quick! there's time to waste.....

Employment

2008-08-29T00:39:00.002+01:00

So life has moved on a fair bit in the last month. I am soon to start a 9-5 job that should pay the bills and I have made sure it has nothing to do with design.

I think this may be a temporary move but right now there is nothing more I want than a little bit of stability in my life.

The one thing that has made me upset with my decision is how no-one seems to have any respect for it. I cannot live my life working between 18 and 40 hours on minimum wage in a job that is slowly destroying my social life and my chance of ever being who I want to be. I cannot be an artist or a textile designer because no-one wants to employ me.

Yes, I have a degree but in all honestly it is a piece of paper that says that I don't excel in design. As much as it pains me to say; I got a 2:2 in my degree and I am really ashamed of it. I worked really hard and it obviously wasn't enough. My work was good enough to go to new designers and good enough to be displayed on the university website but it was worth a D-.

When I ask myself what went wrong I can simply say that that wasn't the course for me and in three years I have learnt more about myself than I have about textile design. I could make a hundred excuses but they are not going to change that piece of paper on which 'could of tried harder' was an appropriate summary.

I am going to keep posting here because it is what I need to do. I have started sewing again and whilst it may just be silly things like cushion covers and fancy dress costumes I will be keeping my hand in.

being a graduate

2008-07-28T02:57:00.002+01:00

So it's all over now. I have finished my course and come away with a degree.

Being a graduate is bloody hard, I have applied for more jobs than you would believe and I just want to get something I have a moderate chance of enjoying.

I am not completely disregarding it but for the moment I have packed away my portfolios, sewing equipment and all signs that I ever went to university because at the moment I feel completely negative.

I've not blogged in a long time but as from now this is going to be my career progression and side projects blog. I hope that in a month or so I will start itching to sew again and try and make some money from it.

Maybe this is it, maybe I will walk away from textiles and never look back. I hope that I can one day feel better about it and make something of my work and my supposed talents.

For now I want a 9-5 job that makes me enough money to stop having sleepless nights; I'd also quite like somewhere to store a 5ft chandelier....

Graduate Exhibition

2008-06-09T02:09:00.000+01:00

A few poorly taken photos and a couple of me and my work

Degree Show

2008-05-30T21:49:00.002+01:00

So. Tonight the degree show has been opened and I can honestly say I have never felt so relieved in my entire life. I'm exhausted!

After what seemed like the worst day in the history of days I re-made my chandelier and then re-made my exhibition.

Although I may not admit it I am eternally greatful to the people who helped me do it. Sleepless nights and feeling shattered are all worth it as it is 100% better than it was and I am immensely pleased with the final result.

Pictures will soon be posted but at the moment I am going to just enjoy finishing uni and having some time to myself.

X

show stress?

2008-05-22T18:00:00.002+01:00

so, this is pretty much it.

I've done three years of degree and now it's time for my final show. I cannot believe it's all over; I'd love to be a student forever but it's time to move on and do something with my life!

Today is Thursday and I intend to have my show completely up by tomorrow afternoon.

I've done so much work and it's finally coming together, I just hope that it looks amazing.

Tonight I am not going to rest until it is complete. Looks like an all-nighter at the moment but it will be worth it!

Show pictures will be up tomorrow

Xx

lasers and the return of jacquard

2008-05-15T15:25:00.001+01:00

so, i have been persevering with the laser cutter and I have so far made 6 discs and one doiley!

the jacquard has been fixed so i will also have some actual weaving in my show.

things are going well, i am very happy and hoping to have a fabulous show!

Xx

Progress

2008-04-24T18:33:00.003+01:00

I finally feel that I am starting to make some progress.

Resin: I'm reverting to the polyester resin for weights as the bio resin is impossible to finish to a professional standard. I'm going to use bioresin for stiffening the fabrics for the cake stands and will also be using bostik evo-stick glue as i hear it is very effective ( even if it is a bit of a retrograde step)

Cake Stands: Due to the bonas jacquard still being out of action I will be making a series of mimaki prints and laser cut doilies. I also intend to hand weave some fabric that will be used for laser cutting and complimentary products.

