PD 4: ( Atmospheres – Peter Zumthor )

Atmospheres

As I am a really indecisive person, reading just the first few pages actually kind of little convince me that once we see something, be it or not, we kind of already have the yes and no percentage separated clearly. 

Magic of the Real:
Looking at the example the author gave us it make me think of things in another perspective. Something we look at an object or in product design case a product. We often look at it individually then think hmm how I am able to create something like this but never have i think of creating something the the atmosphere this product have in an environment. 

The body of architecture:
Even though in the article the author talks about using the material in an certain items to create a space that could touch his body. But for me it makes me wonder instead of the material inside the item that created the space, what if it is a more direct approach the material inside an item that have direct connection or even contact with body. Will it be able to trigger someone emotion feeling?

Material Compatibility:
I feel like material compatibility has a certain link to the idea of “the body or architecture” it is the idea of how certain material work together, or even in some case one material itself with some twist to it, it could become something different that could eventually affect the emotion of the person if he/she comes in contact with it or enter a space with surrounding created by this material. 

Sound of a Space:
To me, it interlink with the idea of an environment. Sometimes even in us, like my peers in PD some listen to music, some listen to drama/movies, some listen to natural sound like rain or waves. We seek for this sound because it reminded us of a certain environment that able to helps us stay focus. Or some of us do work at home in the living room with the TV on but not even watching, sound in environment can affect someone emotions. It can gives familiarity and make people feel safe at certain point.

The Temperature of a Space:
The temperature of a space can greatly affect someone. Especially since we are living in Singapore, the hoe temperature out door is possibility of making someone frustrated and or annoyed. Taking the trip to eco garden as an example, sometimes because it is too hot we would think of finding shelter, or even exiting the place, in result we might missed interesting thing inside that we could spot if we stroll through the park in a cooling weather. 

Surrounding Object:
Surrounding object kind of remind me of art pieces. When we walk into certain place the art pieces immediately gives impression of the place to someone, Take example of hotel lobby, some hotel have big installation of art pieces greeting us the moment we walk in whereas some have only potted plants, I am not sure if its physiological by we do sometimes feel that the art piece lobby probably give the high end feelingt we have to the hotel.

Between composure and seduction:
It reminds me of spatial planning, making use of a space you could indirectly lead the user the way to walk. Just like in product we could in cooperated it into a space combining it, it can somehow leads the user to interact with it in a certain method,

Tension between interior and exterior:
To me, exterior and interior acts as a two way thing, you could make use of the interior to block someone off from exterior or you could work them together where you can still see the exterior when you inside. just like what the author mention regarding the women sitting in the room facing the window. It reminds me of our bench a little bit, the panels similarly works in a way like the walls that block off the exterior, but this time round instead of total remove the visibility of the exterior, but we work them together by making use of the panels. So to give the user some kind of “interior” space without cutting off exterior.

Level of Intimacy:
It reminded me of the perimeter test that we do for our project. Infact at certain point I think that perimeter is really an important factor for us designer, weather you are a interior designer or even a product design that you have to consider the perimeter you product is going to be place in.

The Light on Things:
Light is a big big big influence factor in design feel. Not only in product design but in film, photography or even 2D. It can gives 2D work a three dimensional look, providing emotion and mood to audience in movies and photography, Lights plays a big roles. Even in this project, many groups have concept that make uses of natural sunlight to creates an emotions or mood for user in the Jurong eco garden.

 

 

 

PD 4: ( Another Scale of Architecture – Ishigami Junya )

Another Scale of Architecture

Till now most of us have seen architecture as an individual construction. Most of the time we separated them from the natural environment and only observed it on its own, not taking note of the natural environment of sometimes even ignoring the natural environment. However it is interesting to put them together in consideration and compared them or even joined them to create an “environment”. Sometimes like the article mention we could look at the natural environment, then reconsider the scale of the architecture and recreate it into another perspective which like mention an environment. Also it expanded the possibilities of artificial architect, making it possible to become one with the natural environment or even to create a total new “environment”

PD 4: ( Prototyping Takram )

