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On this day I practiced the running stitch, baste stitch, back stitch, catch stitch and whip stitch. I have not sewn anything since elementary school, so getting used to working with the needle came with a slight learning curve but after quickly getting the hang of it it became very fun.

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On this day I mostly practiced the french knot stitch and the blanket stitch (not shown in the photo), and near the end of class I experimented with the french knot and the back stitch and made a little bouquet of flowers (unfinished) that I'm very proud of. I made the leaves using the back stitch technique, except instead of continuation in a straight line I created my stitches from the same point.

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My favorite basic stitch I learnt from Ms Aura was the french knot, so I got inspiration from my practice to do a bunch of flowers in a cute basket. On the first day of working I focused on the flowers and planned to do the basket afterwards.

The five new stitches I learnt were the stem stitch, satin stitch, woven spider stitch, lazy daisy stitch and feather stitch. I used the stem stitch for leaf decoration, the satin for most of the leaves, the woven spider for the roses in the basket, the lazy daisy for the darker flowers on the right and the feather stitch for the taller flower plants.

I also made sure to do some of the basic stitches as well, such as the whip, catch, running, french knot, and back stitch.

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On this day I focused on the outline of the basket as well as the bow at the top, although I made a poor judgement of completing the flowers before the basket and came across a few overlapping issues. Next Tuesday, the final class day for this project, I will complete the inside of the basket with some satin stitches and also do the blanket stitch for the border of the fabric.

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I expected to finish during class on this day but unfortunately the satin stitches for the basket took much longer than I anticipated. Tomorrow I will work on my project further during my Study Hall period, although I'm worried I won't finish before the long weekend and since I have a few other assessments going on I should finish it tomorrow in order to ensure I finish it on time.

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On the last work day for this project I finished the inside of the basket and completed the blanket stitch for the border as well. I'm very happy with how well this turned out considering it's my first time doing embroidery like this.

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This is a photo of a Tibetan singing bowl, which is rooted in many Buddhist meditation methods and promotes personal spirituality and harmony.

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Today I printed my design onto the cyanotype and am prepared to stitch next class. I switched up my idea (although still following the general theme of celebrating Vietnamese culture) and took an image of Nguyen Ho Thuy Tien, a water puppeteer at the Thang Long Water Puppet theatre.

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Today I started stitching. I began by filling in the main focal point of the print, and making sure that some places are more crowded than others to create a sense of balance.

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This is the first time I've ever made a piece of clothing, and at first I struggled with aligning my stitches accordingly and at one point I had stitched too close to the edge for one of the pant hems so I had to use the seam ripper to redo it. Overall, I'm actually quite happy with how this came out considering I'd never made a piece of clothing before. It's also wearable so I think I might use it in the future.

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The pattern I chose for my project was the luna tank top, which I found for free on Helen’s Closet Patterns–it’s a tank top that drapes down like a dress, and the bottom is left unhemmed for maximum swish. I wanted to pick this one because it was beginner-friendly and is a practical piece, something that I would wear in my day-to-day. It’s also a comfortable yet cute top and would be an interested addition to my (very plain and simple) wardrobe.

I found my fabric at the fabric market in district 5, as labeled. It was difficult to find something that I liked since most of the fabrics there are catered to the Vietnamese culture, so the patterns are more old and vintage and are mostly meant for making áo dài or traditional Vietnamese pajamas. This color was cute and the pattern was as well, so I bought 2 meters.

On our first work day I struggled a bit with printing–the pattern states that it’s meant to be printed on A4 sized paper, but when I tried it it came out way too small, so I had to manually crop every single section of my piece to fit the A4 size on Procreate before I could actually print anything. Next class I will have to tape my pattern together before I can cut anything out, so this part of the process will probably be the most tedious and least enjoyable. However, it’s important that it’s done right otherwise I will struggle later on with putting the piece together. I hope to complete the cutting out of all my pieces by next class, so I can stay on track with the working time that’s been allocated to us.