Career: Sue Jenkyn Jones came into uni as part of the invigilation of my degree and was nothing short of inspiring. I've made the decision to have a year out so I can just work and find my feet with regards to my career and my personal life. In essance I have realised that maybe textiles isn't the career for me right now and I need to explore the jewellery & people management route for now.

Other: Orly Corgan is nothing short of an inspiration with regards to modern embroidery her
interview is really worth reading and her work is nothing short of stunning.

The Plan

2008-04-20T16:07:00.003+01:00

SO! Bio-resin is being scrapped for the discs because it refuses to set

it does work well for stiffening fabrics so i shall be just using it for that and reverting to polyester resin for the discs.

it's a shame because this whole thing has ended up costing me hundreds of pounds that i cannot afford.

Let's just hope the whole thing works out...

Bioresin

2008-04-13T23:12:00.002+01:00

So, after a lot of expense and relative sacrifice by myself I have bought £150 of bioresin.

It is amazing stuff. No odour, no fumes and no warning labels needed because it is apparently very safe stuff to use.

BUT it is not as good to use with fabrics as polyester resin because the fabrics need varnishing before they can be put into the resin or these bizarre air bubbles form.

It's taking forever to set when it's in disc form. I'm not sure what most people are using this for. It's a little bit odd because I am not sure what to expect from the results.

The one success has been dipping fabrics in the resin and moulding them over extruded shapes. The fabric looks great and the bioresin seems to be a success for this whereas the polyester resin was nothing short of awful.

I'm carrying on with the experiments and the sketchbook work but i feel i may be a bit behind.

I have given my notice in at topshop so I have more time to spend on my project and hopefully i will stop being so horribly ill. I'll miss some aspects of working there but the awful early mornings and late nights have taken their toll on my work and my health.

carry on camping

2008-03-23T17:54:00.000Z

http://www.millets.co.uk/glastonburyecopegs

amazing what technology brings!

Employment

2008-03-20T17:06:00.002Z

No-one ever told me it would be this hard.

I've got no time at all left on my degree and the prospect of having to be in the real world is suddenly becoming very very scary.

I applied to get onto the Arcadia Grad Scheme but I think I made a mess of the telephone interview and then received an email saying that I did not have the experience necessary for the job. I was absolutely gutted for all of about 12 seconds and then I realised that I was only looking at the job for the money. £20k is a hell of a lot of money in some ways but alas, I think that job would of made me nothing short of miserable.

I'm putting out CV's and mini portfolio's in the hope that someone thinks 'wow, we must employ her'. My back-up plan is to carry on working in retail and do vintage on the side.

Other than that I don't know. It's so frightening to not know where I will be in a years time but I can definately say this: I will not be in education.

-------

Uni work is going ok, i'm using bio resin now so i've said goodbye to the headaches and ridiculous stench in my room. I'm concentrating on clearing my mind before I can work on my sketchbook so this blog is being written in a break i'm taking from the epic that is tidying my room. Why I am so messy I shall never know but I'm also bloody good at tidying.

Xx

Promotional Poster Assignment!

2008-03-03T15:59:00.010Z

Oh the wonders of modern technology! This morning I recieved a txt with a link to a blog with an IT assignment in it! I am oddly excited!!

PLAN:

Stage one of this assignment for me is to give it a title; this has been a small bone of contention with myself for some time seeing as I was planning on calling it 'untitled' HOWEVER I have now decided to call it 'Lost & Found'. I've come to this title by looking at all the bits and pieces I've been playing around with and deciding that the only way of catagorising everything together is by comparing it to a lost and found box. So the first part of this was to design myself a title font.

I have used illustrator to manipulate a vector image of a pin into the shapes of the letters. I wanted to go for a really eclectic individual theme so I have decided to mostly use illustrator in this poster in a similar way to the work of Wolfie Does Illustrate and Disco Betty

Looking at other illustration techniques used on posters made me think that my imagery might work best on a black background but the black outline of the text made my created font much less striking.

After changing the font outline to white the design seemed to lose all it's definition so I have decided to scrap the idea of using a black background!

