Monday, 17 May 2010
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Process and Practice.....
OK this is going to be pretentious!! I want to try and examine the relationship between the process and the practice that is shaping my project going forward.
I am at a tipping point. The first year is coming to an end and the work I am producing is testing the bounds of what I understand to be knitwear. In so far as I understood it the definition was pretty straightforward knitwear being wear that was knitted!! No surprises there then....But it is changing.
You don't describe garments constructed of woven textiles but assembled by sewing as Sew Wear so it it valid to describe garments constructed of woven textiles but constructed by Knitting as being different? I am thinking about this as I seem in some ways to be approaching my Chimera method but I am not sure it is easy to give it a label....which is understandable...
These garments will be part woven and part knit but the method of construction will rely on knitting....not sewing. I am thinking of this method along the lines of tailoring. Tailored garments have their own identity, they are not cut and sew they are Tailored.....because their construction draws from a specific area of expertise. So I am thinking about what my garments are....and I don't have a name. But they are knitwear in as far as the knit component is more than just a way of construction. It is inherent in the life of the process, the way they will be conceived and the form they will take.
For now although unsatisfactory it will have to do by way of explanation. I am trusting that as I continue everything will balance a little more and the what and the why will even out....
Clear as MUD!!
I am at a tipping point. The first year is coming to an end and the work I am producing is testing the bounds of what I understand to be knitwear. In so far as I understood it the definition was pretty straightforward knitwear being wear that was knitted!! No surprises there then....But it is changing.
You don't describe garments constructed of woven textiles but assembled by sewing as Sew Wear so it it valid to describe garments constructed of woven textiles but constructed by Knitting as being different? I am thinking about this as I seem in some ways to be approaching my Chimera method but I am not sure it is easy to give it a label....which is understandable...
These garments will be part woven and part knit but the method of construction will rely on knitting....not sewing. I am thinking of this method along the lines of tailoring. Tailored garments have their own identity, they are not cut and sew they are Tailored.....because their construction draws from a specific area of expertise. So I am thinking about what my garments are....and I don't have a name. But they are knitwear in as far as the knit component is more than just a way of construction. It is inherent in the life of the process, the way they will be conceived and the form they will take.
For now although unsatisfactory it will have to do by way of explanation. I am trusting that as I continue everything will balance a little more and the what and the why will even out....
Clear as MUD!!
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Some Good.....Some Other
I am still working on the Knitting into fabric concept. Sometimes it feels like a really good idea, something challenging, something new...but at others I do wonder if these monstrosities will ever become something of interest let alone beauty.
I am working on doing the whole thing tone on tone.....using colour is distracting me from the process....I will give it another month (in my mind at least....) flogging dead horses is not on my agenda.
One thing to come out of this is just how hard it is to unlearn a way of working. I have mentioned before the tension that exists between the part of my brain that designs garments to sell...the part of me that kept me fed and with a roof over my head I suppose! And the designer that wanted.....still wants to test herself. This is hard part as without that dissatisfaction that drove me back, The sense of disappointment really in my own work whether it sold or not, I will have no finished MA project. And yet it is that part of the work I find it impossible to control or submit too...
So for now I continue, back to the stand and back to the books....looking for what the process will reveal and how I can use it.
As for the good.....really good I had an amazing visit to John Smedley. I have never seen such a complete operation and there was nothing abstract in the way the company functions. The in house testing was very interesting and exacting, I had never seen it used to that extent.....Also the dying the finishing plant. They had state of the art Whole Garment machines running next to old FF machines that required bar-loading.....skills that are rare these days. Again the point came up about designers are not technically enough minded also the old problem of Kitchen Sink Designing. The tension in a heritage brand must be quite difficult at times given designers always feel the pull of doing it because you can.....and yet sometimes you do need to hold back!! They even had one Technician/Knitter who was a woman which is still rare as hens teeth.
One thought to come out of this and also the New York interview is should Universities be offering a PGC in Knitwear Technology.....a kind of Pass-Plus for Knitwear designers. I think it is a seductive thought and in a world where industry link-ups are seen as key in generating external funding and Post Grad take-up I think it could be worth examining...
I am working on doing the whole thing tone on tone.....using colour is distracting me from the process....I will give it another month (in my mind at least....) flogging dead horses is not on my agenda.
One thing to come out of this is just how hard it is to unlearn a way of working. I have mentioned before the tension that exists between the part of my brain that designs garments to sell...the part of me that kept me fed and with a roof over my head I suppose! And the designer that wanted.....still wants to test herself. This is hard part as without that dissatisfaction that drove me back, The sense of disappointment really in my own work whether it sold or not, I will have no finished MA project. And yet it is that part of the work I find it impossible to control or submit too...
