KATHERINE BROWN DPP3 1
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This Design Process Portfolio is almost like a closing chapter, coming to the end of a mental year, bringing together my thoughts towards my work, attitude and energy levels. Although the fashion show, showcasing our final garments, is going to be later in the year, I want to try and portray the feel of my collection throughout this book, but also conclude the differences between the collection I thought I would have a year ago, and what I have actually produced. Enjoy.
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IT’S MAD DOING A MASTERS.
I have never learned so much about myself in such a short time frame. It has been confirmed to me that not everything can go your way, and sometimes it is shit that deadlines always seem to happen around the same time. What do you have to do? Grow up and deal with it. This is a MASTERS and when you are in the industry, you have to juggle everything and not all deadlines run smoothly. For Design Process Portfolio 2, an important sampling week, a pattern cutting class and an essay deadline ran through DPP priority week. MYSELF AND MY CLASSMATES JUST HAD TO DEAL WITH IT! I didn’t mind that we had pattern cutting on DPP priority week, as I HAD GOT MY DPP FINISHED! My how my time management skills have improved this year…
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First of all, I thought I’d re-cap the model fitting that we had around the time of submitting DPP2. Once Katie the model had tried everything on, we decided not to have the chiffon shirt I had made. D’you know what I found interesting? I K N E W that something wasn’t right with the flow of the collection and I guess it was a confidence thing about my knitting. It is funny that when I was making the shirt and taking photos of it on the mannequin before the model fitting, it did cross my mind that only a small percentage of my collection would be knitting. However, I did enter this course wanting to learn pattern cutting as well as to use the knitting facilities, K N I T T I N G is what I’m here for! I mean come on – the knitting department they have at GSA is amazing! What a skill it is to be able to work out knitting patterns and use industrial knitting machines! I knew I should take advantage of it. So when we had the model fitting and Beca said she would scrap the shirt if she was me (although I was a bit sad to be losing the shirt) I K N E W I T W A S T H E R I G H T T H I N G T O D O. It was in my gut. I had known it all along. This is one of the greatest things I’ve learned on this course - go with your instincts! It is always right! It doesn’t matter how much you listen to tutors and value their judgement and opinions, I T S W H A T Y O U W A N T that matters. It is M Y collection. So it’s just as well Beca suggested not having the shirt and I agreed with her Ha ha HA ha HA ha HA hA.
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Chiffon shirt has been and gone. Maybe in the distant future I can put it in a collection!
I am so pleased to be thinking about knitted twin sets. Although it scares me, as it will be a huge amount of knitting – I AM SO UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO.
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What I really need to do is speak to Christie the knit technician and work out what to do about knitting patterns. Do I need to make a knitted toile? Making a toile would really help me‌
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If i’m going to be making twinsets, I need to work out a pattern for a plain top and matching cardigan! Important things to think about are to the areas you can see... I learned from the model fitting that certain parts of the cardi’s cant be seen if they hang, therefore there would be absolutely no point in putting pain staking (and oh, they are pain staking) hours into knitting cables when they cant even be seen! With twin sets in mind W H A T I S T H E O V E R A L L L O O K T H A T I W A N T ? Youthful? Frumpy? Geek-chic? W H A T I S I T ? Does it need to be simpler? Also, after a tutorial with Beca, we discussed making a pleated skirt out of lace… but what would this bring to the collection? I think when I spoke to her she thought a chiffon skirt would look really nasty and tacky… But what if it was chiffon/lace at the front and woven fabric at the back? A A A R G H what would give the collection a bit of Z I N G ?
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I need to get thinking more about the shapes of the garments I will be making from 12 gauge silk yarn. I know it is going to be hard to perfect, but if I manage to do it right, it will look so great! I need to work out a perfect polo neck shape... Taking some measurements from some polo necks and tops I found in charity shops has helped me so much to work out the right size that I want. Sometimes it pays to utilise what is around you rather than waste time faffing around...
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I think i’ve cracked it! My new mantra of keeping calm and taking my time is starting to pay off... this calculation sheet helped me a lot to calculate my knitting patterns. Though I do find I need to start from the beginning and work it all out for myself before I read the instructions. It helps me to make sure that I understand it through and through. This is what I have always been like, even since I was little I A L W A Y S R E A D T H E I N S T R U C T I O N S. It’s funny that my twin brother is the complete opposite! He will rush in and do something without learning or reading the instructions... but is still very successful! Very interesting the way peoples minds vary...
