Just Do Something

Selling me…..

Nicki — Wed, 04 May 2016 16:26:12 +0000

This is the scary bit, I have had my business cards printed and have made a new website for wearablehugs.com , please copy and paste the link .

http://www.wearablehugs.com/

I haven’t quite got the SEO sorted but its on its way…….

This is exciting …..

Wearablehug in use – Bamboo Aviator Hat

Nicki — Sun, 01 May 2016 23:47:44 +0000

As part of my final project I wanted to develop my spinning skills, throughout this unit I have been using wool, I decided to try spinning bamboo as it doesn’t contain lanolin and can be quite slippery and difficult to spin increasing my skill base. Also to try experimenting with fibres that are kind to skin and suitable for allergy suffers.

I spun a single yarn and dyed the yarn using acid dyes, creating a beautifully silky black yarn and knitted the yarn into an Aviator hat as I wanted to use the hat when driving .

This hat was very popular I have orders for 1 more hat and an order for more bamboo yarn for a customer to knit the hat herself.

Wearablehugs Photo shoot

Nicki — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 22:10:59 +0000

As part of my final unit I wanted to display my wearablehugs in context , a great group of ladies offered to model my garments for me, thankyou to everyone who took part xx

It was great to see my hugs in context and being worn,

Dyeing handspun yarn

Nicki — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 22:01:48 +0000

As part of this final unit I wanted to experiment dyeing my had spun yarn, felting of the yarn during the process was an issue with one particular batch of yarn , initially I thought this would make the yarn unsuitable but it created an amazing structural piece.

I spun a second batch of yarn and tried again ……… this time dip dyeing the yarn ….

Wearable hugs

Nicki — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 21:22:43 +0000

I wanted to continue to develop my spinning skills into the last unit but wasn’t sure how to make this part of my unit, I decided to create yarns to crochet and knit into wraps, following my successful free form wrap created on homelessness.

What to call them ….. wearable hugs the name popped into my head as they would be warm and cosy , I wanted each one to feel like a warm cosy hug…..

I began to spin…….. creating yarns , what to do next with the yarns ? Wraps shawls hats gloves anything that I felt was warm and cosy…….

Examples of some of my wearable hugs

Some smaller hugs …..

Future development….

Spin yarn – measure using wraps per inch – crochet /knit tension square- calculate yardage to ensure I don’t run out of yarn

?? Develop patterns to make kits enabling e to sell yarn and pattern …

Creating my own labels – wearablehugs.com

Nicki — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 20:30:53 +0000

I wanted to create my own labels to complement my wearable hugs, I did some label research ….

My labels needed to be soft, I hate scratchy label’s, how to make labels ??? Following my tutorial I was introduced to the CAD embroidery machine at NUA , what an amazing machine …..

I wanted a handwritten font I used a drawing tablet to create a free form line, this was amazing !!

Really interesting pattern created from the thread movement between each label

I experimented with several fabrics deciding to use a light woollen cloth very overpriced for labels but the feel of the fabric was just right.

I wanted a frayed edge to the label to compliment each wearable hug.

I experimented embroidering straight onto crocheted fabric, my sample pieces where too small to fit in the hoop which meant they had to be backed with fabric to allow the tension on the hoop surface to be maintained, a water soluble fabric was added to the surface face of the fibre to prevent the needle picking up threads. However the water soluble fabric was too small and caught under the needle . I was unhappy with the final outcome as the additional material backing caused the embroidery to be stiff.

Finished items with labels.

Future development – sourcing labels will be required once I have left NUA initial enquiries labels are very expensive for small volumes this will require further research and requesting samples to source the correct label.

Bishops Art Prize

Nicki — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 13:04:27 +0000

As part of my final unit I decided to enter the Bishops Art Prize, the brief was “Unexpected Blessings”

I spent some time exploring the brief looking at key words and different meanings, finally I decided to use personal feelings and relationships important to me.

I wanted to explore the idea of positive outcomes occurring following difficult circumstances, I lost a friend unexpectedly last year this event made me re examine my life, my partner and I decided to get married.

I wanted to create a sculpture using crochet, I decide to use rope as the medium , I wanted to use black to show the knot and turmoil using black to symbolising grief .

