Technology, technology, technology!

For my technology, I collaborated with Simtech. The people who helped me were Duane Lye and Wei Liang. Above are pictures of the first draft. The piezo diffuser is a small device that vibrates water into a mist. The scent comes from majority water and a very small amount of the oil. The whole set up is powered by the powerbank.

Here are the individual parts to my technology. The first picture is the piezo diffuser connected to the water reservoir, second, is the ECG device in a form of a waist band, and the third is where all the rest of the technology is. Below it is a powerbank.

Testing out the set up.

Editing, Details, Roses

This is the dress done, with zipper and snaps. There is a snap at the neck and also the skirt. The skirt is sewed with an elastic band and a snap on the side. Inside is another inner skirt for modesty and also a sewn felt pocket to install the technology.

To hide the seams on the skirt, I sewed a tie sash to tie around the model’s waist. And to hide the piezo diffuser, I sewed a rose.

When my NEW model came, she was slightly smaller, about an inch. So I had to remove the zipper and the other side, resew the side and the zipper again. This is her with the top sewn tightly on her body.

As you can see, we added more roses and the piezo diffuser was bigger.

Model with the outfit on.

 

Spraypainting and Sewing the top

Above is an example I followed for the colour of the petals. For the spraypainting of petals, I ended up using three colours: copper, rose and pink. I really tried to vary each petal to make it look more organic. I hope that these colours speak of a nostalgic feeling.

I ended up liking the colours. However, I realised the more I moved the petals the more the paint would chip off.

As for the top, I sewed the organza and the lining together following the prototype I had made. At the time, my model was slightly bigger and so I had to cut a bigger piece. I doubled the layer for the front and back. And the front had an extra layer of brown lining for modesty. Because the cloth was so fine, It was difficult to align the darts perfectly, what more aligning each layer on top of each other perfectly as well.

Making my prototype

I first started by sewing together some muslin from this basic pattern Galina gave me. From there we tightened the darts, and cut the parts out to form a halter neck.

Then we added a thick piece of cloth to form the neck part. Then I was done with my top.

For my skirt, I was worried about how I was going to replicate the texture of the petal of a rose. Galina advised me that I could fuse plastic, to do that. I used simple clear plastic, tiled them together, and fused them in a way I could form a petal shape with. The process helped me create natural veins and curves. I then placed the petals together to form a skirt panel by panel.

After panelling them, I felt that due to the weight of the plastic, the form of the skirt was compromised. It couldn’t hold the shape of the skirt I wanted. So I had to let go of my original design of the skirt from a high low to an all same length skirt. Also, the new design doesn’t touch the floor.

I was also worried about the colour, because it didn’t speak about the death of a rose. I tried spraypainting it and decided it would be the way to go.

Moodboard and Concept

My idea for this garment draws inspiration from my mother. She has stage 4 cancer, and a year later, I have not fully acknowledged the situation but rather, have replacing thoughts as a coping mechanism. I feel it is time for me to be brave enough, to confront the problem and I feel it would be nice if I could make this project about her.

My inspiration draws from dying plants. It is an obvious symbol of death, but in it lies so much beauty of not what is gone but what it has become.

I also aim for this garment to help cancer patients with their side effects faced before (extreme anxiety) and after (nausea) chemotherapy.

To help calm her nerves, the scent of lemongrass can help. Many other scents may work too but I thought since I have memories of cooking with her and she loves the smell of particularly the lemongrass, it would be nice to choose this scent instead. Although there’s limited research on the effectiveness of lemongrass essential oil, a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2015 found that participants exposed to lemongrass essential oil had an immediate reduction in anxiety and tension and recovered quickly from an anxiety-inducing situation compared to those who inhaled a control aroma (tea tree oil) or a placebo.

Lemongrass Study: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/acm.2015.0099

I also thought it would be nice to play some nice tunes. Music therapy usually helps patients reduce anxiety and pain and can help with their quality of life. Furthermore, music may have a small positive effect on heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure. Reduction of anxiety, fatigue and pain are important outcomes for people with cancer.

Music Study: https://www.cochrane.org/CD006911/GYNAECA_can-music-interventions-benefit-cancer-patients

“Just experiencing the real beauty of music can give people a sense of hope,” Bradt added. She’s a music therapist herself, specializing in pain management. “It’s like putting a blanket around somebody, but it’s an auditory blanket.”

http://amacf.org/healing-vibrations-the-effects-of-music-therapy-in-cancer-patients/

As for the nausea, based on our results, a study had concluded that the essential oils of spearmint and peppermint are less expensive, and a safe and effective therapeutic option for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and emesis in patients.

It was administered 30 minutes before the chemo and later again at home. There were no side effects of the scent.

Nausea Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3562057/

 

Biomimicry

Biomimicry is a method where humans use to solve problems by emulating designs and ideas found in nature. It is commonly found in buildings, vehicles, clothing, and materials.

Bullet trains inspired from Kingfishers

Cephalopod Camouflage

Ventilation Systems Inspired By Termites

Antimicrobial Film Mimicking Sharkskin

Source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/biomimicry-examples/

 

Rain Palette by Dahea Sun

Dahea Sun, Rain Palette

Background

In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan which triggered a nuclear power plant. This sparked fear of acid rain in the people of South Korea.

Acid rain has low pH and is harmful to plants, aquatic animals, the food we eat and even infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by sulphur and nitrogen compounds from human sources like exhaust from cars, electricity generation, and factories. This affects the purity of air and eventually precipitation. Sun questioned if rain can indicate the quality of air by location and time.

Acid rain affects most of southwestern China and Taiwan, as well as most of eastern Europe, eastern third of US and southeastern Canada.

1908-1968

This graph illustrates the pH level at which each animal may be lost to the acidic environment.

 

How?

Sun discovered that acidity of rain can be measured using anthocyanins, which change colour to red, purple or blue in accordance with the water’s acidity.

She found out that some plants are natural pH indicators as they are rich in anthocyanins. She brewed up natural dye baths to produce textiles which are hypersensitive to acidity in rain and would turn soft hues.

Rain Palette App