Prototyping Takram

As a design student we are often ask to do prototype prototype prototype. But many of us always have this wrong conception of doing one prototype to test out our ideas and also to show our professor was enough. Learning from what the book mention, it is always beneficial for us – the designers to create more prototype. We can even do simple dirty prototype created by paper or even sketches. It is definitely plus point if you could do amazing sketches but most importantly like the book mentions, finding the purpose of the sketch. if it helps you to convey ideas or jot down the way of improvement then nice sketches is not always essential. 
Also it always not always about spending huge amount of money, but more of letting the designer observed how the prototype i being use and what people experience with it are. An interesting topic mention in the book is movie prototype. We often think about it as creating a video, creating an animation or promotional video for our product. But not necessarily think of these videos as prototype. Actually the function and purpose of the videos are similar to the 3D prototype we create, it helps us to easier convey our ideas to clients and also showing the user perspective of it. 

PD 4: ( Fukasawa – Embodiment )

Embodiment

I really like the sentence where Naoto Fukasawa mention Being on the creative side of things, I try to design not from the perspective of creating something new, but rather from a viewpoint of helping people realize something that they actually knew already I like this sentence because it reminded me when my group was doing the eco garden project. We are stuck at finding ways and be creative to create an unique “enclose” environment that could help create the solitude environment our group wants to archive. However, like the sentence sometimes is the small gesture that we already embodied in our daily life that show this idea of the solitude space that we want. Such as simple putting down the armrest. Even for us when we realize this we also go “oh” yaaaa that we are already doing it and knew already just the we are so focus of coming our something new, but forget to actually look at our daily gesture that already show us the hint to what we are looking for-something we already knew.

Sometimes as designer, it is not about always creating something new. Just like he mention take the environment into consideration, look at the surrounding as it is also an important factor when designing an object but also not forgetting what is the role of this object portraying.

Surface Design – W11 ( Resin and Latex )

Resin and Latex

What is Resin and Latex?

“Resin” is a term widely and commonly used to describe a compound that starts in a liquid form and then hardens to a solid, thus mimicking tree resin. True resin comes from trees.  It is an organic material used in the manufacture of varnishes, food glazing agents and also incense and perfumes (think pine scented products).Synthetic resins like the ones used for jewellery, crafting and industry have been manufactured to mimic natural plant resins – that is they are viscous (thick + sticky) liquids that are capable of hardening permanently.  They are an inorganic material.

Natural Latex is a milky substance harvested from rubber tree plants (Havea brasiliensis) which are grown in tropical climate plantations around the world. Natural Latex is bio-degradable and naturally resistant to mold, mildew & bacteria.Synthetic latex is a man-made molecular copy of natural latex. The scientific name for this compound is Styrene-Butadiene (SBR).

Resin and Latex Technique:
– Resin

– Latex

Resin

Materials Used:
– Resin
– Hardener
– Mold
– Weighing Machine
– Grease Agent

Experiment:

    

Pour the desire amount of resin you want into a container place ontop of a weighing machine. Take the amount of resin shown on the scare and times 0.03. That is the amount of harder that we would need to add into our resin. So, the hardener should be 0.03% of the amount of the resin amount.

    

Give it a quick mixed and even mixed. The whole process must be done really quickly so recommended to have your mold sprayed with grease agent prepared first if not the resin would dry up really quickly. 

    

So I wanted to create earrings out of the acrylic rings that I laser cut from previous etching class. I have to first lay a thin layer of resin into my ring. Using a toothpick to slowly pick up resin bit by bit to filled the ring because it has a small area to work with. Then placing my dried flower on the first layer of resin and then cover them with a second layer of resin. Doing so I must make sure I filled up the base evenly so that there are no empty spots but also not to put too much that it over flow the thickness of the acrylic thickness as it would be unable to encapsulate. 

   

I also cut rings that I thought I could play with some wool left over from the felting class. I place a acrylic sheet at the bottom to help secure my resin earrings and also to easier move around. I had to spray slightly more grease agent as I am afraid it can’t be remove after it is dried. 

