Esseay Research, Emma Lundgren

Swedish Textile design Emma Lundgren creates the most creative, unusual fashion textiles. Her work uses techniques ranged from knitting, stitching, cutting fabrics and printing. Its incredibly bold and often confusing. She uses the laser cutter a lot to define edges of fabrics and then embroiders then back onto surfaces. This ends up with what some would call a ‘brightly colour jumbled up mess’. Underneath it all its based on Scandinavian folklore dresses, which were traditionally heavy embroidered with patterns. Her work can be used for all kinds of things. She makes jewellery, headwear, scarves, tights, as well as fashion garments.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Future-Folklore-for-the-Next-Generation/122498

Essay Research The hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery – 2009 results

By looking in the old Embroidery magazines, I came across an article from 2009 about the Hand and Lock Prize for embroidery.

This showcases the absolute best of embroidery from all over the world. There are two major categories, one for students and another ‘open’ category.

Its back by a London based embroidery company and it promotes the use of hand embroidered surface embellishment in fashion, costume and soft furnishings. The competition is judged on originality, design development, technique, commercial viability and use of materials.

Winners and Runners un featured in Embroidery magazine 2009

The prize winning featured in the magazine is Lucie Bourreau. She created the  most beautiful piece of embroidery for fashion. Modelled on a dress design the embroidery is created using beadwork, cord and chains. The colours blend together so well over top of the yellow base fabric. The embroidery is built up on top each other to create a solid block which appears to be quite 3D. This way you can see the intense work gone into creating it and the density of the work makes it stand out. The design work has been based on Indian jewellery and henna patterns. I think this is represented in the final design, however in a much more modern and wearable way. I think this piece could easily be translated to any couture brand or even the high street, its not over the top yet absolutely stunning.

  Eranga Lakmali Bandaranayale from the 2010 finalists

Eline J Le Callennec - 2010 finalist

Images and more infomation:
http://www.handembroidery.com/showcase/index.php?album=hand-lock-prize-for-embroidery/2010-finalists

Brixton Market. Project and Catwalk ideas

Our next project is centred around a catwalk show we will hold in Brixton Village, 5^th Avenue on the 31^st March. The topic is Transition. Brixton is a transition town, a town trying to live and work in an environmentally friendly environment, and working together to build a positive future.



5th Avenue in Brixton Villiage



In pairs we are going to create garments for the occasion based on natural, material or local transition.

I went to the market with Daniela. We both felt that the only inspiration we could get from the market was its colour palette and the patterns. There’s such a range of colours and I found areas such as a painted wall, with a section of colours which all work together well.

This is a great colour pallette and ordger. We could work on contrasting the top, brightly coloured buckets with the paler, greyer coloiurs underneath.



Another colour demonstration





Patterning. This could infludence the natural transition side of the project. This looks at growth and cells, simular to the circular bottle pattern.





I loved the overhead lights.
They are a series of lamshades put on top of eachother, forming a great pattern.



My Nana's buttons

My Nana gave me the most wonderful set of buttons. She gave me two full boxes with the buttons dating from 1900's to present day. I love the old militry sets and the retro 80's designs.

My printed scarves

I think my digitally printed scarves are amazing. I was so surprised with the colour quality of the prints and the gloss of the silk. I will definitely be wearing mine!

To follow up our consumption lectures we had a look around the museum of brands packaging and advertising. Despite its lengthy title, the museum was actually quite interesting. It is absolutely filled to the brim with vintage packaging, posters, postcards and illustrations. As you walk around the corridors there’s an overwhelming amount of clutter exploring the brands starting with 1910 to present day. There’s sometime very cute and coy looking at the retro packaging of chocolates and memorabilia.

I like the whole section about the great exhibition and the Victorian and Edwardian era. In the Edwardian time it depicts how the class barriers were broken down so the British public were able to laugh at humorous posters.



The museum of brand and packaging:
http://www.museumofbrands.com/index.html



Our task was to look at one cooperation, like Nestle, Cadbury’s, Persil, etc and write about what they sell, their brand values, their consumer, and their social or environmental impact. These questions didn’t really relate the museum so I researched what I didn’t know afterwards.

I chose ‘Hienz’ and my brand. In the museum there were plenty of tins stacked high of Hienz soup. This surprised me a little because the brand is best known for Tomato Ketchup and Backed Beans.

The Heinz cooperation started out on a vegetable patch grown at Henry J Heinz’s parents house in 1869. It was only 7 years later that Henry set up the F & J Heinz company and they launched Tomato Ketchup in the UK in 1886.

The Heinz message has always been about the quality of the food and how available the product is worldwide. With slogans like, ‘Heinz perfect soups, Every grocer sell them. Heinz for quality’ 1931. And ‘It has to be Heinz’ 2009, Heinz sends out the message that they are a necessity and produce the finest quality food.

In 2008 the Chairman, President and CEO announced its Global Sustainability goals.

Their goals are to reduce 20% of Energy and 20% of water consumption as well as 20% of solid waste, 15% packaging and agriculture and in 10% transportation. Plus renewable energy is to increase by 15% and all by 2015.  

Screen Printing

After doing a week of digital print, I moved on to doing screen printing. Although I enjoy screen printing, I’ve never considered myself any good at it. I think this is because I can’t control the outcome as much as I can with stitch or digital print.

I had two and a half days to get my printing done which I found very stressful! I don’t like the print and dye rooms so much because everyone was rushing to get theirs done and I like to work more relaxed without the mess!

Yet again I couldn't resist working into my prints using
embroidery, silk paints and beading

However I learnt how to use devore, discharge inks, how to print on silk probably and mix up dyes as well as other useful techniques. I found it hard to get the devore correct. Devore works using a fabric with a mix of protein and plant fibres. In our case, silk being protein and viscose is plant. Where the ink prints after heated it dissolves the plant fibres. You are then meant to dye the fabric separately, using acid and direct dyes. Mixing the dyes to get the two tone effect didn’t really work for me. When I dyed the silk and then tried to dye the viscose this just went over the top of the colour the fabric was previously.