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This is the most tedious but the most important part of the process–making sure my pieces perfectly align with the pattern ensures that during the stitching process, all of the fabric aligns properly and connects accordingly.

While I didn’t have much trouble pinning & cutting the shirt pieces, I struggled slightly with the neck and arm bands because of their thinness, and ended up with a lot of cut-out fabric pieces that I can’t use because they’re far too wonky. I should have used a ruler to get straight edges. Because of this I wasted a lot of my time, which is something I will keep in mind for future projects when I’m cutting my fabrics. I will also have to get through the stitching process efficiently in order to complete the piece before its deadline in two weeks.

I also realized that because the fabric I’m using is not knitted fabric, the type used in the pattern that I chose, I will have to hem my shirt. This might cause the shirt to be a bit too small, but if that’s the case then I can add ruffles to the bottom to lengthen it (as was advised by Ms. Aura!) Luckily the fabric I used is very stretchy, as is according to the instructions, so I should have no trouble with the seams as I’m stitching later on.

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I want to practice using bias tape, which is the technique I used to "hem" the arms in the fastest, neatest and easiest way possible. Since I was coming on to the deadline I wasn't able to have extra practice time to develop this skill, but I watched a few tutorial videos and got a lot of help from Ms. Aura which helped a lot in understanding what I was doing, and I'm happy with how it turned out and it looks very neat on my piece.

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Sewing machine packet practice (Oct 2/3)

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Sewing machine packet practice (Oct 2/3)

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Completing the sewing machine packet was good practice learning to control the fabric while stitching, and making sure that it follows the correct direction. I also learnt to choose the right speed of the sewing machine, and ended up feeling the most comfortable with the slowest speed as it is a very new skill that I still need time to master. It also helped me learn to control and become comfortable with the workflow and setup process of using the sewing machine, another major skill that I have to master.

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4 important things when setting up the sewing machine (Sept 19/20)

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4 important things when setting up the sewing machine (Sept 19/20)

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Thread through the correct hole of the spool and locking it before stepping on the presser foot, looping the thread on the right hooks before reaching the needle, placing the thread to the left of the needle, placing the spool and looping it through from the left and not the right side, using the correct settings for the stitch (for us that would be setting number 1).

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I finished cutting the pattern of my pants (which were adjusted to fit my longer legs compared to the pattern), and cutting out the pattern fabric. Cutting took longer than I expected because I am not used to the process.

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Since the neck bands and arm bands were too short to fit my shirt, I want to try and recut them to fit without losing any length. I also have to figure out how to make the raw hems not visible, which is difficult because my instructions are catered for knit fabrics which don't tend to fray.

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I did research on a specific type of dye called Sukumo dye, which is naturally fermented with lye, lime, sake, bran and potato, originating in Tokushima and spreading throughout the Edo period. It's made from the Tate indigo herb, a natural herb, which are sown and planted every year, and dried in the sun once harvested. Sukumo dye is unique in that the method consists of fermenting the leaves for 100 days, making it possible to dye with indigo year-round (harvestation is limited since Japan has all four seasons). It is also ideal summer clothing as the dye has a UV-blocking effect.

https://aizome-textiles.com/blogs/the-bed-blog/samurai-secrets-three-true-stories-of-the-aizome?srsltid=AfmBOorxKa24UsElU59uYeGFozMlk--VuaqlMAkyRRA636njjAHPGNia

https://japandoraku.com/goethe-article-nakanishihidenori/

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It was a slow start today because I had a lot of trouble printing out my pattern. The sheet did not fit typical A4 paper, so I had to cut out the quadrants of the pattern and print it on four separate sheets of paper and stick them together before I could start cutting. I also chose the shorter version of my pattern, but that ended up being too short and a bit more cropped than I would have liked.

Today was hard because I already felt as though I was behind and I wouldn't finish on time because it took an hour to just print the pattern correctly. I also wasn't feeling confident that the end result would look good/fit me.

Printing & cutting took much longer than I expected because of so many troubles with the proportions of the pattern. I also had to cut the quadrants digitally and make sure they actually lined up perfectly so they would be good to print.

