Lines And Grids 1

So for college one of my projects is called Lines and Grids and my theme I have chosen is New York. When doing this project there are three stages: Research, Development and Final Outcome. So I thought it would be a cool idea to share with you my project! So first its Research!
As I've been to New York I used some of my photos as primary research...

Then I looked at other photographs of New York...

After looking at these I started looking at drawings and paintings of New York. I also found some textile pieces which I reminded me of windows, buildings and bridges..

 The top 2 Textile pieces are from Fusing Fabrics book

This piece is by Bia Martinez

Piece by Linda McCurry

And finally here are some drawings and paintings I found of New York!

 By Dario Mosch

 By Dario Mosch

 By Dr Devience

 By Eddie Ching

 By Steven Wiltshire

 By Steven Wiltshire

By Thomas Lesley Conroy

So that is the "best bits" of my research so far. Hope you like it and I look forward to showing you my development of this project in the near future! 

Ribbon Back Top

Back to the customization's we go! I think after this one there is still 2 more that I have to show you guys. (Ye, I've been a little busy this summer)
Okay, so again I started out with a plain white top and tie-dyed it. I'm pretty sure you that if you're a regular reader of mine you will know how to tie-dye. If not then you can look back on some of my older posts and you will see. (its pretty easy once you've done it once I promise)

Step 1: Equipment
- T-shirt
- Dyes
- Elastic Bands
- Gloves
- Ribbon
- Wooden Awl
- Cutting mat
- Knife
- Pins

Step 2: Tie-dye
Like I said, I'm not going to show you again but if you are unsure, just look back at some of my older posts:)

Step 3: Making it more interesting...
I decided that I wanted to make the top more interesting so I thought I could make the back look like a corset back with the ribbon woven through it so..
- Put a cutting mat inside the top
- Use a craft knife to cut a slit down the back, DO NOT cut all the way down

- There is now a slit down the back

Step 4: Ribbon Holes

- Keep the cutting mat inside the top

- Take your wooden awl (you can buy these online here) and push through the fabric to create little holes

- Continue all the way down to the end of your slit

Step 5: Add the ribbon

- To make life a little bit easier put pins through the ends of your ribbon so that you can pull it through the holes easily

 - Pull the ribbon through the holes
- Pull it as tight as you want or have it lose if you want, that's personal preference

- Keep going all the way down
- Tie in a bow at the bottom and cut off the extra ribbon

Ta-dah! Okay, I know its a bit off center and not quite perfect but for my first try I'm quite pleased with that!:)

What do you think of my tutorial? Did it make sense? Was it easy to follow? Any hints, tips or advice would be great!

xxx

Black T

Hi guys, sorry I haven't posted much this week! My laptop is broken so I am now using the family pc. Anyway... I have been doing a lot of experimental dying with t-shirts recently (posts about them coming up real soon!) and I thought to myself, okay I'll wear a plain black T that way if i get any dye on it it won't matter right? Wrong! I did get dye on it and it left a bit of a grey stain which I was rather sad about. Then it came to me, why not just experiment with this t-shirt too? So, here's what I did..

Firstly I decided I was going to tie-dye the top with bleach because obviously coloured dye wont show up on a black top. (By the way, I'm really silly and forgot to take a before picture so I've took a picture off Google to show what my top looked like before.)

Step 1: Equipment
- Elastic bands
- Milton (bleach)
- Spray bottle
- Gloves

Step 2: Tie-ing
- Use elastic bands to tie around areas of the top to create resistance patches
- Repeat on desired areas of the garment
- Your top/garment should now look something like this (below)

Step 3: Dying
- Pour some of the Milton into the spray bottle with a little bit of water
- Put your gloves on
- SPRAY!
- Leave to dry over night
TOP TIP - Always rinse your garment after you have finished spraying it

Step 4: Finished Product

Front 

Back

Now it looks like a brand new top! Let me know what you think of my instructions, I hope they are clear enough! And stay tuned for part 2 for the introduction of some studs!

Grey Dress - Phase 1

Okay so I've went a little bit customization mad! So be prepared to see more coming up!
For now though I am going to show you the first phase of what I did to customize a very plain boring grey dress, there is 2 phases here just so I didn't bombard you guys with too much information!

PHASE 1

So this was my dress, it is a maxi dress just so you are all aware.

Step 1: Equipment
- Sewing Machine (for phase 2)
- Tailors Chalk
- Fabric Scissors
-Thread of chosen colour (phase 2)
- A ruler of some kind
- Sewing Machine equipment

Step 2: Shortening
- So I wanted to make the length of the dress shorter so I marked on the fabric where I wanted to cut it with my tailors chalk
- Then I used my ruler item to put a line across for me to follow when I cut it
- Using fabric scissors cut along the line.

You should be left with a piece like this (below) DO NOT put in the bin because if you wish to continue onto Phase 2 you will need it! So put it to one side for later.

 Step 3: Fringing
- At the bottom of the dress I wanted to make fringing
- Pin the front and back of the dress together at the bottom to keep it even

- Again choose where you want the fringing to go to and make another line with the tailors chalk and your ruler item
- Start cutting
TOP TIP - When fringing don't worry too much about making the fringes completely even in thickness, its meant to look raw!

- Continue cutting until completed all the way along

PHASE 1 COMPLETE!

If you wish to leave your dress like this then you have no need to look at Phase 2 (which will be uploaded tomorrow). However, if you want to customize your dress/outfit even more then keep your eyes out for Phase 2!