So for now I continue, back to the stand and back to the books....looking for what the process will reveal and how I can use it.
As for the good.....really good I had an amazing visit to John Smedley. I have never seen such a complete operation and there was nothing abstract in the way the company functions. The in house testing was very interesting and exacting, I had never seen it used to that extent.....Also the dying the finishing plant. They had state of the art Whole Garment machines running next to old FF machines that required bar-loading.....skills that are rare these days. Again the point came up about designers are not technically enough minded also the old problem of Kitchen Sink Designing. The tension in a heritage brand must be quite difficult at times given designers always feel the pull of doing it because you can.....and yet sometimes you do need to hold back!! They even had one Technician/Knitter who was a woman which is still rare as hens teeth.
One thought to come out of this and also the New York interview is should Universities be offering a PGC in Knitwear Technology.....a kind of Pass-Plus for Knitwear designers. I think it is a seductive thought and in a world where industry link-ups are seen as key in generating external funding and Post Grad take-up I think it could be worth examining...
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Question: Why Can't I Post These on Time...?
Answer: Because I keep putting off one thing to panic about another...
OK Since my last post I have had two meetings with my supervisor and all is well...
I am exploring knitting into (oh yes) wovens and will produce a garment during the next term to further develop the idea...there it is...written on the BLOG so it will happen!
The Shima development is taking a short holiday as the 4th year BA need to get their collections out and I know what that feels like so I am taking a step back while they panic.
Ditto Dubied for a few weeks too and concentrating on reading some texts on the current and historic state of the industry......and technology.
I also have my trip to John Smedley looming which I am looking forward to....technology in context. The questionnaires are now coming in so I will have a chance to start pulling that together and thinking about next year....and I now have some provisional dates for Montse Stanley ....end of May hopefully.
This is a boring page as the last few weeks have been about thinking as much as doing and it is hard to demonstrate how much this is affecting everything at the moment on the page....There are as many forks in the road at the moment as paths to take and it feels like I am hacking my way through inch by inch. Luckily the work is acting as it's own guide so forward we go...
OK Since my last post I have had two meetings with my supervisor and all is well...
I am exploring knitting into (oh yes) wovens and will produce a garment during the next term to further develop the idea...there it is...written on the BLOG so it will happen!
The Shima development is taking a short holiday as the 4th year BA need to get their collections out and I know what that feels like so I am taking a step back while they panic.
Ditto Dubied for a few weeks too and concentrating on reading some texts on the current and historic state of the industry......and technology.
I also have my trip to John Smedley looming which I am looking forward to....technology in context. The questionnaires are now coming in so I will have a chance to start pulling that together and thinking about next year....and I now have some provisional dates for Montse Stanley ....end of May hopefully.
This is a boring page as the last few weeks have been about thinking as much as doing and it is hard to demonstrate how much this is affecting everything at the moment on the page....There are as many forks in the road at the moment as paths to take and it feels like I am hacking my way through inch by inch. Luckily the work is acting as it's own guide so forward we go...
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Quick one now....long one next time!
Right ....this should have been done three weeks ago but preparing for New York seemed to take up most of my spare time!
What have I been doing since my meeting with Julie?
Mostly I have been looking at the way I want my work to progress and working out the best time for a visit to Southampton ( it would be better this term but will have to be next).
I have a date pinned down to visit John Smedley and watch production and after a very good N.Y. trip feel confident in the research I am doing. The F.I.T. exhibition was especially pertinent as it seemed to have every garment I have referenced as being important in viewing knitwear differently......although few of them were knitted!!
I've also begun my interviews and got a humdinger with frank views on how untechnical many knitwear designers are these days due to the fact sampling is done elsewhere, a direct result of the decline of manufacturing in the west. All good stuff.
Next weekI am returning to the stand to look at refining shape futher and after my meeting next week I should have more to say and a focus for next term.
What have I been doing since my meeting with Julie?
Mostly I have been looking at the way I want my work to progress and working out the best time for a visit to Southampton ( it would be better this term but will have to be next).
I have a date pinned down to visit John Smedley and watch production and after a very good N.Y. trip feel confident in the research I am doing. The F.I.T. exhibition was especially pertinent as it seemed to have every garment I have referenced as being important in viewing knitwear differently......although few of them were knitted!!
I've also begun my interviews and got a humdinger with frank views on how untechnical many knitwear designers are these days due to the fact sampling is done elsewhere, a direct result of the decline of manufacturing in the west. All good stuff.
Next weekI am returning to the stand to look at refining shape futher and after my meeting next week I should have more to say and a focus for next term.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Just a thought....
I have just spent two days trying not to be precious about how I explore my ideas......just can't do it!
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