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The image on the opposite page is from my research folder ‘Shirts, Coats, Collars’. It is actually an image I have rediscovered and stuck on my wall in the studio. I think the reason I am drawn to it again is the colour. I was struggling a bit with what colours of yarn to use for my collection, but this image reminds me when I look at it that I want my collection to be quite bonkers, colourwise. The image also shows the kind of stance I want my working drawings to have (hand in pocket type thing). How can I translate this in my working drawings? We’ll see... I don’t know if you’ve noticed...? There is a recurring theme already, and that is that I seem to have a lot of research involving trousers! I know my mum said she had trousers like this in the 80’s and I want to ask her how she felt when she wore them... were they flattering, did they make her feel good, does she think I should have some in my collection??
ask mum
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I MUST HAVE THESE TROUSERS
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I am going to run with the trouser thing. They are a huge part of my research, I H A V E to do it. It is the look that I want for my collection. Juliet brought in a pattern that she had made herself, and once we had made them up in calico I knew I had found them. It is all very exciting! I mentioned before that my Mum had high wasted trousers, and she sent me a photograph that she found when she was clearing out a box. Above is the photograph. It isn’t the clearest of photos, but Mum explained a few things to me... “Wearing those wonderful high waisted trousers made me feel elegant and sophisticated and just a bit smug. I believe the look turned a few heads in Spain where that photo was taken.” Helene Brown
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working drawings
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I was so excited about doing the Working Drawings/Roughs for my collection. Drawing is definitely a strong point of mine (if I do say so myself) and I really enjoy drawing with black pen on white paper! I spoke with Beca about what I was going to do, and she gave me the go ahead. 100 drawings seemed like a big task, but once I had started I was on a complete roll! I worked out what I was going to draw in sections to make it easier. For example ten drawings of the following:
long cardigan/trousers short cardigan/trousers long cardigan/mid-length skirt short cardigan/long skirt
Then I split up the knitting on each: cables ribs lace cables Then I split up things l like: accessories the way things are buttoned up details Although this plan was a good idea at first, once I started drawing I just kind of ran with it, and it wasn’t as structured as I thought it would be... but my drawings were a success! It is one of the pieces of work I am most proud of from doing the Masters course.
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TIME TO KNIT KNIT KNIT
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KATHERINE BROWN MUST FOLLOW THIS PLAN TO ENSURE HER KNITTING RUNS SMOOTHLY: Check tensions are right Check tensions are all the same Make sure all needles are in working order and none are missing Ensure that (!!??@*%!!?)
yarn
wont
get
caught
on
anything
Ensure weights are all the same Make sure machine is oiled and running smoothly If she is going to be knitting on the 12gg machine with silk yarn, SHE MUST FOLLOW ALL OF THESE STEPS
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I find the 12 gauge industrial knitting machine to be the most frustrating thing I have come across in my life. Yet I am still using it... and I plan to knit two garments for my collection on it. Am I actually crazy?
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CAST ON
KNIT TWO ROWS
WEIGHTS FALL OFF
CAST ON AGAIN
IT HAPPENS AGAIN
THIRD TIME LUCKY
ITS GOING WELL
NO DISASTERS YET
NEARLY FINISHED
FALLS OFF MACHINE.
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things to buy: Grosgrain Ribbon Corduroy Satin Swatches Red Cashwool Regal Red 2/28 Grey Lambswool Hinchcliffe? Silk Olive Green Eurestex Silk Puce Pink Eurestex Green Geelong/Cashwool Re-think
MY HEAD IS BOGGLED AND MY BANK ACCOUNT IS UNHAPPY
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I WORKED MY ARSE OFF TODAY
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I G E T S O A N N O Y E D W I T H M Y S E L F!
It is like I go full force into something because I am excited about it, but I don’t take my time and something is guaranteed to go wrong… I thought I was getting better at taking my time but I am still striving to create something perfect and it is just not happening. Maybe I just need to realise the fact that this cant be done. Unless someone makes my collection for me. I mean I K N O W I have a skill and if I can pull this off, practising and practising on the knitting machines, I know I will get better. My understanding of knitting in general is getting better anyway... Everyone has their own way of working, and especially being in the studio, I realize that you can’t compare yourself to others. It really suits me to come in at 8am and get started on the knitting machines because once it gets to 5pm I feel E L A T E D. My boyfriend thinks I’m a crazy person getting up at 7am most mornings, but I have found a work pattern that works for me! The machines take at least half an hour to set up to how I want them, so I am guaranteed to be started knitting by 9am at the latest. And do you know what? This is how I need to work until I feel happy with what I am producing. Until I hit that level where I know I CAN DO IT.