After all that I decided that that font was pretty ineffective so I have decided to use a ready made font that I could use later in the project

So to make my poster communicate with my project I decided to use the theme of pendants and hanging textile installations so I started off by building up a series of links and sections using illustrator

So to meet the manipulated images section of the brief I decided to take photos of my current work and then use photoshop to alter them. (please see slideshow for some pictures)

From this stage I just continued to work in illustrator to build up the over all effect of the poster.

The finished product

March

2008-03-02T23:27:00.003Z

This week I have been working on learning how to finish my resin discs to a reasonable standard. After messing around with finishing chemicals I decided to rely on the slightly more traditional methods of working through the grades of wet & dry paper and then using brasso to finish. I've made my fingers bleed a bit but the results are pretty good.

I've also bought some new silicon moulds so hopefully this week will be productive. I'm still waiting for the money for my bio-resin so that's delaying things somewhat.

Resin Experiments Pt1

2008-02-27T16:21:00.010Z

So i've been messing around with polyester resin quite a lot.
Here are a few interesting bits and pieces.

The insides of a small motor

Pins, lightbulbs and bobbins

Washers and Pins

The full array of cubes

Messing around using fabrics, tapes and notions

close-up of parallel pins

ice age?

More Pins

-------

I have made the decision to switch to bio-resin as it is lower in styrene and easier to use. The only slight drawback is the expense - £200 for 10kg. One of those days of just biting the bullet I'm afraid!

I have also started working with sillicon moulds and trapping fabric in disc shapes....

To be continued

longevity

2008-02-20T20:20:00.007Z

"There’s this idea that somehow you’ve got to keep changing things, and as often as possible. Maybe if people just decided not to buy anything for a while, they’d get a chance to think about what they wanted; what they really liked." Vivienne Westwood

Being a designer in the 21st Century is as much about creating something timeless as it is about creating something aesthetically pleasing. The difficulty comes when we conform too much to the fashions in the world around us such as the latest fads for brash colours and crude imagery.

I am encouraged to use WGSN resources within my work so that it has the possibility of being a viable product but sometimes I ask myself: Why cant I create something that will set the fashion and not follow it?

At this point in time I have no clue whether my work has the possibility of giving me a career or whether it was merely 3 years of my life where I had a good time and made some fabric samples that will sit in my portfolio under my bed for the rest of my life.

I have had to make the decision to not rely on the idea of becoming a designer. At the moment I am probably going to end up working in retail. Maybe retail management one day but probably never as an actual designer.

The sad thing is that some of my work is bloody good and it doesn't deserve to gather dust. I think my mission is to get seen and try and find a way of making ends meet without ending up completely miserable.

I want my work to be the sort of stuff people lie in bed thinking about and imagining in their lives. I want someone to see one of my designs and go home and think about it because it was unlike anything else they had seen but would fit in perfectly with their style.

here's hoping.

2008-02-09T02:59:00.001Z

So today I went in to show my hilariously failed resin coated fabric and ended up in an IT lecture. Here's what I ended up with:

A traced (and hand rendered) example of some D&G trousers

An example of a menswear flat drawing
-----
I've been doing this sort of drawing for a couple of years now and although sometimes it is difficult to sit through lectures I did pick up a few new techniques/concepts.

The resin is coming along ok but there is still the odd major hiccup. It's going to take time to get it right but it's worth persevering with

annoyed? just a little

2008-02-07T00:08:00.000Z

SO! After pouring my resin into my plastic moulds and leaving it over night to cure I checked it to find that the resin had melted through the plastic. I had made a makeshift lab using a large plastic box on the fire escape as I didn't want to inhale any more of the fumes. It had melted the plastic moulds, run into the box and then cured beautifully. Just in a puddle shape.

After a lot of swearing I have mixed up another lot of resin, greased up a metal mixing bowl and started experimenting with painting resin onto fabric. I've also got an icecube tray as that was one of the ideas put across on the CSM course.

Unfortunately this means that I have a melty puddle thing to take to my tutorial and no fabulous pendants but i must persevere. I've been scanning my sketchbook and working on it in illustrator. I'm so pleased with the line quality i have achieved but I just feel that there is something lacking at the moment.