My completed sculpture, the black knotted vessel symbolising grief and loss with a single thread leaving the turmoil behind , on the rope is a wedding ring symbolising my marriage leading to a large coil of rope showing my future.

The Cathedral was a most beautiful space to exhibit in , and the 2 days spent invigilating the exhibition allowed me space to enjoy being in the moment.

Mid Term Exhibition

Nicki — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:01:17 +0000

As part of the 3rd year we where asked to submit work to an exhibition curated by 3rd year textile students , I decided to submit my wrap I had made for the Home project in first term. The wrap was made with hand spun merino yarn, the yarn was plyed the same was as it was spun, over spinning the yarn causing lots of extra twist in the yarn. The yarn was crocheted into a free form wrap, the overspun yarn worked beautifully creating twist and knot within the yarn. The outcome a very tactile warm wrap.

Dissertation: How Can Repetative Craft Techniques Improve Well-Being

Nicki — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 20:42:54 +0000

I found writing my dissertation very difficult, in the beginning I struggled to narrow down my topic into a relevant question. At the beginning of my research I had rough idea of what I wanted to do and why I wanted to look at the subject of well-being. I have had mental health issues over the years and also have OCD and found that working creatively using my hands has helped me to feel better, I wanted to understand why this was the case. Also to carry out in depth academic research as this was not something I had done before. Once I had my question I found I easily got distracted whilst carrying out research and would go off topic and find myself researching a very interesting non relevant topic. I booked a tutorial with Les Bicknell to discuss the academic theory required to support my dissertation, during the tutorial I was able to understand why and what were the drivers behind my choice of title. This was also really useful as it gave me an academic framework to fit my primary research to.

I found many opportunities to carryout primary research and particularly enjoyed this part of my dissertation. .

As I have dyslexia I was able to access dyslexia tuition, this was really helpful enabling me to plan my research, and focus on the relevant point of the dissertation structure. After many hours my dissertation was complete Hurrah !!

Learning to take forward ….

I can do it .. My confidence in my academic ability has improved as a result of writing my dissertation, it has also improved my writing skills which were very rusty.

Using my USP to develop my skills. (I enjoy making contact with people and was able to develop relationships to enable me to carryout and develop my primary research)

Personal Project/Oblique Stratergies

Nicki — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 19:45:11 +0000

My initial ideas for my personal project changed quite dramatically as the weeks progressed throughout this unit. My initial idea was to create freeform crocheted shapes inspired by natural forms using reclaimed yarns, following feedback from my Pecha Kucha presentation I looked at creating freeform crochet shapes using items of clothing from my family and friends ; I wanted to create a piece of work directly inspired by my friends and family and direct environment. I was slow to start on this project and became side tracked by my Home project and the subsequent Body project. My personal project remained untouched.. During the Body project I became inspired by elastic properties of yarn and started to spin fibres around shearing elastic (core spinning) to create a springy yarn .

I wanted to develop my core spinning skills. Outcome an amount of very soft springy yarn but what next ……. what to do with it ???

Core spun yarn

I attended a group tutorial, the tutorial looked at using Oblique Strategies to move work forward, we picked a strategy card at random my card was MUTE and CONTINUE how could I use this ??

I gave this a lot of thought …. I looked at how I could mute the yarn ,

Could I remove the colour bleaching the yarn ?

Photographing it and then putting the image into black and white ?

I looked at how the yarn , I decided it is the texture of the yarn that informed the narrative of the yarn. How could I silence the yarn ? I wanted to remove the texture, at New Designers Show in Islington I had seen very small pieces of textiles placed in casting resin (very similar to a paper weight )and thought this was very interesting.

I didn’t have casting resin but had standard fibreglass so started to experiment with covering my hand spun yarn with fibreglass.

Hand spun yarn covered in fibreglass

This worked well on a small scale, could I make bigger pieces ?…

I knitted the yarn into rectangles and attached the knitted pieces to a wooden backing, creating a frame using nails to stretch the knitting. Fibreglass was poured over the knitting.

3 pieces were created and left to dry

Learning to take forward…

Continue to experiment with resin and texture

Can the texture element be developed to create a single element (?? touch)

Unexpected developments can occur if I allow myself to experiment …