    

I was a little sad because I did not know that wool would not be visible after I pour the second layer of resin:( But I am happy because it also create a soft thin of pastel colour inside the resin which I find it quite special:) “It is alright if the resin over flow, even though it is not recommended but it can be removed after resin dry:)

    

My classmate also bought some saga seed and I thought why not try to encapsulate something slightly larger and more 3D:) while it is drying I felt it kinda look like fried egg. 

TADA!!:)

Latex

Materials Used:
– Liquid latex
– Hardener
– Mold
– Weighing Machine
– Grease Agent

Experiment:

    

As usual spray grease agent onto the surface you want to pour your latex. I poured 100g of Liquid latex and add in 2-5g of hardener. And for me I wanted to create a flesh like look for my latex, so I added some red acrylic paint inside while I mixed the latex to create this pinkish colour. Putting on aluminium foil I wanted to create the crumple surface texture to it so hopefully it forms well:)

    

Then place your latex under the sun to dry. I was thinking maybe because I add in too little hardener. It take super long to dry and I am still unable to peel it off the aluminium foil:(

   

It was quite fail as the latex was not dry enough and thus sticking onto the foil:( even after peeling them the surface was sticky.

   

Even though it was sticky, but I really love the texture it was created. It and also the light pinkish effect was really special to me:) One tip, I coated it with baby powder and then shake them off, so they are not sticky now! and smell so nice:)

Surface Design – W10 ( Thermoplastics )

Thermoplastics

What is Thermoplastics?

Thermoplastic refers to the quality of a fiber whose molecular structure breaks down an becomes fluid at a certain temperature, making it possible to reshape the fabric by pleating, moulding or crushing. The fabric is ‘fixed’ on cooling and cannot be altered unless heated to a temperature greater than the one at which it was reshaped.

Types of Thermoplastic Techniques:
– Thermoplastic Fabric

– Vacuum Forming

Thermoplastic Fabric

Polyester belongs to the group of Synthetic Fibers. A synthetics fabric is thermoplastic, that is, it can be transformed through heat into new configuration, which on cooling are completely stable.

Materials Used:
– Organza (100%Polyester) “must be 100%”
– Rubber bands
– Objects as form base
– Aluminum Foil
– Boiling Water

Experiment:

   

    

I brought objects like big pebbles, small pebbles and dice to try out the effect form. Very easy, first we simply wrap our objects inside organza and tie them up using normal rubber band to secure the objects inside. Make sure the way you tied your organza is the pattern you want your fabric to turn into after boiling. 

    

I created not only objects but I also try out folding them into like otah look. Also since there is left over organza at the end of the big pebbles I use aluminium foil and just crumple the organza up just to see its form:) After we are done wrapping the objects into the fabric, we could then wrap them up in aluminium foil and prepare for the boiling process. 

    

After wrapping them in foil until it look like you are bbq sweet potato you could put them into 100 degree boiling water:) try to make sure they are fully submerge into the water so that we could get a balance boil. 

    

Let it boil for about 45 minute – 1 hour. Prepare a tongs or chopstick to grab out your creation as it is very very hot!

    

Be Carefulllll~~~

    

After boiling and unwrapping the aluminium foil this is what we have, slowly open up the rubber band. Do not that if we boil even longer rubber band might also melt, and objects that are made from material like plastic may also melt so be really careful about this:) 

    

My dice design and big pebbles design:)

    

My small pebbles and aluminium foil crumpled design:)

TADA!!!!

    

Out of all this is my favorite pieces because I really like how the dice effect created this solid hallow cube like shape inside the organza. :):)

Vacuum Forming

Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, where a sheet of plastic is heated to a  forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum. 

Materials Used:
– Vacuum form machine
– Plastic Sheet
– Mold object

Experiment:

    

First we prepare our vacuum form machine by heating it up. It takes about 20 minute to heat up. We cut the plastic sheet base on the size of our object for me I am doing a small square object so the small size would be enough. Place you plastic sheet onto the machine and the drag out the heater. It would heat the plastic sheet and melt it till the plastic becomes soft. We would notice the crumple effect on the surface of the plastic when it is being heated. Wait until the crumple disappear  and we are ready to from our mold. 