In the next week I am going to persevere with the resin moulding, make some pendant moulds using latex (which I will have to buy at great expense), continue working on my sketchbook and taking my work into illustrator and introduce stitch into my project.

I just hope that I don't asphyxiate myself with the fumes or melt anything else.

productive day no.1

2008-02-05T17:02:00.000Z

As I write this blog I am feeling a little bit woozy...

Today I have been highly productive and been to the Play and Recycle Centre and started pouring resin pendants.

The play and recycle centre was an absolute dream today - so much stuff for my project! I've been wanting to make some pendant shaped moulds for the resin and I found the most perfect extruded plastic trays (I assume they were used for packaging paint tubes) and loads of amazing cornice ones as well! I also got the usual amazing selection of elastic, some fairy light bulbs, kid's plaster of paris moulds in rubber, some cool pop-socks, lots of plastic mixing bowl things and a huuge amount of fabric for me to top up my wardrobe with when I have time.

So I've come home and I couldn't wait any longer so I cleared the corner of my bedroom next to the fire escape and started pouring the resin. I'd forgotton quite how strong it is and I think I am officially partaking in a bit of solvent abuse. Whoops!

So i should have a good few examples to take into my tutorial on thurs morning. Fingers crossed it all cures ok...

Other than that I am just sorting out my room aka my wardrobe for tomorrow as we have some people coming to view the flat. I have so many clothes but to be honest if I didn't I'd be miserable - getting out of bed in the morning is always easier when you know that there is a fabulous dress to put on.

2008-02-04T02:37:00.000Z

I'd forgotten how much I loved the mimaki fabrics. I pulled them out of my portfolio today and honestly enjoyed them - the colours and illustrations are everything I love in one place

I've also forgotten how much I like print. In some ways I regret being a weaver because I honestly think I am missing out sometimes.

And last but by no means least, I'd forgotten how much I do secretly like drawing. I really love messing about and making something beautiful using crayons and ink.

Time to re-visit some old habits perhaps?

THE MEGA UPDATE

2008-02-04T02:31:00.000Z

the self-proclaimed 'mega-update' is here!!!

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time photographing and uploading my work

It is all on flickr BUT i need to upgrade to a premium account and I am too poor to do it this week!!

HOWEVER all my second year work is up and all my third year work so far.

--

I have started my new project and it seems to be going quite well. I've bought my resin and it all seems pretty exciting to be honest. I feel a bit more 'back on track' than I have done for some time and I'm looking forward to getting on with it!

X

Flickr

2008-01-20T00:34:00.000Z

I've started photographing all my work for the 'mega-update'.

It will (by the end of this week) be much more easily accessible on beckyharris.co.uk as there will be slide-shows and descriptions of the various projects BUT my flickr is updated fairly frequently with other work and photography.

feel free to check it out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckyharris86/

ten websites to change your life

2008-01-18T19:00:00.000Z

Basically it's about time I shared a few of my secrets. I thought I'd linked some of these already but apparently not.

Paraphernalia Amazing etched jewellery - i have the bluebird and the goldfish

Susie Bubble Style blog from 'Susie Bubble' - completely inspirational

Kingdom of Style Style Blog from 'Queen Michelle' and 'Queen Marie' fantastic fashion ideas and discoveries

Strawberry Milkshakes Blog of a young American girl obsessed with all things fashion (especially topshop)

The Clothes Horse Photographic diary of day to day outfits put together by a teenager

Elsewares An incredible shop selling the most eclectic jewellery - my introduction to Keil Mead

What Katie Did British reproduction vintage lingerie - beautifully made with a good discussion forum

I Saved Laurence Quirky young British designer printing amazing designs and making great jewellery

Facehunter The pictoral diary of a photographer who goes around photographing interesting fashion

The Sartorialist Another pictoral diary of a photographer who goes around photographing fashion in every day life

statements

2008-01-18T17:29:00.000Z

So yes, i've been promising an update for a long time and I haven't done it.

There are questions that need to be answered as to what's been going on and I don't think now is the time or the place to go into everything but I will try.

