Textile and mixed media: repeated diamonds.

 I have been looking at Polly Binns and Ealish Wilson, who both use a technique similar to smocking, but on a very large scale. Wilson uses various methods of securing her fabric, including cable ties and different threads.

 I tried out the same method, using embroidery thread to secure my calico. I knotted each piece of thread and left the tails long for added decoration.

 I then thought about possibly adding pieces to the textile backing, in the holes, so that there are smaller pieces of pattern, inside the textile.

 I have decided I would like to try to make quite a large wall hanging, so I wanted quite a few diamonds, to put in various places in the textile piece. I made diamonds from both clay and metal, using punches, enamel, pewter casting and reticulation to make the brass crumple and make a texture. I also used stamps to decorate some of the clay ones. I then used seed beads to weave one.

Design visualistation: Observational drawing and modelling.

 For observational drawing, we were focussing on organic forms, so I chose this item, which I guessed was some sort of fruit, because I liked the repetitive nature of the surface,and the fact it is not one shape, but lots of little shapes that join together to make a whole.

 I used paper and masking tape to create cone shapes, and cut of the tops to emulate the shape of the fruit. I then used the cut off pieces to make smaller versions of the cones, and cut their tops off too. I attached them together with wire and thread.

 I then thought of using thread to draw with, so I stitched a simplified outline of some of the detail. I think this is quite effective, and would make a good pattern to repeat and use as a textile print or wallpaper.

 I used a barbecue skewer and ink to do a line drawing of the whole object, which created very thin lines and quite expressive lines because I was holding the skewer near the end.

 This drawing is a lot bigger, I wanted to show the end of it, not the side. I quite liked using the chalk, but it was hard not to smudge it when I was drawing other parts.

I think this one is my favourite drawings, it is a drawing of my larger paper model (top left corner), so I collaged some of the same paper onto the drawing, and also used chalk and ink to create the shading. I did the drawing on top of tissue paper, so there was a texture to the background, and I think all of this together makes it a very successful drawing.

Fashion: 3D modelling

 In fashion, we were looking at shape, rather than trying to make a garment that fits to the body. To create the shapes, I used a pattern piece for a sleeve, and drew around it, then overlapped the same shape over the top, and kept slitting the piece and pulling it out, to create interesting patterns and shapes. I used the photocopier to make some of the shapes bigger, to make them have more visual impact when I pinned them on the mannequin. I think some of the best designs came from when I experimented pinning the shapes in places that weren't obvious, so not to make a garment, but put them in more unexpected places. I found this gave more interesting results.