    

As my mold have a slight undercut it would b stuck in my vacuum form when i take out from the machine. But because the plastic sheet is rather soft I could remove the mold out from the plastic easily. But do note that if the plastic is really stiff the mold might not be able to remove out, so be careful and try to avoid as much undercut as possible. 

    

My first try (left) I didn’t try the pump effect at first, therefore the design wasn’t really molded out. After that I tried the second one with the pump effect this time where it could stretch the plastic before molding, and hence the design were better mold out:)

 

Surface Design – W8 ( Printing with special inks: Thermochromic ink )

Printing with special inks: Thermochromic ink

What is Thermochromic ink?
Thermochromic inks can change from colourless to colourful OR colourful to colourless very quickly. Although thermochromic inks were introduces in the 1970s, they are used extensively today. I changes colour when temperatures increase or decrease. Often used in manufacture of many toys or product packaging, as well as thermometers. Thermchromic ink can also turn transparent when heat is applied; an example of this type of thermochromic ink is found on corners of an examination mark sheet. This proves that the sheet has not been edited of photocopied, and also on certain pizza boxes to show the temperature of the product. 

Materials Used:
– Thermochromic pigment powder
– SIlk Screen medium
– Printed Surface (etc. fabric)
– Silk Screen 

Demonstration:

    

We start off by preparing our materials and out desired pattern on our silk screen panels.

   

Add about 8 scoop of silk screen medium into an empty container and add in about 1-2 scoop of thermochromic pigment powder in.

    

Mixed the pigment powder and the silk screen ink well:)

     

We also make other different colour and followed by selecting our pattern we want to create.

     

Lay out printed surface on a flat top and put out silk screen frame ontop of our printed surface. Put just the right amount of mixed ink onto the silk screen and we could go on to do our silk screen:) 

Experiment:

    

I tried with 100% cotton fabric as most of our daily life items are make of cotton bed sheets, t shirt etc.

    

Silk Screen!! 

    

After we’re done just slowly peel our silk screen off the fabric. Get someone to secure onto the fabric for you while you peel of your silk screen. 

    

TADA!!

    

I also tired with thin cotton linen fabric to compare the effect. with thin material the pattern is also quite visible on the back side and hence I realized that the ink also turn transparent when we put heat on the back side of the fabric:)

   

TADA!!

Not wasting the tissue we use underneath the fabric as protector. I kept it just to see if the effect would also appear on other medium:) IT DOES!!  ( CLICK ON THE SECOND IMAGE!!! )

 

Surface Design – W7 ( Knitting )

Knitting

What is Knitting?
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn is used to create a cloth. Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progress, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can be pass through them. This process eventually results in a fabric, often used for garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. There exist numerous style and methods of hand knitting. Different types of yarns and needle may be used to achieve a plethora of knitted materials: these tools give the final piece a different colour, tecture, weight, and/or integrity. Other factors that affect the end result include the needle’s shape, thickness and malleability, as well as the yarn’s fibre type, texture and twist. 

Types of Felting:
– Garter Stitch Pattern

– Stockinette Stitch Pattern
– Rib Stitch

Garter Stitch Pattern

Garter stitch is one of the easiest and most common stitch patterns in knitted fabrics. You create garter stitch by knitting every row. (You can create garter stitch by purling every row, too.)

Materials Used:
– Yarn
– Knitting Needle

Experiment:

   

I experiment with white yarn I got from daiso to create the most basic knitting stitch which is the garter stitch (the one on the bottom) . I really love this stitch because it creates a thick but soft texture and it doesn’t curl up. It retains the  flatness of the knitted outcome

Stockinette Stitch Pattern

Stockinette stitch is a basic knitting stitch. To knit stockinette stitch, you alternate a knit row with a purl row.  Meaning. Stockinette stitch (or stocking stitch) is everywhere: scarves, socks, sweaters, blankets, hats etc. Stockinette stitch make use of two side to create – the right and wrong side. Simply put it right side would be the front which is the side you want to show your intended design and wrong as the back side. Example. clothing, the right side would the side facing the public and outside and wrong side would be the inner side:) Hence in stockinette stitch you should have two different pattern on each side of your outcome:)

