Sunday 31 July 2011

CAR BOOT BARGAINS...

On Saturday I went to a car boot sale at Addington and bought some wool and books which I thought I put on here so you could understand what I was on about. The wool was 5 balls of yarn for £4 and 3 books for 30p which was a cheap bargain! There was a lot of tatty things there that no one wants but you can stumble along things that you can put to use which I will do with the wool to teach myself how to knit as I plan to buy some needles sometime soon. You should try car boot shopping if your arty you can find some good stuff!

ANOTHER DAY OUT AROUND SUSSEX AND KENT...

Over the weekend we planned to travel around Sussex and Kent so we went to Ton bridge, Tun bridge Wells, Brighton, Rotting dean and New haven visiting the beaches and getting to take in the lifestyle of the coastal towns. I took a few pictures of the landscapes because I always wanted to know what Brighton was like. On Saturday I went to a car boot fair in Addington and bought 5 woollen yarns and 3 classic books because I liked the book covers and they were only 10p each which I thought was really cheap. A really funny thing happened in Brighton as my sister asked for a 99 ice cream and a calippo so the woman gave us 3 99 ice creams and the calippo but all for a fiver which wasn't bad.






Thursday 28 July 2011

THE NEWEST COAT HANGER DESIGN...

To break up the tasks of today I decided to make another coat hanger cover and used a brown colour scheme involving floral and plain fabrics together. It still isn't finished and have to replicate this design for the back... hopefully I will have enough fabric to make it look slightly identical. Like it better than the brighter colours ??

BACKINGS FOR THE JACKET...

I got my jacket photographed today and the advice was that I could conceal the back up so I thought I would work on this by trying out different back shapes that would go with the front. I had to pin it all together ready for production and still need to amend it but should get on with that tomorrow so you'll have to wait and see for the end result.





LATEST PURCHASES...

During lunch time I have been shopping in Maidstone and found all sorts of bargains in the high street. I found some fabric in a charity shop all Laura Ashley and it wasn't priced so she gave me a price of £1.50 for it all which was good. Then I went looking around New look and found a burgundy coloured top and ripped yellow top and bought them together because they went with each other. I got the burgundy top for £3 and the yellow top £7 both in sale..got to love it! I had bought a black skirt for £4 from Primark and you probably know black is a safe colour because it goes with everything.True?

Today I had a bit of spare time so I trekked my way to Primark and purchased a tee which was £4 and a belt which was £1. You got to love deals and sales even though you know the prices are low anyway. I do like a bit of retail therapy once in a while...






UPDATES ON MY DRAWING...

Believe me when I say that I have incorporated yet more sketching into my designs becoming more confident with doing these daily drawings on anything that has inspired me or what I am thinking at that time. I have used a lot of masking tape and pencil layering it over various silhouettes and facial cutouts which was the fun side to improving this skill. Do you think I have improved... in myself I think I have but all opinions are welcome!







Wednesday 27 July 2011

DIFFERENT SHAPES ON THE SILOUHETTE...

From last time I have experimented with different backings and neck lines all moving the pieces around on the mannequin. I think both ways have worked out well but I prefer the two straps on the back as it looks more professional and couture. I like the fact that I didn't have an intention to make something like this but carried on making these pieces and placing them to sculpt the shape of the female figure. I think this is a good way to learn making it free and allowing you to make pieces become a complete garment.

YOU GUESSED IT MORE COAT HANGER COVERS..

I really do apologise that I keep uploading my work and it all seems to be coat hanger covers; see the ting is that's what I enjoy doing and I'm good at it! Today and yesterday I went for the colour schemes of red and then blue and brown. I didn't really have much to do and these aren't that time consuming so I thought I would gather some fabric together and have a go! Which don you prefer blue or red?

KNITTING = SUCCESS...

Finally I have managed to figure out how to knit successfully wish I have been close to giving up but felt I could do with a new skill. I was given some advice to start knitting a sock but I don't think I could knit something on such a big scale. I chose a burgundy colour so might incorporate some black and grey shades if I get on to creating some socks. You will have to wait and see...

Monday 25 July 2011

PLAYING AROUND WITH FABRIC PIECES...

At work today I managed to replicate the pieces that I showed you on Friday and started to piece it together on the mannequin making it into a garment on the mannequin. I found this quite experimental and it is still in progress but this is a design that could manufactured but I will continue to change and alter the pieces making other alternate designs. It worked out alright didn't it, opinions?

Saturday 23 July 2011

TOURING THE COUNTRYSIDE...

Finally today's post, today I have been all round Kent and East Sussex having a look at history and towns that are found in these counties. Of all the place I liked Rye because of the quaint houses and vintage stalls and businesses near the harbour. I purchased some interesting things only small things thought, don't get too excited!
BATTLE
BECKSHILL
RYEHASTINGS

These are some of the purchases I made today: little but nice, this is what I'm attracted to, how about you?

REPEAT OF THURSDAY...

Yet again on Friday a girl I have met at Reem suggested she wanted to go charity shop hunting so I thought I would go with her and we found ourselves buying the most obscure things. I ended up buying books when I don't read- great( just for the covers) and match boxes ( I know very random but they look old and very retro). The books retailed at £1.49 and £3.99 from Oxfam Book shop and the match boxes were £2.99 from Age UK both great buys for sketchpad making and displaying.

NO PLAN... GREAT OUTCOME...

After I had finished making coat hanger covers I decided to get some fabric and just layer different types of fabric on it scrunching and overlapping over each other making a thick and pretty new fabric. I didn't know where I was going with it but it looks better than I expected, don't you think? I replicated the first attempt and started to patch it on the mannequin making it suit a dress shape of a shoulder neck line. I thought this made it look really nice and would consider using this technique in my final collection next year. Obviously it looks better sculpting the female figure than 2d and the colours really work well together. Agree?