'Innovation'

I have really enjoyed this project, and I feel that I really pushed my experimentation with folding and manipulating materials using the heat press.

Also inspired by Issey Miyake and his 'Starburst Series'(1998) in which he folds the fabric and uses foiling...

I started folding fabric in interesting ways and then putting it in the heat press using transfer dyes to create different patterns. I found this technique very exciting. I loved the randomness of the technique and the way I didn’t quite know what I was going to end up with until it was out of the heat press. I experimented using more random patterns with a contrast of more structured patterns that I got from actual Origami patterns. I investigated different ways of using stitch, sewing the fabric before putting it in the heat press; each creating completely different patterns.

I became inspired by textile designer, Rebecca Earley, who is well known for her work with the heat press; her work involves very random and intricate patterns created by her folding the fabric in certain ways.

However as the project developed I became more interested in origami and started experimenting with paper and folding to bring a 3D element to my samples..

Our first project was called ‘Innovation’, in which we were given a simple colour palette and were asked to create a range of new and innovative textile samples. The idea of this project was to really explore textiles, and experiment with texture, shape and pattern to produce something new, exciting and individual to us. I decided to keep the theme simple so that I could really focus on the practical side of the project; the theme I decided on was geometrics. I started by looking at the patterns and shapes within architecture; traditional and modern...