens.

screen printing a 1metre square scarf

I firstly split my large screen into quarter sections to sample my dyes on four colourways.

I especially like the tonal qualities where I have simply used shades of deep blue to enhance the tones of my design. However, some of my peers noticed the samples with bright orange and yellow colours first and gave the "wow factor". I have learnt I need to think about my target audience because so far I have been designing by reflecting on what I like, yet many people at the mid-term exhibition commented that their favourites of my digital scarves were different to my personal favourites. I therefore need to consider a variety of prints for my degree show.

I am satisfied with how a background layer cleanly applies a solid colour evenly around the motifs for a more interesting and exciting print. I will need to ensure, however that my print is thoroughly washed so no colour bleeds into the the white areas.

drawing eggs, watercolour textures

To add textures and pattern to my prints I have begun to create the patterns from egg shells using watercolours. I love to use Daler Rowney watercolours because they have a lovely soft texture which allows them to blend easily. I will soon repeat these marks onto drafting film, which will then be made into a screen to  screen print with.

mid term exhibition

The mid-term exhibition was a success. Many people commented positively on the display of my scarves, stating it was a unique idea to hang them from branches, which also gave a quirky and cute style which links to the appearances of my scarves.

I believe that my scarves display my drawings well and the colours are bright and appealing. However, I would like to now continue with screen printing processes more as well as continue drawing to achieve a variety of print skills which I can display in my portfolio.