Chapter 10 continued. Designing an accessory.

Please refer back to my entry for September 3rd where I posted my preliminary designs for an accessory based on the spiralling design ideas I had already worked on or was yet to invent.

I had previously worked out how I would weave my fabric and introduce the plaited / beaded cord which I planned to use to bring in contrasting colourways through the woven fabrics to be used as a head wrap and Chinese Knot.

I realised that instead of making a long narrow woven fabric on the Hand Weaving Loom I would need to make a very wide strip with a short length in order to achieve the lovely longitudinal sweep 0f cords demonstrated on the previous page.

Further details about this and how I planned to make the fabric are set out on the sheet below:

The following sheet documents how I wove my fabric and incorporated the plaited / beaded cords

I then had to think again about the length of  fabric required for the Chinese Knot and this is documented below:

Assembly of the turban style headpiece:

I have added the above images again below to demonstrate the texture and colours of the turban more clearly with digital photos rather than relying solely on the printed page.

My strips of woven fabric:

:

Front view before the addition of the Chinese Knot:

Rear view:

My completed turban style headpiece:

Front views:

Rear views:

Side views:

Evaluation, costings and health / safety observations:

Ch 9 Resolved Sample–final thoughts

Sian asked me if I’d considered the Glasgow Rose when I created the wrapped wire and shell feature and so need add these comments to my blog. I was fortunate enough to visit the Mackintosh collection in Glasgow last year and then a friend of mine brought me back a little momento in the form of a silk Glasgow Rose with the swirling lines. These are so beautiful and so simple and although I didn’t mention this in my work this image was very much on my mind

I also forgot to post details of how I’d mounted my Resolved Sample – see below:

Chapter 9 [Resolved Sample] continued

These are the final stages of my Resolved Sample – please refer back to my post for 27th July which shows the initial stages up to when I sent the work to Sian for review.

Sian affirmed my ideas and offered some really valuable insights:

I was then able to proceed. I have so enjoyed this!

 

 

 

Some of my favourite images:

 

Chapter 10. Design an accessory

In this chapter I have to design an accessory based on the spiralling design ideas I have already worked on or yet to invent.

I have decided to post my proposal for an accessory on my blog for Sian to review before actually progressing to making it up.

To begin with I collected images of accessories based on concept of the spiral:

More beads from same source as above:

I now need to consider the size  and shape of my accessory and whether I will make one or a series of items and whether it would be a 2D or 3D piece.

I’m inspired by the idea of making a hat or headpiece - something elegant and stylish and decorative.

The next step is to select an idea from my research images and designs in earlier chapters which I find inspiring and which spark an idea.

I really love the wrapped cords and their dramatic effects and decided to take this forward:

I looked into turban shapes:

And a few background historical facts regarding the development of the turban:

I experimented with shapes and how to put it together:

Front view:

Back view:

Think again:

Further experiments:

Idea for spiral pattern which could be used for circular earrings to compliment turban [yet to be developed further]:

Having decided to make a knotted turban-style headpiece I need to consider how I would weave my wrapped cords and made  samples using the Peg Weaving Loom produced by the Hand Weaving Company:

 

I need to reconsider how I weave the fabric in order to achieve a longitudinal sweep of cords which will enhance the spiral effect of the knot.

I realise that instead of making a long woven strip at a width of 10cms that it I will need to produce a strip which is very wide  and only 10cm in length. The width will depend on the finished length - which will be determined by the way the ends are finished /fashioned] 

The page below shows how the knotted turban may look:

The next stage will be actually involve making the wrapped cords and weaving them to produce the fabric required to make up the turban. Exciting!