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make a decision! 2 pairs of trousers?
2 knee length skirts 1long skirt where is the lace? corduroy? suede? skirts which ones do I like?
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Aesthetics in Creative Practice
In Stage Two of the Masters programme students are required to take part in an elective. I chose to take part in ‘Aesthetics in Creative Practice’. I was slightly apprehensive at first because as a design student, my work is very practical and often I don’t think too deeply into the meaning of my work. The class was actually very interesting, in that it got me thinking about topics I never would consider in my practice. Each week we had to give a presentation to the class on a chosen topic or idea. These ranged from “Purity and Danger” to “Most Embarrassing” and I have to say, at the time, as a class we were all so pissed off about doing these presentations. We had so much work on in the studio and with working on our DPP’s as well, this class was really just a hassle! There was one day when we spoke to Beca as a class telling her how we felt about it, most of us were complaining, but she made me realise that it didn’t have to be so bad. We had a 2000 word essay to write as the final assignment for the class and it suddenly made so much sense to relate it to my studio work! This would mean that I would actually enjoy writing it! (I H A T E W R I T I N G F O R M A L E S S A Y S) So I set about looking at my initial studio research. If you think about it, Twin Peaks was T E R R I F Y I N G in the nineties! I could do something realllllly interesting with this and connect it to knitting…..
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I wanted to think about the obsessional, neurotic traits of a knitter and look at their repetitive nature … then something pretty crazy hit me. I could go all out (and I knew my tutor Frances Robertson would like this) and relate knitters to the serial killers in Twin Peaks and the Danish crime series The Killing. Both of these TV shows are known for their brutal killings but also the knitting that the characters wear! So it all linked in well. Once I started the essay I was on a roll. Things to look at and think about: - overturning social order - retro, tacky, kitsch - faded – out of date - obsessional, neurotic - frightening - obsessional quality of a knitter - perversity - repetitive - “Disentangling Textiles”, Freud, Fabric and Fetish – Anne Hamblyn - Jane Graves - Freudian unconscious - Edward Allan Poe, The Imp of the Perverse
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ob·sess/Verb 1. Preoccupy or fill the mind of (someone) continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent: “he was obsessed with thoughts of suicide”. 2. Be preoccupied in this way: “her husband obsessed about the wrong she had done him”.
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per路verse/Adjective 1. (of a person or their actions) Showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences. 2. Contrary to the accepted or expected standard or practice
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I enjoyed writing the Aesthetic in Creative Practice essay! And wow, never thought i’d be saying that. I think writing and making our Design Process Portfolios this year has taught me that I am a designer, and if i am going to write up a document or a CV, I thrive better when I can make it look good! I am going to carry on using Indesign and Illustrator even once the Masters course is over. To be honest I am annoyed with myself for complaining at the time of attending the Aesthetic classes. I think we just had so much other important studio work to do, and the Aesthetics class was something to complain about. But thinking back, it was actually quite inspiring, and the tutor Frances was good at opening up a topic which you could interpret in your own way. I have learned that it is important to think about ‘beauty’ and ‘ugliness’ in design, and why certain people are attracted to certain things. It should benefit us in that we all need to think about the market we are going to be selling our work to, what kind of people we are designing for and where we sit in the design world. When thinking about ‘nostalgia’ in the class, I realised how important ‘familiarity’ is for consumers. It confirmed to me that what I was doing in my collection was looking positive, as re-working familiar garments in a quirky way should hopefully resonate with people.