    

Right side – On the right side (front) we create the Stockinette stitch making use of knit stitch method

Wrong side – On the wrong side (back) we create the garter stitch making use of purl stitch method

Materials Used:
– Yarn
– Knitting Needle

Experiment:

    

Using the same piece I tried with the garter design (bottom) with purl stitch I continue and create the stockinette stitch (top) using the knit stitch. After trying I am not really a big fan of it. even know the v like knit are very traditional pattern we see on knitted garments. the corners of the knit tends to curl up and the thickness of the piece is relatively thin compared to garter stitch where we use purl stitch on both side. 

Rib Stitch

Rib stitch wasn’t really taught in class but professor Galina saw the knitted jacket that I was wearing and introduce me the name of the stitch which is called rib stitch. and she suggested that I could try this one because it is a combination of garter stitch and stockinette stitch just alternating them:) 


The jacket that I was wearing was made from rib stitch:)

The rib stitch consists of columns of knit stitches alternating with columns of purl stitches. To make a ribbed pattern, you change from knit stitches to purl stitches within a row — instead of alternating knit rows with purl rows (as you do when making horizontal stripes). Single knit stitches alternate with single purl stitches. There are different type of rib stitch:) 1 x 1 ribbing: Single knit stitches alternate with single purl stitches, creating very narrow columns. 2 x 2 ribbing: Alternates 2 knit stitches with 2 purl stitches. It pulls in slightly less than 1 x 1 ribbing. 

     

Left: 1 x 1 ribbing, Right: 2 x 2 ribbing:

Materials Used:
– Yarn
– Knitting Needle

Experiment:

   

I was so happy I manage to successful trying out this stitch:) what amaze me would be it being able to stretch! Because it is able to stretch you can find rib stitch around the wrist area of many knitted wears.

    

Pulling open the knit stitch you’ll be able to find the purl stitch in between:) 

Making more Samples:)

After learning how to knit using the basic material which is yarn. We were encourage to try on varies materials:) I decided to experiment with copper wire, normal cotton fabric, plastic raffia string and well as changing colour of the yarn!:) 

    

    

Colour changing was quite successful experiment for me. Although halfway through I made s mistake by changing the last blue yarn onto the right side there causing in awkward white yarn in between the batch of blue yarn. But overall I am satisfied with the outcome!:)

    

    

I creating my own “yarn” by cutting a piece of fabric into strips and connecting them by tying a knot at each end:) I decided to use garter stitch for this material because I want to create a thick and heavy outcome from a very thin and light characteristic the fabric originally have. I really love this outcome because by making my own “yarn” I create strips that are uneven hence when knitting them together it would not be of an consistent thickness in the stitches creating this semi crumpled uneven texture which I really love it:)

    

I use raffia strings as a representation of plastic because compared to plastic bag raffia string itself have a certain thickness to it. I was wondering if I knit using a string with a certain stiffness would be knitted piece be able to retain a certain shape if i were to twist the piece into a form. After trying I realized that even though raffia string are stiff they are still not strong enough to maintain a certain from probably because of the needle thickness I use the holes in between actually causing it to become relatively weak:(

    

Last would be copper wire:) Since it is so hard to control the wire as it kept slip out from my knitting needle. So alot of patients is needed to knit with copper wire. Probably could watch some show while doing:) Anyway I like the outcome of the copper wire. Something that I am not very satisfied would be the holes in between. I was wondering if i were to use a much thinner knitting needle the holes would be much more smaller and the knitted piece would look more compact and stiffer. But by doing so, if also mean that it would take very long to create a piece since the wire are so thin. Making it compact we could most likely spent same amount of time i use for this experiment piece but result in a much much smaller piece:(

Surface Design – W9 ( Printing with special inks: Etching )

Printing with special inks: Etching

What is Etching?

The technique of removing or engraving onto a material to create patterns. It can be used on various material including soft materials like fabric and paper and hard materials like Wood, acrylic or metal.