Basically I have not been myself for the best part of a year now for certain personal reasons that have lead to me suffering from mild depression. I don't know if I'm ever going to be back to 'normal' or whether things have just changed permanently.

In just over a months time it's been a year since everything started to slide and I just wish that I'd admitted I was struggling earlier.

I'd say I'm 80% of the way there and hopefully the last 20% will come with spring.

Horrid things aside; my dissertation is in and I've handed in my RSA and my Parallel lines project.

I didn't do particularly well in my assessment as I've come out with a C+ C- and a D-. I could lie and say I don't care but I am really disappointed. If I could walk away for the rest of the year and start my third year again in September I would but it is a little too late for that.

I'm pleased to of handed my dissertation in and I hope to of scraped a reasonable grade. Having flu didn't help but there's no point making excuses!

If there is one thing that I can tell you that I have learned is that living for today is important but planning for tomorrow is vital.

I currently have chronic tonsillitis and am sentenced to bed rest, penicillin, warm salt water gargles and paracetamol.

I promise to do a proper update soon when I am out of bed!

RSA

2007-11-21T19:31:00.000Z

I'm handing in my RSA bursary on Monday.

Tonight I am going to be eating some turkish delight and photographing all my work.

Good times - expect a bit update

Xx

Sad Day

2007-08-12T15:14:00.000+01:00

I don't know how I missed it at the time but I have only just been made aware of the suicide of Isabella Blow.

She will always be a huge icon of mine and today for me is a very sad day.

There is nothing I can say except I am in awe of her and everything she was.

The end of an era has come and I didn't even notice it.

Reflections...

2007-07-06T22:12:00.002+01:00

This was my final selection of work for year 2. I was given a C for it.

I have received all my marks back for year 2 and I have done ok. B, C+, C, A-, C, C.

I could of done better but I haven't. I am starting to feel like getting my sewing machine out now which is a good sign. I am making myself tidy out my wardrobe as I have too much stuff and I have been going crazy trying to keep myself occupied up here but I am hoping to find a job of some variety for the rest of July. I've been home for a week and the rest has done me good but I miss being in the thick of it. This summer I am not going to allow myself to buy any clothes unless they are from charity shope!!!

This was one of the samples I produced for my electro project. I love it so much and intend to carry on making one-off dresses and try and sell a few.

Even though my electro project wasn't well received I am going to persevere with this style of working as I feel really comfortable with the output. I'm just going to avoid doing print again for a long time...

I have left all my work in derby over the summer so I shall not be completing the major site update until September but I have begun to re-design the layout and have added a shop to sell off some badges and jewellery.

At the moment I cant wait for RSA bursary.

An Ode to Jackson's mill

2007-06-15T01:49:00.000+01:00

So that was it. Our time at Jackson's Mill has ended.

Progress is not always a good thing but we shall see. I loved that building more than I thought it was possible to love bricks and mortar.

I shall post again soon with something actually relevant to my work.

x

the end

2007-06-11T17:38:00.000+01:00

So.. That was my second year.

It has all gone too fast and I get the feeling that I have wasted a lot of time. Assessment was today and to be honest it didn't go overly well. I don't know what went wrong in some senses. I think I've just got really bored of the course and my work. I need the summer to sort out my head and my motivation.

I don't in some ways know whether this is the right course for me. My illustrations have got about 1000% better and I am using my digital skills a lot. Maybe too much.

I think I have lost my direction in a lot of things this year. I feel in a mess about a lot of things in my personal life and I just want everything to sort itself out.

On a more positive note I am proud of myself for sticking it out.

It's hard to be positive when you don't know where you're going. One of my favorite memories of this year is a woman telling me that she knew I was a student just because of the optimism in my eyes. Looking back it probably wasn't optimism but naivety.

I have grown up beyond recognition and in a lot of ways it is frightening. Even though I've grown up I would probably say that I have actually gone backwards this year. I've now just got to work twice as hard to get back to where I want to be.

Photo's and illustrations will appear soon. This summer I am going to totally revamp beckyharris.co.uk and get my life back on track.

xx

catch up

2007-05-16T21:28:00.000+01:00

so, it's been a very long time since i last posted.

The months have flown by and things have been a full spectrum from terrible to amazing.

