Ta daaaa!

Here is an image of my overall presentation. 

After adjusting small sections of the lower part of the dress and attaching fishing line, it is now complete. I am happy with my overall finish as I feel it represents my concept well and highlights the fading away issue. Now I will go ahead and work on my evaluation...

Research inspiration

Hanging the dress: 

So after collecting all my research needed, I found that I was inspired mostly by an exhibition in Edinburgh called "Beauty by design". The detail in the garments were so intricate and well finished. Although it was the way it was presented that really caught my attention. 

I find the way the garments are hung look so graceful. They look 3D as they have been attached with metal wire. The wire has been stitched inside the garment for it to hold its shape. As they have also been hung with wire, it looks as though they are floating. I really think this way of presenting is effective and therefore will continue to think of ways to hang my piece - with insipiration taken from this.

Preparing to exhibit...

After researching for inspiration on how to present my garment, I felt a strong colour contract was needed. I felt because my dress is white, I needed a really dark background in order for it to stand out successfully. I managed to borrow a large black curtain that will be hung as a back drop. 

Putting up the curtain was a real challenge as it was very heavy and difficult to handle. I was assisted in this process as I struggled with it on my own. The tools that were used in this process were a staple gun, ladders and long planks of wood. The staple gun seemed to be the quickest and most secure way to attatchment the curtain to the ceiling. 

After the curtain was hung, I came across a slight issue. Along the bottom of the curtain was very loose - which made the overall appearence unprofessional. To solve this matter, I thought about putting a weight behind the curtain to hold it down flat. I used pieces of wood from the workshop and borrowed and piece of wood from construction to pin down the curtain. This seemed a much quicker way than cutting and hemming the fabric. 

Alternative idea

After sketching out dress designs that related to my concept, I thought of purchasing a second hand dress. This would be a better idea as it's mainly about the focus of my concept and not the structure of dress.  I began to phone charity shops and ask around to see if anybody was selling their wedding dress. Eventually after no success from the charity shops, I managed to find one on a Facebook selling page. 

My ideology of what you see on the outside, doesn't necessarily mean reality. My ideas of altering the dress so that it looks close to perfect on the outside and in contrast, burnt and disintigrated at the back of the dress. This again reflects back to my conceptual idea that when you see a couple in a relationship in public, you assume that everything is fine. So when you walk to the back of my dress, there is a gradual subtlety that represents the slow Disintigration of the relationship. I need to now experiment and create sample pieces and also plan how I will hang my final piece.

Burning process...

After the festivities were over, it was time to concentrate on completing my final piece. I finalised which type of fabric I was using and which techniques I was using. 

Heat manipulation is a technique that I am familiar with and have confidence in using the heat tools. such as: A heat gun, soldering iron and iron. As I wanted to achieve a burnt effect on the fabric, I had to experiment with different heat tools to achieve this. A lighter and candle was also used during the experimentation.

 

When it came to burning the dress, I realised that it was very time consuming and taking up too much time to create the desired effect using a lighter. To solve this issue, I had an alternative idea that might be able to burn the fabric faster. Using blue roll really made a difference in the overall burnt look and the black marks that was left on the fabric. I felt this was a good way to resolve this as it really sped up the process.

ITS CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Graduation plan

4 sections of research 

- Further Education

- Business startup

- Travel 

- Employment

After carrying out my large amounts of research for each section, I now feel I have a clearer thought about my lifetime goals. I now know where I aim to go in life and what my ambitions really are. I realised that actually, I want to gain insight into each section. I found this research task really usefull as I have concluded what my short, medium and long term goals are. Also I came to the realisation that I don't actually have to worry about doing EVERYTHING in a couple of years. I can make plans for the future and aim to achieve them.