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that crazy, crazy week Ok so here we go....... The week we had to hand in the Aesthetics essay was not the best week i’ve ever had, let’s be frank. However, I certainly learned a lot about myself that week. I wonder if the class will go to town in our feedback forms that we are expecting to get once the course is finished… probably not because time has passed and I think we are O V E R I T now. The week turned out to be an absolute W H I R L W I N D... In fact it was a T O R N A D O or H U R R I C A N E! We were given our timetables in February… I swear it was February because it was the same time that we first saw the brief for Stage Two. I put the dates from that piece of A4 we were given, straight into my diary and got on with things. Week after week we were working on these all-consuming Aesthetics presentations, keeping up with DPP2, sampling like mad, we had the Easter holidays and were seeing tutors on a regular basis. So, as it was getting towards the last T W O weeks of Stage 2, we had this essay to write for Frances’ class, but I had written up a timetable for myself and of course had myself on the weekly knit rota, all set out, planned for T W O W E E K S until we had our assessment. Everyone in the class was working to the same timescale, we all had the same timetable, we see each other every day. So we then have a class meeting with Beca, just going over dates etc. Beca mentions that our assessment is the next week… the whole class tried to correct her, as it was timetabled for two weeks later. But no, the assessment is the next week. Less than a week away. We were in shock. A couple of us spoke up, I mean we had a 2000 word essay to write for that week as well as sampling (or so we thought) and lets face it, essays are not easy for students who spend most of their time doing practical work. AAAAARGHHHHHHH. But do you know what? I knew we could do this. A weeks notice that our assessment had been brought forward by ONE WEEK. THAT WAS THE FACT OF IT. WE WERE ONLY GIVEN ONE WEEKS NOTICE.
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I mean, we put so much work we into our assessments, and it was mentioned that we should ‘have all the work done anyway’ but this wasn’t the point! When you have a timetable for yourself and this is cut short… it means you WONT BE HAPPY WITH THE WORK THAT YOU HAND IN... and I K N O W the assessment is just a formality for the tutors and Art School, but F O R M E it is how I feel about my work that is the most important thing.
ANYWAY WE ALL MANAGED IT! We did it! I felt angry about the whole thing on an average of twice a day for the whole week… but d’you know what?
I’m over it. It made me stronger. It made me realize that I A M skilled, hard-working, determined,
decisive (important that I have realized this!)
and ballsy.
I can also write essays. Damned good ones to that.
I am so pleased with myself and the whole class for getting it all done and I actually really loved the look of my wall and desk when it was all ready to be assessed. So Katherine,
GET OVER IT!
IT’S DONE! Be confident and happy. Don’t dwell on upsets... they make you stronger.
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Aaaaaargh so much to do! This course has taught me to manage my time and everything will be fine! I eat, sleep and breath my collection, I swear. I get up so early and there is no way for me to sleep longer. I make lists like a crazy woman and forget to look at them throughout the day. But d’you know what? I seem to get there. I try my hardest to work every hour that I can physically do so. But boy am I tired. It’s going to be worth it though. Isn’t it?
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As the course is progressing, I do feel as though I am getting somewhere. It is mad to think that we only have a few months left. But I have spent bloody ages calculating armholes for the cardigan I am going to be knitting. And I feel at this stage I am where I thought i’d be. I have taught myself how to work out all the shaping! When I was starting to make samples back in the first stage of the course, I remember thinking at the time that surely something would click and I would F E E L P R O U D OF M Y S E L F. I am where I want to be at this point in time. I HAVE MANAGED TO CALCULATE A K N I T T I N G P A T T E R N. It took me bloody ages to work out the armholes… Man, is it hard! But I am so glad I am finally getting somewhere… The first piece I knitted up worked out great, but turned out a little small. What I am finding is, you N E E D T O M A K E M I S T A K E S to learn more. I have worked out that knitting must be worked on over and over again until it is perfect. So when I have spent 3 hours knitting a piece and it turns out too small, the main thing I need to do is…
TAKE A DEEP
BREATH. Does it really matter that I have to do it
again? No it doesn’t. Not if it means I will make it work in the end. That is the main thing.
