Moon and Sons Mill Placement.

Moon and Sons mill, is a vertical mill, one of only two in the United Kingdom. They produce various woven products from scarfs and throws to furniture. I was fortunate to have a tour of the mill looking at all the aspects of production, from the initial stages of the raw wool from the sheep through to the designing and the weaving of the products.

Firstly, I was taken around the dyeing lab where they bulk dye the loose wool and dye imported yarns on cones. This was done on a large scale to meet the markets demands. After initial dyeing the fibres are taken to the spinning room to be flattened, stretched and spun to be made into yarns, this process is lengthy taking 2 to 3 weeks.

Once the yarn was spun, it has to be re-spun onto cones, which are suitable to be used to create the warp for the weaving machines. Some of the cones are then sold, however most of the yarns are used within the factory to be made into products.

The weaving process was the longest process as it took 1 to 2 weeks to create the warps to go on to the looms checking the colour and lengths were correct. Then the wraps have to be set up on the loom and then wove. This entire process takes 4 weeks sometimes longer if all the looms are in production.

 After the weaving process the fabric has to be washed and treated, there are many different treatment processes for the different wools used or for the different products that it will become. The finishing process takes 2 to 4 weeks. This process is very lengthy however as the mill carries out every process it is much quicker as travelling and shipping times are decreased.

I found the design studio highly interesting. The design process for large scale production differs from the design process I have  used producing small scale samples. This placement showed me how different the designing and planning of yarns and products is in a large scale business and gave me an insight into how companies like Moon runs.

Foremark Placement.

Foremark is a print-based supply design company. They supply Arcadia, which includes Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Topshop Nightwear and Asos Nightwear. My placement was for a week in the design office. Initially I was researching current trends, particularly florals, for a coming meeting and taking pictures for different prints and styles in the studio. This research was similar to the research I carry out within my own practice when gathering initial ideas.

The head designer who I was shadowing then suggested I should start designing prints to go in the florals collection. I designed a daisy flower pattern for a t-shirt, using Illustrator, Photoshop, and free hand drawing. I found this experience challenging, however rewarding, as my general practice is not within print. Due to this placement, I was able to explore the print area creating two prints overall, and I was thrilled when both were sent to the store designers to decide which would go into production. I only have limited skills in both Illustrator and Photoshop however I grasped the basic skills quickly, which allowed me to start developing my prints onto a t-shirt that I had to edit to meet the requirements, such as lengthening the sleeves and changing the neckline.

I found this experience insightful into how supply companies work and how to develop ideas from up and coming trends. It also strengthened my knowledge using different softwares on the computer, and gave me an insight into the print industry. I had never created a print before so this placement gave me the opportunity to learn new skills that I can bring back and apply to my own practice.

Reflection.

After creating my bag in paper I decided the shape and size worked well. I went on the domestic knitting machines and e-wrapped the leather into the knitting, this created a block of leather however it was too stiff, so in the tutorials when choosing the leather I chose two soft creamy blue and a cream and pink leather in which I could knit with. Initially I was only going to knit the handle however when I started engraving I did not like the effect, so I decided to knit the entire front panel. I was going to use a yellow or blue thread but when I looked back at my research I felt there were more blue shades than yellow. This decided that my colour scheme for the bag was pink, blue, and cream, relating to many of my pictures and research of the fairgrounds. Many of the signs and lights at fairgrounds have pink, blue and a creamy gold as their main colour scheme so my work relates to the bright fairground lights as shown on my pinterest board. Fairgrounds Board.Firstly I started to knit the front panel of the bag this took me a day to complete and was very complicated when it started to go wrong. After I had completed my knitted panel I had to re-measure all the sides as when the knitting came off it shrunk slightly, I also had to make another paper bag to make sure my new measurements fit together. On Thursday I started by cutting out my leather for the back, side and handle panels. The top section of the knitting kept curling over so I had to cut out a length of leather and glue it to the top, this held it in place. I then also decided to put it on the top of the back panel and stitched a cross stitch along the top to add detail. I also measured where I wanted the handle and stitched that on. I could then start on the sides of the bag. Using the techniques I learnt in the previous weeks, I glued, hammered, and then stitched the back panel to the side using my bright blue thread. The hardest part was stitching the front panel to the side as I had to stretch the knitted leather to fit over. I was going to add a fastening however I felt the bag did not need one as it would lose its shape. I feel I have achieved a strong bag which is going to be shown in the exhibition. We are all going to join together to set up the space in which our bags and sculptures will be exhibited.

                   Paper sample of my bag.

  

                  The leather and threads I used.

My pattern piece ready to be cut out.

                                                                 The front of the bag.

The back of the bag.

         The detail along the top of the back of the bag.

                                                                          Handle detail.

                               The bag.
 
        The knitting on and off the machine.

 

Development.

