Brief For: Unit 12: Engaging with an audience in Art & Design
Civic Knitwear Exhibition
Having visited and been inspired by the Knitwear exhibition you are now commissioned to produce a piece/s for submitting at 4:30pm to the curator David Sinclair.
The constraints of the commission are as follows:
To produce a woven/ knitted/ crochet piece/s using ONLY black
The piece MUST measure 30 cm (12 inch) on all 4 sides - a square
Be as creative as possible.
Time management is essential, processes and equipment available to you are the following:
Knitting needles
Peg looms
Cardboard looms
Crochet Hooks (see Kat)
This is a 1 day brief and your participation and experimentation of the processes involved will be an experience towards your unit 12. Engaging with an audience in Art & Design.
Document your experimentation and production on your blog.
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The Visit to the Civic
I really like the manikin wearing the badge knitwear n the middle. I really like how it shows off the manikins shoulders and also the length is not too short or too long. I think that the white one is of a good length again same as the other but I'm not keen on the colour or how it hangs on the manikin.
The manikin wearing the dark formal knitted woman's suit is very sophisticated but I think that because its all knitted, I find it's too over powering to look at. Now the red and cream jumper type top, this is also knitted but with some nice white trousers shows people that you can make knitted item's classy to wear on an everyday basis.
I love the knitted jumper on the front manikin as its simple but strong as an item of clothing. Not too sure about the matching bottom's as the make the outfit a bit too much for me. I hate the colour of the top on the far right manikin as it dose nothing for the manikin's shape tone or even to pattern. I guess I just don't like this one.
The idea of swimwear being created in a knitted construction way doesn't seem like the best idea. This is because as soon as the wool gets wet it could shrink and just absorb all the water it can so for this reason I don't like the idea of knitted swimwear at all. Although the idea of knitted over swimwear is a good idea as it airy and light so that you don't get too warm but if you do its easy to take off.
The red ankle length skirt is a very nice use of knitting skills. I think this because it allows the wearer plenty of movement and freedom but also allows them to be able to look smart and keep their dignity. Same goes for the manikin's wearing the purple dress and also the grey outfit. Now the manikin wearing the knitted waistcoat has a great shape complementation, its a nice not too over whelming colour and also nice length for the wearer.
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| Example of other kinds of knitwear |
This hat in the manikin is a very stylish kind of headwear. the way this has been knitted using thick wool and giant needles is the best way to construct a hat that's best to wear in winter.
The scarf looks knitted but I'm not too sure at this moment how it has been achieved, but I am wanting to find out. From what I have seen the fabric is of a warm fluffy quality and is perfect to compliment the hat and outfit nicely.
The jumper and skirt have been created using the same method and the same material as each other. Adding the scarf fabric to the sleeves to make it all work together is a nice touch. Although the outfit doesn't complement the manikin's shape or define it in anyways, it still works very well as a whole.
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| All very simple, all very shapeless and all very simply coloured. |
I adore the manikin wearing the blue dress at the front. It has fine detail on it, it's a beautiful shade of blue and shows off the manikin's figure very well. Whereas the manikin to the left of the blue dress; the one in the dark top and skirt, this one adds nothing to the shape of the manikin and the colour is very depressing and morbid in my opinion. The manikin wearing the light badge coat also as nothing adding to the shape of the manikin but the colour make the coat work well on it.
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| (Stevie Booth in the photo) |
The purple jumper has two shades of purple on it which complement each other very nicely. The shape of the manikin may not been so clear but the way the jumper sits on the manikin makes up for that. Moreover I think that the short complete the look. The manikin wearing the yellow jumper is of the same style as the purple but I think it don't have the same look as the purple is because of the shade of yellow it is. This shade is not very nice to look and so it makes you not want to look at the jumper for long. Although I have said that; the simple [pattern is a nice touch to try and differ your eyes away from the colour. Yellow, red and black tighter are a nice combo normally but used in the way this designer has for this next jumper I think its not a great idea. The short sleeves on it also make me feel cold even before I've tried it on. When I look at knitwear, I want to feel warm and cosy just by looking at it. So this top lets me down in the respect.
These dresses on these manikin's are very 1920's looking. I think this because they are like what I saw when I was doing research for my vintage project last year. The long jewellery also makes me think this. Knitted techniques were very common in the 1920's because there were not many machines inventoried back then in the fashion industry so most of the textiles pieces would have been made by hand.
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| (Lauren Houseman in this photo) |
Just at first look of these pieces of knitted clothing, I don't like them. The colours just ruin them straight away in my opinion. Although the colours lets these pieces down, they do a very good job at showing off the body shapes of the manikin's very well. It's just a shame the colour really lets them down in my opinion.
The dark dress on the far right manikin, although dark, is a nice item of clothing. This is because of the fine detail pattern on the front of the dress which adds character to the dress as well as more flair to it too. This also applies for the black manikin in the black jumper at the front. Although its dark too the lighter coloured detail adds to the effect of the jumper not being so boring and dull.
This orange coloured hoddie doesn't seem to be knitted but as its in this exhibition, it must be. I'm not too sure that the hoodie is something many people would wear but I'm sure someone out there will like it but all I'm going to say is that I'm not one of them. The cream and brown top skirt is kind of nice but again not something I'd go for to be honest. Although nice and light to wear, it doesn't appeal to me.
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For the brief we got (which is at the top of this page highlighted in light orange) I created a woven piece using four different materials. These were the following:
- black fake leather
- black bin bags
- black felt fabric
- black cotton fabric
To create my 30cmX30cm square I had to do simple step to complete my task from the brief. These steps are going to be explained next...
I first cut a 30cm by 30cm square out of an A2 sheet of paper. I used this as a guide for piece.
The I chose my four fabrics which I wanted to use for my piece. These have been listed above for you. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I used fabric scissors to cut my 4 fabrics into 32cm long by 2cm wide strips. This was cut too long so the fit on better. Also they where 2cm wide so that the fabric could been seen as they are different.
I stuck my warp threads down on the paper first as a starting point. One bin bag thread then one felt thread. I kept this pattern going till I got to the other side of the paper.
I got a weft thread of fake leather and began to weave it under a warp thread then over the next warp thread. I continued this until I got to the last warp thread.
I then got another weft thread but this time I used cotton fabric. I repeated step 5 but the opposite way; if on step 5 I went over a warp thread, this time I would go under it and visa versa.
Once I got to the end again with the cotton fabric I changed back to the fake leather for another row. Every time I finished a row I would change my fabric for the next row. If I was using fake leather I would follower the pattern for under over warp threads as in step 5 but if I was using cotton I would follow the pattern for the under over direction from step 6.
Once I finished my 30cmx30cm square I took 30cmx2cm of fake leather and stuck it around the edges to make it seem neat.
Finally I used a black pen to colour in any negative space left on the 30cmx30cm paper square.
The warp threads where the bin bag and the felt fabric.
The weft threads where the fake leather and the cotton fabric.
WARP GOES: VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV down
WEFT GOES: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>across
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| This is my finished Piece to fit my brief |
This is what was made out of all the 30cmX30cm squares everyone did
These have been made in to an outfit which was exhibition in the Civic until the Knitwear Exhibition was over. I am proud of the outcomes from everyone of my peers and I hope they all go one to be fantastic artists in their chosen specialism.
The warp threads where the bin bag and the felt fabric. 