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So I decided I needed to speak to Juliet about fabric for my skirt, as I was starting to worry about it. Beca and Juliet keep telling me that my collection was all about ‘quality’, for example cashwool, corduroy, satin and silk. So I understand that it all needs to be consistent. Like, I couldn’t have some crap polyester satin for my skirts because it would just make the whole thing look cheap and pantomime-y. When I left a big book of fabric swatches on my desk for the assessment, I was hoping Beca and Juliet would see that I had been looking further afield for fabrics. I had found satins that would work out a lot cheaper, because they weren’t silk. When I next saw Juliet she said they were cheap and nasty! DO THEY THINK I’M MADE OF MONEY? ? I really just don’t know what to do! Juliet kept saying “it’s up to you” and I know it is. They know what they are talking about but it is M Y C O L L E C T I O N... When I received the corduroy swatch book I was immediately drawn to the finer ‘whale’ of corduroy, which means the stripes are thinner and closer together. The colours were great. Then when I had a meeting with the tutors, it was decided that my cords were going to made in the chunkier whale as this was the norm for corduroy trousers… I was happy with this! I am glad to hear from people who know what they are talking about, and very open to suggestions. B U T! When I then saw Juliet at pattern cutting, she said she thought the chunky whale corduroy could look too padded if it was not sewn together right and the waistband, pockets and darts could look too thick when worn… I mean, I would be stupid not to listen to her. But I need to have a proper think about what I want to do. This is all part of the huge amount I have learned... take your time and think it over.
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My final collection line-up consists of 5 different coloured knitted twinsets/polonecks, corduroy trousers and duchesse satin pleated skirts. So there. That’s it. Decided. I’m pretty pleased with it.
YAHOO! It has taken so much to get here, but it
feels really good to have made the decisions and have it right there in front of me. now i’ve just got to make it all...
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This year has been a huge journey for me. I have learnt so much about my own coping mechanisms and how I deal with ups and downs. I now know how hard I can work and that I get extremely and irrationally frustrated with myself as I strive to make something perfect, but never actually succeed. The falls forward and back have made me work out what works best for me, whether it is getting up at 7am to be in the knit room by 8am or making sure I take exactly an hour for lunch to calm me down and feed myself! Something that I have really worked on (and this is being proven by currently knitting my final collection) is to take my time when on the industrial knit machines. When sampling in Stage Two I would get myself so worked up and angry because I would start a sample and then half way through something would go wrong purely because I had been distracted or didn’t take my time. The industrial knitting machines are so sensitive that even a change of weight in the way you push the carriage across the bed can drop a whole row of stitches. Now that I have had a two week holiday (due to the decant of the Newberry Tower) I have started to knit some pieces for my final collection. I cannot believe how well it is going! So far I have knitted three pieces of a cardigan and only one thing has gone wrong (I shaped the armhole on the wrong side)… It is almost as if I have grown up in these two weeks haha! I have just noticed that I am taking my time, keeping calm, if I need to swear I do it in my head. This is a big deal for me, as in everyday life I tend to get worked up and over analyse situations that are plain and simple to fix. Another breakthrough for me is that I am actually not as bad at maths as I thought I was! In high school I got the lowest possible marks for maths, and I actually used tell people that numbers scared me. Knitting requires a lot of sums and if they don’t work out right, then the whole garment can be wrong. So I decided I had to suck it up and use my ‘keep calm’ technique… and it worked! I managed to calculate my first (almost perfect) knitting pattern.
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Once I started working out these knitting patterns, I was writing them out like I’ve seen on hand knitting patterns. It was going well but took a lot of concentration to work out where I was in the piece without looking at the shape. So I decided to make exact paper replicas of the garment and write the sequence of what I was doing on the actual pattern piece. It works so well! Glad I worked that out, it has made my life a lot easier.
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Basic Cardigan - Size 10 -
Sleeve
7 gauge tension 13 1cm = 8 rows 1cm = 6 stitches 1. Cast on 84 stitches in 2x1 rib 2. Knit to desired size – changes depending on garment 3. Transfer all relevant front bed stitches to the back bed 4. Knit 4, Increase 1 stitch each side, knit 4, REPEAT 19 TIMES 5. Knit 13 Rows, Increase 1 stitch each side, knit 13 rows, REPEAT 17 TIMES 6. SHAPING BEGINS BOTH SIDES Back Front 1. Cast off 3 2. Cast off 2 3. Cast off 1 4.