Last week I learnt how to stitch the leather. This showed me the different stitches that I could use to make my bag. The stitches I learnt were running stitch, straight and backward stitch, cross stitch and buttonhole stitch. I think the running stitch looked the most professional and I will therefore use that stitch when creating my bag. I was also taught how to create a handle and how to put a zip in, we did this in groups in which we all had to collaborate working as a team to get everyone involved and get the handle and zip made correctly. For my final bag I am going to use a zip fastening. We learnt all about the processes and tools required to be able to stitch into the leather, I feel the process is not too difficult however it would take a long time to have a perfect finish. By keeping my bag simple it would allow me to concentrate more on the quality of the bag rather than all the other details. I started to create bag designs after looking at many different designers work, such as Ally Capellino. I have also looked at the high street brand Zara as they have many stylish bags in both the woman and men collections. I am going to create a clutch bag in cream leather and stitch it with a bright thread. I would like to add detail to the front of the bag, as well as a handle going across the front of the bag, as shown in my drawings.  We got given some leather in the last tutorial, so with this I have started to hand knit which I found very difficult as the leather is so tough. I think I would need softer leather or I could also soak my leather in water, knit with it then once it dries it would dry hard and in place. I also painted on the leather however the leather I used was distressed and crinkly therefore the paint did not go on smoothly. I did not like the effect the paint gave therefore I will not use this technique on my final bag. I do still however want a small area of pattern on my bag, linking to all my research of the font’s and sings used on fairgrounds. I will achieve this by engraving the pattern however I have not had a workshop for that technique yet. I also wove with my leather I like this detail and think this would work well being a feature on the handle of the bag, I was going to knit the handle however if I can’t achieve a neat knitted look then I will use the weave technique.  I have started to develop a pattern piece this week and I am going to make a paper version on my bag, this will help me look at the dimensions of the bag so I can decide exactly what sizes I would like my bag. We also had a lecture on sheepskin and leather I found the talk very interesting and it has given me a more in depth idea of how the leather is treated and used in industry. I also learnt techniques such as how to cut the sheepskin to create long pieces to be used as yarn.

This photo shows all the different stitches. 

These are some initial designs for my bag.

These are the different patterns I want to engrave on the bag, taken from the fairground fonts.

These are two final designs of what I would like my bag to look like.

This is my leather work. the top left is the woven piece, the top right is knitted, the bottom two are painted which I did not like.

 This is a final design of my pattern piece which I am going to translate into paper.

Research.

This week I visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach to look at the grounds and costume archives, to help my theme 'fairgrounds' develop. I also started a board on Pinterest looking at all my initial 'fairgrounds' idea, Pinterest 'Fairgrounds' board.  In Blackpool, I first started looking at the geometric shapes of the rides structures, as I started to develop this I did not like how my drawing and ideas were progressing. I therefore decided to start photographing the sign work at Blackpool, I found the patterns and colours with in the signs interesting, and so I will start to develop this idea in my sketchbook. I found this aspect surprisingly interesting so, I also created a new board on Pinterest looking only at typography to help inspire me further. Pinterest 'Typography' board. I then went to Cheatham's Library to look at collections of Belle Vue, this consisted of flyers, posters and photographs. I mainly focused on the typography and the patterns around the words. I particularly liked the posters advertising the gardens and zoo; this has given me inspiration to look at different colour schemes. In my sketchbook, I started to develop my ideas from my archive visits, by drawing out different styled writing and painting them, this has helped me expand my ideas for my colour pallet. I am extremely interested in typography so I will develop this further, even if I only take an aspect of the different fonts I am drawing, however I feel this is a strong starting point to take me into my new option 'leather and sheepskin 2D and 3D'. I have focused mainly on the shape of the lettering on the signs, looking at the strong rhythms it creates I feel I will be able to continue this idea further. My colour pallet is oranges, gold and blues, which I have extracted from a photograph, which I took in Blackpool with the lettering ‘BIG CIRCUS BOUNCE’. I started to look at logo artist, Mark Fox who I have gained inspiration from when drawing out different fonts. During Thursdays lesson I had to create my own bag and pattern piece out of paper to help me understand how to make a flat pattern 3D, I found this session very helpful.  After Thursdays lesson I have decided to start looking at different shapes of bags to decide what I want to start designing, ‘The satchel company' bags are similar to the satchel shapes I think I am  interested in, and could be developed so I have started to develop this in my sketchbook. I have also looked at different clutch bags with straps, which I find interesting so I will develop that too. Pinterest 'Leather' board. I am particularly interested in knit and weave so I am going to start to explore this using leather. I would like to create my own surface using the leather; I will do this by cutting the leather into strips and putting it through the chunky knitting machine. To be able to do this I will need soft leather or a leather cord, if this process does not work, I will E-wrap the leather into the knitting creating a surface of leather. I am also going to try hand knitting the leather. I would like to create decorative patterns on the leather using hand processes taking patterns from my sketchbook ideas. I will start this research when I choose my leather on Thursday.