Types of Etching:
– Fiber Etch on fabric: Bleaching

– Fiber Etch on Wood/Acrylic
– Fiber Etch on Velvet: Devore

Fiber Etch on fabric: Bleaching

Bleaching is used to remove colour impurities in natural and some man-made fibers to produce a whiter substrate.

Materials Used:
– Cotton or Linen ( it would not work with synthetic fabric )
– Kitchen Bleach

Experiment:

    

First we prepare our faric. I use 100% cotton and I choose red because I want to experiment if I could achieve the “flesh/meat” like effect:) You can twist or roll or anyway we manipulate the fabric before spraying on bleach. I use thread and sew through the fabric and pull to create the crumple:)

     

I was worried that I would accidentally bleach my whole fabric so I only spray very little bleach onto at first. But the bleach was absorb very quickly into the fabric and the bleach effect was not very obvious so I tried spray much much more:)

    

Try not to leave your piece for too lone as the bleach would dissolve through the fabric and end up bleaching the while piece. After we felt that the effect is enough just was it with normal tap water and leave your piece to dry. Remember to wash thoroughly and get the bleach all out. 

   

The Complete piece!! I have friends telling me it look like pepperoni, bacon sausage so I guess I succeeded in getting the meat like effect I wanted to archive!!!

Fiber Etch on Wood/Acrylic

Fiber etching on wood and acrylic simply means the removal of fibers on a surface of an hard object using different technology. One technology that we tried in school would be laser cutting. Laser cutting is the process of using a powerful laser to cut and/or engrave items from flat sheets of materials like plastic, wood and many other materials. The laser cutter works by directing a high power laser beam very precisely at the chosen material to either mark of cut right through. When cutting, the laser beam burns away at the material leaving you with the cutout shape that you have specifies in your vector file. The cutting beam is very thin (0.1mm) and precise resulting in incredibly detailed and accurate cuts.

Materials Used:
– Laser Cutting machine
– Wood or Acrylic

Experiment:

    

First we can draw our intended design in either illustrator, Photoshop or 3d software such as Rhino. After we are done drawing we would export the file and save them as dxf format. When cutting is is recommended to do rasterising first before cutting through your pieces. This is to prevent the piece from shifting after you have cut them and affect your rasterise. In the laser cut machine. Set the line you want to cut first in black colour line, followed by the coloured one as the second you want to cut. As you can see the laser cutting machine goes really quickly depending on the speed you set. Also different method of cutting and different have different setting. 

    

After cutting is done, wait for the machine to stop and you can take out the pieces!:)

    

TADA!!! as we would be doing resin for next lesson, I cut some circle and ring so I thought it could be transform into earrings!:)

– Fiber Etch on Velvet: Devore

Etching is also commonly known as Devore. Devore is a fabric technique particularly used on velvets, where a mixed-fibre material undergoes a chemical process to dissolve the cellulose fibers to create a semi-transparent pattern against more solidly woven fabric.

Materials Used:
– Fiber Remover
– Silk Screen Panel with pattern
– Silk Viscose Velvet Fabric

Experiment:

     

We prepare the fiber remover liquid we need and also cut our fabric into the intended shape we want. 

    

Put a layer of protector at the bottom of our fabric to prevent the the ink from passing through to the bottom. Then put our silk screen panel onto of our velvet fabric and we could silks screen!! When pushing the liquid through the silk screen panel put in more effort so that the ink can be absorb into the velvet. If not when we iron we would see that the fabric did not absorb enough ink and the pattern would not be produced.

   

After we leave the fabric to dry for 24 hours we can start ironing them. Give it a little pressure and we can see that the pattern of the silk screen started forming. 

   

I think that I did not put enough pressure in my silk screen process, therefore not alot of ink are pass through and absorb into the fabric:( therefore I have to use maximum heat and TWO iron. Even so, the pattern out is still very light.