A month after i wrote my last blog I got mugged. I'd like to say it hasn't affected my work but that would be a lie. Nothing is as important as being alive and after i saw everything flash before my eyes I decided to live my life how I want to live it.

It has taken me a long time to get over it and I have suffered from depression as a result of it. I am now back to normal but I get a lot more taxis than before.

My wrestling project went well, it could of been better but I did get it in on time and had a fairly good range of samples.

My latest project is a self titled one called 'Electro'. I have produced my favourite work to date and I am mostly using mimaki printing, knit and hama beads at the moment. I intend to take the project forward by actually doing some weaving and screenprinting.

On Monday I went to London for an interview with Tatty Devine. I am ecstatic to say that I have got a session of work experience with them in July 2008. It's a long time off but I like to plan ahead! I am stupidly excited about it and I hope that I can make use of my time with them.

In other news I have finally viewed the long-awaited Markeaton Campus. What a disappointment. I wish we were staying put and I fear that nothing will be the same again.

May Ball on Friday, how things have changed in a year.

I'd say it is scary but i think the more appropriate word is 'expected'.

I'm growing older and at the moment I like it

wrestlemania

2007-01-30T17:11:00.000Z

So, after going into uni and discovering that everyone is doing the same project title for the cross disciplinary module I have made the decision to stop doing that project (discarding my current sketchbook) and start doing the culture clash topic with the specialism of.....

MEXICAN WRESTLING!!

Admittedly I have chosen this project because I want to stick out like a sore thumb. I cant be bothered with falling into the usual categories so I am going it alone to produce something that I am truly proud of. Haven't been given the colour palette yet but finger's crossed it's good.

In combination with Lucha Libre (spanish for 'free wrestling') I am also going to use Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) as a reference point.

oh the excitement!

In other news I am off to Paris again in 20 days time and hopefully this time will be a bit more successful than my November visit. I cant say I am excited at this point but if I work hard enough for some of my work to go to Indigo then I think it will make it alright. I hate the fact that such an amazing (if tourist driven) city holds such sad memories for me. Time to put it back where it belongs and give it pride of place within my heart.

the big move

2006-12-29T13:50:00.000Z

In September 2007 the textile department are due to move to a new campus on Pybus street.

"Building a Better Uni" (?)

It's going to be wierd moving from Jackson's mill. I really love that place and the feel the building has. Althought the new site will bring all the art & design people into one place (and let us look at lots of pretty boys) it's a worry whether we will have the same facilities as we do now.

Inclusion is a funny thing. In this situation the con's outweigh the pro's I wonder whether this change is a good thing. We have no choice on the matter and I understand how impractical it is to have a seperate building to heat and maintain for just one department but in a way I wish we could claim squatters rights and stay there forever!!

It's strange how easily it is to get attached to bricks and mortar.

but when it looks this good who can blame me.

So this is the New Year

2006-12-28T16:48:00.000Z

It's been a very long time since i wrote anything in this blog.

Summer was interesting, I managed to complete the majority of my tasks but ended up working 7 day weeks for the majority of the summer.

Since moving back to Derby full time I have had to re-assess where I am in the grand scheme of my life. I have got a part time job which makes life much easier and I socialise a little less too.

I am now specialising in weave at uni and it is undoubtedly the best choice for me. I have been using a lot more CAD in my work which has made life a little less repetative.

My drawing has improved and I have actually almost filled an entire sketchbook for once!! I am developing my own style and finally feeling comfortable working with a wide range of mediums.

The first project of this term was an interiors project where I created a selection of B&W jaquard fabrics and hand-woven trims. My facination with braids and trims has continued and I have really loved making narrow fabrics especially in linen.

That project was successful and I have continued onto the next project with a brief trip to Paris where I did a lot of photography.

My current project has been interrupted by illness but luckily i'm still on track and hope to be finished on deadline. This is a fashion fabrics project and I've decided to make pillbox hats and clutchbags from both jaquard and handloom fabrics. My sketchbook is looking good and I am also working on a range of complimentary bag-charms using laser cut materials.

So all in all I am heading towards a goal that I feel confident about.