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Hemming the shirt took longer than I expected because I had some trouble operating the ironer, and that process took up a lot of time.

I need to revisit my plan because the fabric I am using is not knit fabric like they used in the instructions, which was the initial reason I had to hem my bottoms instead of leaving them raw, but my fabric is also very very stretchy and light compared to knit fabric which made cutting very difficult as the fabric would move a lot. I ended up using tape to tape the pattern pieces on top of my fabric and cut it that way, which saved some time and made the bands look better.

I feel very unconfident and scared trying textiles, as it's something I've never explored before beyond embroidery, and I'm very unsure about myself and what I do which makes this process a bit scary.

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Kumo Shibori

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Kanoko Shibori

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1. Indigo dye's popularity dates back to the Edo period in Japan

2. It became popular for its antibacterial, insect-repellent, slightly fireproof, odor-preventing and skin relieving (for eczema) qualities

3. It's associated with concepts of high class, quality and craftsmanship

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My samples are turning out very well, despite the fact that I'm nervous just because this is something I've never tried before. Something I've been wondering is if there is any other way to create a stencil similar to those used in Tokushima to press and print patterns onto the fabric, such as wood carvings or even cut-out paper. This is something I can try later for my own freestyle fabric pieces. I think I would make a hankerchief using shibori, as it is fairly small (easier for me to work on since I'm an unconfident beginner) and allows for smaller detail focus.

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The prompt that interests me the most is prompt #5: Personal Identity. I immediately had the idea of reflecting my journey of dealing with maintaining & keeping freedom while expanding my artistic skills. I think the hardest thing about becoming a better artist is holding on to the child-like freedom of truly putting whatever your mind is telling you onto the paper without always subconsciously second-guessing yourself, and maybe consequently losing the love of the arts that made you start drawing in the first place. I can portray this idea through symbols, such as a dove which is a common symbol of peace and freedom, and depict a young version of myself holding on to it. I can use different shibori patterns to create flowers, like kumo or kanoko, that sometimes appear spiky and can be representational of dangerous flowers/poisonous flowers, a symbol of life and how it can grow harmful as it grows over time.

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The process was a bit messy at first as I was getting used to using the tool to apply the wax onto the fabric. I occassionally moved the tool too fast over top of my fabric and caused a bit of splashes, although nothing that ultimately affected my final design. For a larger piece, my only concern is that once put in the dye bath the wax might crack because of the bigger sample size inside a fairly tall and narrow bucket where the dye is stored, and that it might be a bit more time consuming, but I think it would still be doable and retain the design.

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The most important part of the rubric for me (upon reflection with a partner) is the application of techniques--there is no set minimum, so I will have to push myself to use enough techniques that my piece has depth but not so much that it overwhelms more important aspects of the piece or renders me unable to complete it on time. After brief planning, I will revise my composition and method, and I want to have a set plan going in to next class in order to get started right away and use all my allocated class time efficiently. For example, I want to confirm whether I will separate the layers of waves into different fabric pieces and sew them together afterwards, and how I can apply the gradient wash technique to each separate wave in my design.

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I did not exactly complete my daily goal, although the reason for that is because my plan has slightly changed in order to be more efficient. I will work on all the steps of stitching for every piece simultaneously to keep everything on track before I dye anything, which is why I did not do as much stitching today.

The miura shibori is made to resemble the ripples of waves, as well as add interesting texture to the gradient wash. I want each layer to look a little bit different from each other, hence why I applied slightly different techniques to each of them. For example, the third layer of waves has more straight nui shibori stitches instead of the wavy miura stitches of the first layer.

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I managed to ake some more stitches for my nui shibori, although I did have to adjust how thick the thread was because I couldn't find any of the larger needles and had to use one with a blunter end. So far I'm slightly behind, as I would have liked to have moved on to the dyeing process with the turquiose bottle dye, but I plan to finish the stitching by next class so I can then begin dyeing my fabric pieces.

