FABRIC MANIPULATION IN MY COLLECTION

Denim is the main fabric used in my 3rd year runway collection. As mentioned in one of my previous blog, the garments will be made of used denim clothing or off-cuts. The garments in this collection are made by manipulating the fabric and patching them together as per the design. The fabrics will be manipulated by felting, decorative machine stitching and painting all of which will be imparting colour to the denim fabric. Ruffles will be added to give texture to the fabric and create design lines. Draping is used to create the necessary design lines and silhouettes. Bead/metal/mirror work will add needed emphasis to the garment which is an integral part of the inspiration for this collection.

After researching the different techniques that can be used to manipulate fabric I tested a few that I think I can use in my collection. The results looked interesting and once used on the garment, it will look amazing.

NEEDLE FELTING

Needle felting is simply joining fiber to fabric by attributively piercing the fabric surface with the felting needle. This process carries fiber through the surface and permanently entangled them with the fabric.

Felting will be used in my collection to impart colour. Fibers will be placed in circles or lines to form a design.

SPECIAL FABRICS

Special fabrics allow to create fabrics without having the structure of a standard base fabric.

In this collection, fabric is created by using old used denim garments or off cut denim. Denim will be cut in different uneven shapes and each shape is machine stitched in straight or curved lines adjacent to each other. Each piece is stitched with different colours. The pieces of denim are laid next to each other, overlapping the edges and machine stitched, so the pieces are held together. The edges will be left raw.

RUFFLES

A ruffle is a strip of fabric reduced in length by gathering or pleating, which releases folds that configure its floating edge and is attached to another piece of fabric. Ruffles add the dimensional of multiple folds and fluttering edge to the surface they adorn. In this collection strips of fabrics are cut on bias and stitched in the centre and gathered, living the edges raw. Ruffles will add texture and design lines to the garment.

DRAPING

A technique of draping from the book Creating with shapes, is used in my collection. Where an oval shape is cut in the fabric and it creates a draped effect. The size of the oval gives a different effect.

BEAD/METAL/MIRROR WORK

Mirror embroidery is done by women of the Nomadic tribes in India. Different shapes of mirrors can be used and can vary in size. The embroideries are vividly coloured, and the embroidery is intricate. There are different ways of attaching the mirror to the fabric. It is usually done using a buttonhole stitch on the edge of the mirror holding it in place. In my collection crochet will replace the embroidery on the mirrors, giving similar looks and will save time. Bead and metal work will be done randomly keeping in mind geometric shapes.

PAINTING AND EMBROIDERY

Circles are painted on fabric in the desired colour and size. Over which machine stitches are stitched giving it an embroidered effect.