Working with the wool then lead me onto my knit samples from last week. For the first one I had used the yellow and purple wool and had then worked in the purple organza which I first collaged off of them and then developed a couple of designs. I did the same for my second sample which used all three wools. For the collaging I used the scans of the knits I did last week, printed them out again and then collaged with the images of the knits. When I printed them out I made sure to enlarge them as this would show the knits in a different way because of the larger scale. As well as collaging with the knit images I used fabric as well. I find collaging very useful actually as the shapes are less defined an really free which always me more room to developing off of them because I feel that by designing through collaging my designs are less rigid and use a variety of shapes and fabrics.
Furthermore carrying on with DMT developments after I finished knitting the samples I put the yellow one over my eyes to see if I could look through it and I could. I couldn't see very well as it was blurred and hazy yet I could make out some aspects. I then placed the sample over my camera lens and took some photos, I really love how these images have come out as the only thing you make out is the person in the image who was sitting opposite me at the time. I find this realisation I stumbled upon to be curious, as the colours were exciting to look at especially the way they blurred together. I think that this could make a good concept for a possible final photo shoot or even I could develop this into a print.
To finish off the day I started making samples that I could use on the heat press. I didn't do these samples over the weekend as I decided to focus on finishing the work for my knit samples and the spiritual developments and save the knit samples for when I get come back to uni.
For my samples I used a variety of fabrics which I mixed together in different ways, however this meant that I had a lot of samples. Also as all of my fabrics are synthetic I knew that they would mould or melt together, but I was excited to see what this would do the fabrics. Especially to the different samples as some fabrics were layered onto a fur or onto a latex so this would create very different samples.
However when it came to using the heat press at uni I couldn't because I wasn't able to move it and it's current location mean that I couldn't use it. Although to over come this I decided to go home and use my own iron as long as I put it on the highest heat, and if this didn't work then tomorrow I would ask for a tutor to help me move it. When I got home I set my iron to the linen setting as this is as high as it could go. Also because I was using synthetic fabrics which are prone to melting, in order to protect the ironing board and the iron I placed a piece of card on the bottom and then used grease proof paper over the samples to protect the iron.
The first sample was the yellow PVC and a matte cellophane on top of the purple crystal organza. This worked well as both PVC's melted onto the fabric. The yellow worked the best as it stuck to the bottom fabric and created a nice look as you can see the purple underneath fabric but it has a yellow hue to it. The cellophane did however melt and begin to burn as there are burn holes in it but it still looks interesting.
The second sample was the purple fur and the purple latex on one side and then the white matte PVC on the other side. This sample didn't work as I learnt that it was too hot which meant as apposed to the PVC melting the the fur it's melted to the grease proof paper as well as the fur. I tried to peel it off the paper but it just resulted in the paper ripping around the melted area, I proceeded by trying the rip the PVC off of the fur this did work and it left the fur a different colour as instead of it being purple it had a mix of purple, pink and yellow. Unfortunately the latex didn't stick to either the fur or the paper so I gathered that it needs to a very high temperature for the latex as it is a thicker plastic. Also I learnt that trying to melt the latex produced a horrible smell, as I could smell the chemicals, which meant I had to open the windows to avoid my house from smelling and to stop myself getting headaches from the smell.
Although this sample failed I was curious by the way the fur had changed colour so I cut some more samples from the fur and placed them under the iron. Depending on how long I left the fur under the heat determined what colour it would change to. When I left the iron on for a long time the fur turned fully yellow, and when leaving the iron on for a shorter time it went a pale pink which you could tell was close to turning yellow.
Other samples included melting the organza to the metallic fabric, this worked well and looks interesting although possibly on the side of burning. Another sample that didn't quite work as well as I hoped fro the purple latex on top of the metallic jersey. For a long time this did not want to melt together so I eventually gave up realising that because both of these fabrics are thick they most likely are not going to melt under the heat I was applying. Also I can see where the latex bagan to burn as it has discoloured in the areas where the iron was the most.
My last three samples probably worked the best and are also my favourite. They worked the best because they all use the matte PVC which I learnt from earlier has a low melting point. Therefore knowing this I put the iron on it's lowest heat setting. The first sample used the fibres from the organza sandwiched between the black latex and the matte PVC, I was really excited to do this one because when there is pressure applied to it the fibres in between shine and it makes for a very interesting aesthetic. This worked reasonably well it took quite a while for the matte to melt to the latex and I actually had to iron the back of the latex for this to happen. However looking at the final sample it looks very good mainly due to how the fibres shine through the matte. This also relates incredibly well to my dreams developments, and I look forward to working it in to my designing.
I then created the same sample again however this time it was not against the black latex, this one was a lot quicker and easier to do, and although similar it looks good as a separate sample. When this sample is held up to the light the fibres shine purple and pink with a slight element of green, however when on a flat surface they shine a silver with a green hue. This sample makes for an incredibly interesting aesthetic as the different tones and shines make it more intriguing to look at and also touch.
Finally the last sample is basically the same as the last one, however instead of using the fibres from the organza it uses the fibres from the metallic fabric. This is very interesting to look at but not as exciting as the previous sample which has many layers of interest with it.
Overall todays been a very good day I believe I've been quite busy, although struggling at some points I was able to work past them well without giving up on my ideas, and I am also incredibly pleased with my heat press samples because I believe they are really interesting and exciting to look at and I look forward to designing with them in the future of this project.
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