Other than that things have not been overly good but I'm sure that this next year will be a good one.

Roll on 2007

x

Year 1

2006-06-07T01:36:00.000+01:00

well, that was it.

I have officially finished my first year at uni. Hopefully they'll have me back in September and let me specialise in weave (fingers crossed).

Had my end of year assessment today and I think I did ok. I honestly cannot believe that it's all over and summer's here. Time's gone so fast and I have had the best and the worst of times but I will never regret coming here. I have learnt a lot about myself and realised that this degree is perfect for me.

I have decided to put my thoughts, feelings and design processes/inspirations in this blog and display my finished projects on http://www.beckyharris.co.uk so to keep my blog more focused on relevant information regarding my personal development as a designer.

My design aims for the summer are:

develop my drawing skills
learn my way around my sewing machine
renew my passion for textiles
attend the Vintage Bag-Making 2 course at CSM
expand my personal portfolio
develop my skills in photoshop, illustrator and quark
buy and learn to use an overlocker
develop my website further

My aims for Year 2 are:

improve my attendance on tuition days
keep a more structured approach to my visual research
try and be interested in the context element of the course
utilise feedback from my tutors
make my sketchbooks more visually stimulating

Other than that not a lot!!! I'm going to try and have an amazing summer back home and whilst I will miss everyone here desperately I think I'll find some suitable distractions...

NEW WEBSITE

2006-04-19T20:19:00.000+01:00

I've been doing a bit of random sewing over easter to try and get a bit of creativity back.

So far I have made the usual mess in the living room and a lovely cape out of some woven wool fabric i picked up very cheaply. I will be making a matching clutch bag as soon as i have time.

Please use www.beckyharris.co.uk to access my new website!

I'm officially a purl girl!

2006-01-15T17:56:00.000Z

No update for a bit, have been working rather hard!

The curry project turned out to be ok after i decided to focus on chillies and peppers. I have been knitting away for about 3 weeks and have made 9 samples that i actually like!

Really enjoyed learning to knit. Thought i'd hate it but there are so many design possiblilities using the knitting machine!

Curry

2005-11-30T16:00:00.000Z

Well, despite my initial disgust at the title of "Curry", my project's going surprisingly well! Today I've completed 6 continuous line drawings and finished 6 coulour studies. This week I'm going to start experimenting with masking fluid to develop my style.

Had the exciting news that 4 of my weaves have gone off to the "Design your Future" exhibition at Manchester G-Mex. It's not like i'm going to get paid or get any work from this but the possibility of up to 11,000 students seeing my work has put me in a fantastic mood!

Phobias........

2005-11-28T17:03:00.000Z

Well, it's official. I have a phobia of drawing. My tutors have suggested that I try not to think of it as "drawing" and give it another name. "torture" seems most appropriate at the moment...

I have also been given my next project title. It is "curry". great

Weave no more

2005-11-25T17:50:00.000Z

WOOOOO! finally finished the weave project, must admit that i've enjoyed it despite the initial grief of having to use the looms! Here's the final 7:

Project one: Print

2005-10-22T06:15:00.000+01:00

Today I have completed my first project in print. Below are the six final samples I produced.

leaf print on satin with machine and hand embroidery

ruffled printed ribbon on satin with hand-stitched contrast

ruffled printed gauze on printed polyester with free-hand machine embroidery

printed collage on satin with embroidery contrast

embroidered buttons on layered polyester print

polyester print with applique and embroidery contrast

A-level Textiles

2005-05-31T20:00:00.000+01:00

Here are a few photos of projects completed in '04/'05 for my A-level textiles coursework.

This project was a Moschino inspired capsule wardrobe.

hand embroidered belt over satin skirt

hand embroidered strap of cotton and satin reversable top

all garments including embroidered satin jacket

sample of applique using melted wax crayons on cotton

The photos below are part of my AS project that was a demonstrative banner for the charity "Drop the Debt". The photos here can't express the scale of the final product as it was about 2.5m long. The banner itself is made up of 100 individual squares made of recycled fibres and took about 50 hours to produce.

close up of small section

batik square

I will be photographing my A-level work in more detail at a later date