31 January 2013

1, 10, 1000 - the beginning

New University Project!

1, 10, 1000



For this project we have to decide whether we want to be:




1. An artist; creating bespoke, one off pieces which are very high quality, expensive to make & also expensive to buy, at the high end of the market.




10, A Craftsperson; creating a batch of products, using batch production methods, not overly expensive to make, and sell as a high quality set of products at a reasonable price on the market.




1000, A Designer; producing designs which are suitable for mass production techniques. Made using mass production techinques. Dont need to actually create 1000 products but use methods that make it possible! 

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I am torn between Designer and Craftsperson. I think i am a craftsperson, but as i intend to screenprint and create, one day, alot of fabric. that is a designer! But i want to design it and print it myself, all of it, therefore.. i am a craftsperson.. see the confusion?!

This project, for me, is about creating a quirky fabric. Four fabrics, that create my first fabric collection!! Ive been in fabric shops weekly for about 3 years now.. and i certainly have my favourites. I think the best ones are the contemporary ones from designers like michael miller, clarke&clarke, all the classics! For me, these designers bring things back to basics in brilliantly quirky ways; This is michael millers collection theme called Ahoy Matey. As you can see, 2 of the eight fabrics and the same design, the rope. Just a simple rope pattern with circles as a feature of the stripe. This is a great example of where my first theme, Back to basics, has come from.

Click to enlarge this beautiful ahoy matey collection from MM
So, now i have a starting point for drawings, i wanted to look at actual themes. Clearly this theme is the pirate theme that is so popular for little boys at the moment - MM create most of their fabrics for quilt use - something i intend to do to - but perhaps more heavier fabrics that are suitable for more durable craft use.

My chosen theme, was Sewing Notions. I sew most days. if im not sewing, im thinking about sewing. I spend way too much of my student loan on things i just *need* - new rotary cutters, bias tape makers, pinking shears - you name it, ive pretty much got it when it comes to fabric crafts! With that decided, i started a little sketchbook (yes a tiny sketchbook - my tutor was NOT impressed!) over christmas drawing all the things i use on a daily basis.

I am currently at the stage of making my drawings into digital images on Adobe Illustrator, and making them into screenprints. I burnt my screen yesterday and it will be ready and waiting for me in the racks tomorrow - where ill do some test prints and try to get a picture on the blog!

Thanks for reading!

Louise :)


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