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1. Cast off 5 2. Cast off 4 3. Cast off 3
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It is so hard to work out what I would have done differently this year. Even though there has been a time constraint (designing and making a collection in a year!) I feel I could have simplified my collection. I have given myself a huge amount of work. But with my new sparkly time-management skills, I have hopefully timetabled the work so that it will get done. I wonder about using original designs and tweaking them. I mean, as I have been looking at twinsets, I am using a basic shape that already exists and then altering it. I feel assured however that this I S design. Some people design from scratch, but I now know that consumers also want something that is familiar but a little unique. That is what I am doing! So I am not unhappy about it at all, but in the future I’d like to design a collection that from start to finish is a completely original shape and a new concept. I have to say however that Frances class has made taught me that ‘Retro’, ‘Nostalgia’ and ‘Kitsch’ are very important in design today as it gives the consumer a feeling of reliability. When it comes to the my collection, I find it hard to explain what I would do differently. I certainly had an image in my head at the beginning of the course and this is very different to what I have actually produced. But I am pleased to say that knitting plays a bigger part that I thought it was going to, and reworking knitted twinsets has been great fun. I have learned so much about the right shapes for cardigans and how to knit them up, and this is something that I am so pleased to have learned because it will set me up for my career.
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I didn’t think I would have so much colour in collection! After working for the company Bless in Germany, I became so used to grey’s and whites. I always thought my collection would be quite plain and simple... I thought it might look something like this... simple, comfortable, clean cut, a little bit odd.
BLESS
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In the back of my head I always knew there would be trousers in my collection. Androgynous or slightly masculine... BLESS
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BLESS 85
ERREUNO
I thought I might make something more conceptual... (although i don’t know the meaning of this image). I suppose I wish I’d had more time to work on fashion photography of my collection and design ideas. I guess there is still some time...
I have definitely taken inspiration from this outfit but kind of wish I had really pushed the whole’manly’ look more...
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You can definitely see some of this yellow cardigan in my collection!
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how bloody amazing are these trousers by the way?!
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the waistband saga.
Ah the waistband saga. So the original trousers made in calico looked fab. I loved the shape and especially the waistband. Earlier I mentioned chunky and thin corduroy and how it would sew together on a waistband. Beca thought the trousers would look great with a ‘grown in’ waistband (to the left) and I wanted to keep the actual waistband (to the right). I think the reason I wasn’t sure about the ‘grown-in’ waistband was that I loved the waistband so much! It looked great! But I had to think about the factors here... the corduroy might not work if a waistband was sewn in. It would look bulky and not fit well considering my models were going to be wearing tucked in knitted tops. Another issue was the fact that it can be very difficult to line up the stripes in corduroy. So adding an extra section i.e a waistband, would just create unnecessary hassle. So after much to-ing and fro-ing Juliet and I made a kind of ‘half-trouser’ toile of the grown-in waistband, then Beca brought in a pair of cords that she owns just to show me what they were like with the ‘grown-in’ waistband. The long and short of it is, I want the trousers to look the best they can and if the plain waistband causes issues then I A M G O I N G T O G O F O R T H E G R O W N-I N W A I S T B A N D. (Phew. How many times have I said ‘waistband?)
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the big move
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I think that the inclusion of the Newbery Tower closure was appropriate for my Design Process Portfolio, as it affected us during a really important time of beginning to manufacture our collections. As we had already had a two week Easter holiday, I’ll be honest - I didn’t really need another 2 weeks off! Especially when we could get no access whatsoever to our studio or equipment. We had just had a model fitting and I felt really elated and ready to begin manufacturing some of my knitting. I was just going to have to use my time wisely and plan my knit patterns over the holidays and I had arraged a short trip to the Isle of Man. The trouble is (and this feeling is getting bigger and bigger as the months go on) I get T H E G U I L T! It is almost as if I can’t switch off and I worry that I am not doing any work. What is great though, is that I have worked out that this can be counter-productive. It was better to just accept the fact that I couldn’t get on the industrial machines until we moved into the new building. I may aswell enjoy myself while I can because the next few months are going to be M E N T A L. We were stupid to think that we were going to seamlessly move into the new building and be able to start working. The knit machines weren’t ready to be used for the first 4 days so I found myself finding other things to to. This worked out well for me! I managed to sort out a lot of things like making sure all my knit patterns were organised and correct and ordering all the fabrics and yarns I needed. I guess on reflection one thing that is giving me a nervous feeling in my stomach is the amount of time that is left... The course has been extended by one week, but really I think it would have benefitted us to have a few weeks more. But with my new-found calm self, I J U S T H A V E T O D E A L W I T H I T. Now that I know how hard I can make myself work, hopefully I am going to be able to make a whole collection in 9 weeks haha! All in all, the new Masters studio is great. We have so much more room and lots of windows. Its just a pity we aren’t going to be there for next year! I find myself being incredibly productive compared to being in the Newbery...