    

Therefore I had to go back home and iron even more praying that the pattern could form. But sadly no matter how much I iron. And how long I left it for, the pattern is still not very visible:(

   

I guess it was a fail attempt for my devore as the velvet did not really come off and the fabric was burn:( but Prof Galina did mention that is was alright, we could dye the fabric to cover up the burn unless we wanted white fabric:(

  

Atleast one of the pattern did have the effect which is not the best but I’m felt lucky hahaha. It was a little obvious and I had to use quite a lot of strength to scrape out the velvet:(

 

 

Surface Design – W6 ( Materials exploration: Fabric Manipulation, stitching with elastics )

Materials Exploration: Fabric Manipulation, stitching with elastics

What is Fabric Manipulation?
Techniques that reshapes the surface of the material. There are many ways to play with fabric and manipulate or control it so that it becomes more dimensional. Throughout history, people have developed different ways of altering fabric to provide contrasts, to create a sense of fullness, and create surface effects (giving textures). Some of these methods are very old, but contemporary fabric artists continue to use them and adapt them in new ways.There are many ways to manipulate fabric such as, stitching, smocking, pleating and shirring etc. 

Types of Fabric Manipulation tried in class:
– Smocking

– Stitching with elastic (shirring)

Smocking

Smocking is a hand-stitching technique that gathers fabric into small shapes as the threads are pulled tight on the back of the fabric. The stitches are sometimes visible to help organize the folds in direct smoking.

Materials Used:
– Fabric (cotton, linen, cotton linen, velvet, chiffon, etc)
– Hand Sewing Needle
– Ruler
– Pen
– Sewing Thread

Experiment:

    

The pattern that I am interested to experiment would be call the “lattice” pattern. I love this pattern because unlike some of the pattern, this design creates a relatively flat surface after it is sew. 

    

The technique to create smocking is quite straight forward. Start off by dividing your fabric into squares boxes. Do take note that depending on how big you want individual pattern to come out you adjust the dimension per boxes. The smaller the boxes the more compact your patterns would look:) Then, draw line (marking) inside the box following  the template of your design and simply follow the direction and sew the corners point together. I did mine in alternate ways. column 1 –> column 2 –> row 2 column 1 –> row 2 column 2 and repeat:)

TADA!!!

   

I really love the outcome of the fabric. It was a struggle at first because about 1/3 through the fabric you might not still be able to see the pattern forming and would doubt yourself if you’re doing it correct:) but don’e worry just continue and the patter would be reveal!!:) 

Stitching with elastic (shirring)

Shirring is a magical technique that shrinks a piece of fabric and transforms it into something stretchy. It’s great for skirt waistbands, shirt hems and bodices. And all it takes is sewing a few rows of stitches with elastic thread. Test out shirring on a few different types of material and you might notice that the more lightweight the fabric, the better the result. Light cotton fabrics like voile will shrink more than, say, a quilting cotton. Fabrics like corduroy, wool and other heavyweights are just not shirr-able. Stick to the lightest fabric you can find.

Materials Used:
– Elastic Band
– Elastic Thread
– Lightweight Fabric

Experiment:

    

Since it was recommended that lightweight materials works well for shirring. I decided to try with this organza like material. It was really hard to control this material because the elastic thread does not get sew into the fabric easily and also while sewing with sewing machine you have to constantly pull the fabric so that it does not crumple up together once you let go.

TADA!!

   

I really like the effect of this lightweight material as it create the girly dreamy like texture. I like how it is crumpled together through the elastic thread and also how soft feeling the folds gives out. 

    

I decided to try with a more heavy fabric and non translucent material to see the effect of it. I experiment with both elastic band and elastic thread. The effect of the elastic thread came out really nice as the thread was already coil at a certain tightness on the sewing machine. However, elastic band requires us to pull the band tightly while i sew them onto the fabric through the sewing machine. If you did not pull it tight enough the crumple effect would not be obvious. Just like my sample, I tried a few times trying to pull my elastic band tightly but it still wasn’t tight enough hence the crumple effect was not very obvious:( A little tip I learn was to actually either hand sew, pin or sewing machine one end of the elastic band onto the fabric first to secure it. So that when we sew it onto the fabric through the machine we would just have to pull the band on the other and could use your free hand to slowly hold the fabric on the opposite of the sewing machine:)

TADA!!

    

Finish sample of the day:)