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Pattern Inspiration:

The patterns I incorporated the most are the ripple effects typically seen in water when light is bouncing off of it through nui shibori, and the straighter, linear ripples of the white foam connecting to the water as it washes up on shore, through batik, kanoko shibori and . The main inspiration of these patterns are waves themselves, and the patterns they create as they interact with light combined with their movement. Capturing this movement through dye techniques is the main purpose of my naturistic theme, and in using it I successfully respond to the prompt that I chose.

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I realized after dyeing three of my pieces today that I would have to compromise some visual elements that I had originally planned in order to finish the project within the deadline. I did feel a bit sad about it and I worried that it would be a detriment to the final piece, but unfortunately I will have to do so. Luckily, the gradient wash, the technique I was most worried about in terms of poor execution, turned out great and exactly how I imagined. The second wave layer (with the arashi shibori) also turned out the way I'd planned, as the streaks are facing the correct direction.

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https://www.anytexture.com/2019/06/khmer-ikat-and-the-institute-for-khmer-traditional-textiles/

https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/JSS_103_0e_Cheesman_ANewMethodOfClassicicationForTaiTextiles.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_textile_art

I planned out my concept in my sketchbook and prepared some designs. The topics I chose from this course are embroidery, batik & embellishments, and my inspirations come from the multiple textile traditions of different Vietnamese ethnic minorities, such as H'mong, Khmer, Tai, Tay and Muong.

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My concept is inspired by the illustrations of the artist known as Pidgin Doll, who creates abstract clothing concepts with strong geometric and stylized shapes, which I hope to emulate in my own piece.

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This design is by the artist Gunnar Deatherage, who created this particular outfit that Chappell Roan wore at a performance. I'm greatly inspired by the intricate embellishments, especially on her hat where the shape of the jewels follow delicate soft curves. I will incorporate these elements into my own piece.

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I chose embroidery, batik & embellishments as the main three skills of this course. I will buy the embroidery floss I need in the colors I require, which include the necessary colors; red, black, blue, yellow, green, and white, though if I can I will also buy purple, pink, orange and other shades of green. I will need to buy at least 2 rolls of each of the necessary colors, although I probably will buy 3, which will probably cost upwards of 200,000VND. I will also buy the beads I need for the embellishments, which will probably not cost more than 100,000VND. To be safe, I will set my overall budget to 650,000VND to ensure I can buy what I need.

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I started on my portfolio, including my sketches and all of my inspirations from the ethnic minorities I selected as well as other artists and put into words what I was taking from all of them. It helped me better grasp my project in terms of concept, and I have a much clearer plan in mind for the direction my project will go and what elements I will include in it; this includes the bright colors I will use for embroidery, the exaggerated shapes of the outfit designs to create unique silhouettes, and the use of manual dye from the brand Rit, to speed up the process and leave some parts un-embroidered in order to have the outfits stand out and remain the focal point.

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I further developed my portfolio, refining my explanations of my ideas & including more research on the textiles of the various ethnic groups. I also made some adjustments to the layout of my piece. Instead of the initial vertical design, I will go a horizontal layout instead, inspired by the style of Pidgin Doll's design layouts.

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The trip to the fabric market was informative in terms of knowing exactly what can be found within my area, which might be helpful to know for future projects. I was surprised at how many items can be found there, such as the variety of embellishment beads & threads. I also realized that if you look like a foreigner or speak any language other than English, the sellers will upcharge by quite a lot to make more money & take advantage of the language barrier, so it's better to go to the market with a fluent Vietnamese speaker that can make sure you're not getting scammed or upcharged. They can even bargain the prices & lower them.

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I translated my designs onto my fabric piece using the fabric pencil, making sure to outline the exact patterns & shapes I want to follow. My next step for next class is to start with the fabric dye, which I will need to purchase on my own since I could not find it on the field trip to the fabric market.

