Tuesday 27th January
Small Change - project ideas development
-my initial response to the "Small Chnage" project briefs (back in Decembre) that I want to use sustainable materials, mostly upcyling things such as candles, matches boxes, plastic bags etc. to create fashion accessories. This was because it seemed to me like a simple (something which did not require engineering or a lot of making skills) product which can easily be sold on the Green Fair. Therefore throughout the Christmas break I have been researching, testing out and designing ideas based on the upcycling concept
-however when I spoke to my tutor after the Christmas holidays I agreed with her (Karla) that this was very simple and not up to my standards, I should challenge myself more because anyone can simply upcyle, whereas in this project I still need to show my unique design and making skills
-I went to search for other pathways in sustainability and came across "unsustainability caused by humans", which lead me on to carrying out research for this: http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/small-change-unsustainable-development.html
-out of many consequences from human unsustainable behavior I have chosen three based on the most interesting visual impact - water pollution, fish kill and fumes
-my original intention oh how to resolve these concerns into a JFFA outcome was to paint on fabric the visualizations of these three consequences and produce scarfs
-I took out books from the library about recycled and up cycled fabrics and natural dying techniques
-however, having studied them I realized that the process of making your own fabric and your own dye is very very time consuming and fiddly, whereas I had little time and concentration available for this project, as I had other project going along side it at all times
-at the same time I talked to another tutor (Helmert) who has very helpfully suggested to me (to avoid the hustle of having to produce a scarf from scratch) to buy second hand/vintage scarfs and paint the pattern on them using bleach
-I have expanded on this idea and thought that I could narrow down my concept to specific fabric/silk scarves production which is very unsustainable, to do this I carried out the following research: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6844911069503655167#allposts
-on Friday 23rd January I went around London's charity shops, searching for second hand/vintage scarfs, however was unable to find six good quality cheap scarves, so instead I bought a set of curtains which had a fabulous print
-this was the work I have been doing alongside other projects for the "Small Change" project. I was unable to start actually making the products I was going to sell any earlier than the Tuesday the 27th of January because I simple did not have time (I was already spending around 10 out of 24 hours in my day on the project every day.
What I did:
-painted the scarves with bleach
-hemmed and ironed them
General reflection:
-theere were two especially difficult parts in the making process - painting with bleach for a long time and hemming the scarves. First was because I constantly inhaled the bleach vapors (which I do not think is very healthy) and second because it was a very fiddly process when you only have two arms, but in reality need all four to complete this process
-the best part was receiving a finished outcome which was actually worth of being sold because I was a bit worried that the final outcome will turn out looking too amateur
-I have learnt the bleaching and the tape hemming techniques during the making process (http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.com/2015/01/bleaching-textiles.html , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy8nniI8Hfg)
-the time management was arguably good (in that I did finish everything), however I was panicking, therefore I should have spread the job out more evenly (somehow) across a longer period of time
Process:
Undone the seams of the curtains
Marked out the squares
Cut out the squares
Six scarves ready to be painted
marked out and cut out the backing of the scarce
At this point I have tried bleaching the fabric I was intending to use for the scarves, however, to my big disappointment - it did not bleach, therefore due to the limitations of time and unavailability of other materials I had to turn to using for the scarves the material I was originally going to use for the backing
I used Domestos bleach and used it from a glass jar
Process
Kust after the bleach has been fully applied
Wash the bleach out
Dried the material
Ironed the material
Cut off the rough edges
Measured out perfect amounts of the hemming tape
Ironed on the hemming tape (bending the edge twice)
In the process of hemming
Wednesday 28th January
What I did:
-packaged the scarves
General reflection:
-the hardest part was repeating the same process over six times (I decided for myself that I do not like mass production). This was because doing it three times masters the outcome, however the fourth, fith and the sixth times you just get bored of the process
-the best part was getting the resolved final outcome which was ready to be sold
-I have learnt that when you are making the top of the box - make it 3mm larger in area, so that it fits the base of the box
-my time management was good, because I have finished everything in time
Process:
Thursday 29th January
The Green Market day. At 10:30 the whole of 3DDA Foundation course has set up stalls in the Street of KX. This was not difficult because each person had about 60x60 cm area to exhibit their final outcomes. Tutors helped students with pricing. For my scarve tutors suggested 4.50 GBP (!!!!!!!!!) whereas I was thinking 15 GBP. However, their reasoning was that because the majority of customers will be students (poor), I am better off setting a lower price and getting at least some sold, instead of setting a fair price, but getting none sold. The final price was made 6 GBP. In the ned I sold three scarves (two to students from 3DDA pathway and one to someone male who seemed like a teacher at CSM). I was happy with this, because I feared I am not going to sell any!