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I refined my plan for this project, so I know when I'm on track. As of now, I do not have the dye fixative I need to continue progressing, but ideally I would have the dye by next week and finishing dyeing my fabric by the end of next week. Then the rest of my focus would be on finishing the embroidery, which will be the longest part of the entire process.

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Since the dye fixative still hadn't arrived that day, I instead worked on the border, doing a blanket stitch to close off the raw edges (since I cannot proceed with embroidery until the dye is finished).

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I received the dye fixative that I ordered, and to make sure that the dye is functional without risking ruining my piece I tested the blue dye on a spare piece of fabric. The dye comes with instructions on how to use, which is how I learnt that the dye still needs to be in bath form, which makes it more difficult for me to dye separate parts of my piece without it bleeding and looking messy. Since I already have the dye that I ordered, I think the best course of action is to embrace the messiness that the dye will add to my piece and use the embroidery to make it look a bit cleaner & finished. In the meantime, while waiting for the spare piece to finish marinating, I worked on the border blanket stitch as there is little else for me to do without the dye.

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1. The emersion of couture fashion in the 1860s where designers draped fabric onto the live model, drawing the finished designs of the collection to then be sent to clients. In articles they were printed in full color (by the 1900s), conforming to a static and iconographic style to accurately convey information to the viewer.

2. America's first illustrator, Felix O. C. Darley, began freelance work in the 1840s for well-known authors such as Washington Irving, James Fennimore Cooper, and Charles Dickens. Artists were typically staff at printing companies or newspaper offices, creating drawings on the block for engravers or drawing on lithographic stone plates for poster publishers.

3. Gustav Doré learned engraving and was a famous caricaturist by the age of 22 (early 19th century). He turned to illustration, creating pictures from novels such as Don Quixote, along with books from Rabelais, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo and Edgar Allan Poe.

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Lady Gaga at Met Gala 2019, by Brandon Maxwell, Camp: Notes on Fashion (theme)

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This is the outfit I drew based on Annie's description of Jenna Ortega's Met Gala outfit of 2023. The top is much closer to the actual garment, although the bottom of the dress is what I struggled with the most. Overall, this exercise is good for imagining and visualizing the structure and fabrics of a garment, how it's built and how to represent the fabric through linework and shapes.

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I have completed dyeing my project and have moved on to the embroidery, which is the longest part of the project and the most intricate. I plan to work on it on my own time, and hope to complete the project by the end of March.

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CITY CHOSEN: MILAN (ITALY)

I selected Milan because it is one of the largest "fashion capitals" in the world, with the likes of New York and Paris in terms of the fashion industry and its influences. It has been an area of high fashion for many years, meaning there are a lot of fashion shows that happen there from which I can draw inspiration. One such fashion show is the Vogue Milan Fashion Week. After observing the various outfits from the fashion show alongside more casual wear, I found that Milanese fashion often features an abundance of sharpness, such as their blazers and even their skirts/dresses that have stiffer fabrics with harsher angles to them as opposed to the common soft flowiness found in most dresses. I also found that patterns in fabrics are common, along with fabric layering to create volume and silhouette. I applied these aspects into my rough sketches, the first inspired by the Fashion Week and the other inspired by the Milan Cathedral, the most famous piece of architecture and a staple of Milan. The first outfit is harsher, with the layered fabrics around the waist and arms, and the corset is a hard plastic, achieving the shininess that I also see to be common in Milanese fashion that adds to sharpness. The second features the pattern aspect, with the outer layer made from a sheer fabric embellished with the patterns of the Cathedral, the focal point of the garment, along with the same patterns throughout the dress to tie it together.

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I refined my ideas into two complete designs, while still being undecided on the color palettes. I worked mostly on creating recognizable silhouettes for both, while incorporating the three main elements I found in Milanese fashion, being layered fabric, sharp silhouette and patterns. I ended up changing a few things for both designs, such as the sleeves of the first garment to match the fabric of the skirt and the embellishments of the second garment to be more accurate to the patterns of the Milan Cathedral and to take up less space amongst the piece as a whole, as I felt it was too crowded. My first piece has a steel corset, which I thought is a very uncommon piece in fashion but also accurately reflected the glamor of Milanese high fashion.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

Inspired by the romance & high fashion of Milan, my pieces as a representation of both the city’s tourism and its popular fashion shows, reflecting Milan as a fashion capital of the world. My first piece depicts Milan in its high fashion, featuring the iconic fabric tiers, sharp silhouette and shine of the steel corset. My second piece presents Milan in its more elegant ways, with a low-cut figure-hugging gown and cape, while incorporating Milan’s tourist landmark of the Cathedral in its embellishment patterns, which are inspired by the designer Pham Dang Anh Thu and her ballroom-esque gowns.

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1. Angelo & Charles - storyline inspires the looks & ties them together, great craftsmanship, balanced looks that fit together, bold colors, wearability & functionality

2. Angel & Minju

3. Carli & Daniel

4. Ashton & Marco

5. Kiki & Farai

6. Claire & Adolfo - fabric construction was ugly, the fabric is ugly, the tarp for the girl's look is very flat and the cords on the jackets seem like a last-minute decision and don't have a lot of structural purpose

Prediction: Claire & Adolfo will get kicked out and Kiki & Farai will stay in the competition. Although Kiki & Farai's looks had poor color choices, hem choices (in terms of leaving it raw instead of finished) along with too many elements to both garments resulting in them looking discombobulated and home-crafty, Claire & Adolfo's looks were even more disarrayed with the two outfits looking as though they don't belong together. Claire & Adolfo had much more craftsmanship problems than Kiki & Farai, with the structures of the garments on the girl's look being very unflattering and flat, while the man's look was very uninspired. I liked the theme, but the fabric choice was very poor and made both looks seem home-crafty, while the addition of the orange cords seemed like a last-minute decision in attempt to tie the looks together but gives the garments no structure.

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My collection is inspired by the Y2K-esque fashion of the city Tokyo and the Harajuku area of Shibuya, Japan. I aim to convey the active social life of the area by taking elements of common fashion and combining it with other Y2K aesthetics, while also elevating the style to something more couture than commercial. I've created a fast sketch of a male and female look, drawing them together as I want them to be unified while also being jarring as their own garments. Image inspiration comes from the streetwear of Tokyo, combined with other elements such as graphics, raw hems, over-sized clothes, baggy jeans, leather and belts.

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I want to convey a theme of modernity combined with couture inspired by the fashion trends of the Tokyo/Harajuku city areas. To do so I take elements that are popular in their streetwear and combine them with more unorthodox elements such as material, where I used fur on the oversized jacket, and combined it with leather. I also took the common trends of oversized jackets, micro-miniskirts and fluffy leg warmers and applied them with different fabric materials to bring something new into their modern streetwear. To add to the sense of "couture", I used color combinations more uncommon to Tokyo streetwear, such as the basic primaries of red, yellow and blue in my first garment, applying them in areas that make the common streetwear elements pop, such as the black leather dress and the blue/red jacket.

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I completed the coloring of my design and drew the individual pieces on the other side of the page to see how they appear on their own. I also worked on my portfolio and documented my process of designing my looks.

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This collection relates to current fashion trends in the way that it uses common individual elements of streetwear and combines them, enhancing their innate traits alongside newer trends & concepts. If this collection were to set a new fashion trend, I think it would be repurposing materials/clothing items in more unique ways, for example using leather to make a form-fitting dress, using belts as a "zipper" for a jacket and using patterned furs as leg warmers or as the hemming of a jacket. The theme of my collection is to be daring, and to not constrain the functions of clothing items, using them in new ways to express yourself and be daring in what you wear.

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I found a basic magazine layout and followed it, answering the questions in an interview-like style with simpler, short sentence answers as though in a real conversation, mentioning the most important parts of my design and the creative process. However, I'm not satisfied with the layout of my images, and it doesn't quite have a fashion magazine feel to it, so I will work further on the image display and finessing the presentation until I'm satisfied with it, then next class I can submit that as the final magazine page design.