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it’s called problem solving... ever heard of it? I have been going through a constant battle with the 12 gauge industrial knitting machine and have chosen to make two polo neck jumpers on this machine for my collection. Originally I was going to be knitting in lace hole diamonds but was starting to turn into a crazy knitting woman because it kept failing. As the lace holes lie on the chest part of the garment, this was the part knitted near the end. This meant that I would spend ages knitting the piece and then once I got to the section of lace holes a couple of stitches would drop and I would go into a fit of rage. Thankfully Beca picked up on this, and in the most recent model fitting we devised a plan. I was going to put my efforts into knitting the polo necks without the set-in pattern and then get someone to do some bead work for me on top. H A L L E L U J A H! So now I need to look into some twinset/jumper beading and get some wee ideas... I do still want to stick with a ‘diamond’ pattern though... lets see what else I can find. I’m going to email some former students and see if they would like to help!
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Due to the big rush before our second assessment, I was unsure what grades I would get for Stage Two. I have never been driven by grades as I think it creates an unnecessary hype, but I wasn’t exactly ecstatic with the overall C I got in Stage One. But as I say, I’m not driven by grades, though I do hope to get better than a C. I think I upped my game a bit in Stage Two and was so pleased to have got an A5 for my studio work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So just because I got an A doesn’t mean it is going to stop me from working hard... I am going to make use of it and work even harder! I already have put this into action...
101
pattern cutting and actually making of the skills I am most pleased about clothes! One learning on this Masters course has been pattern cutting. It is more about the basic understanding of translating a paper pattern into a garment that I enjoy, and I have seen how easy it is to replicate a piece of clothing but tweaking it to your specific idea. I am planning on taking this forward after GSA, however I think my sewing skills need upgrading! Maybe I should look into a night class or something which will enable me to learn more about sewing garments and I can utilise this on my own designs!
KEEP ON DRAWING, KEEP ON DRAWING! Well, I think that doing the working drawings for my collecion was one of the most beneficial parts of the course. I need to keep drawing, as I think it is a strength of mine...
be ballsy
To get what you want, sometimes you need to be a tiny bit pushy. I am not planning to be pushy to the point of rude... but if someone is not getting back to me if I enquire about a job or something - I am not afraid to give them a ring. I think this year has taught me that you don’t have all the time in the world and waiting around is not really for me...
102
SOMEONE GIVE ME A DUBIED KNITTING have become so attached to the industrial MACHINE Iknitting machines. I have to say that it scares me a little that once I’m out of GSA I won’t have access to an industrial knitting machine. I know I have my own chunky domestic machine in my flat but it’s not the saaaaaame (said in a childlike whiney voice). If I am going to pursue some of my knitting after finishing the course, I am going to have to tweak a few things and maybe so some work on my domestic machine for a while. I suppose now that I can calculate knitting patterns I can create some chunky knitted twinsets...
stay calm, work hard Ok, so now I know that I can work hard and all I need to do is power through. When you are doing something that you love, it shouldn’t feel like work. I will definitely carry through my ‘staying calm’ mantra. It is not the end of the world if something trivial gets in the way.
USE INDESIGN TO YOUR ADVANTAGE! I am absolutely going to use Adobe Indesign after leaving GSA. Out of everything on the whole course I feel that keeping logs and then trabslating and editing it into what is essentially an artists book has been incredibly beneficial. I want to use it for CV’s, lookbooks, even if I have design ideas I have found making little books helps everything stay clear in my mind. 103
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Where to begin... I seem to tell everyone that logging, reflecting and recording has been so beneficial to me throughout the course. I have always loved keeping notebooks anyway, but to actually edit what I have written and then translate it into a nice looking book feels great. Sometimes I have been shocked at what I have written in my log! I seem to swear more on paper than I do in person and I have realised how messy my handwriting is. Sometimes it takes me a while to decipher what I have actually written down... Another great thing to come out of making our Design Process Portfolios was making a feature of my doodles and pen drawings. It has been a great basis for me to turn them into important information rather than tiny, quick drawings which nobody will see. Recording my thoughts has been valuable in that it helps me to remember what I have been doing, reminding me the order that things have happened in and triggering my memory to little things that I would have forgotten happened if I hadn’t written it down. It has also encouraged me to write more. Sometimes it is hard to write down your thoughts, especially when it comes to ‘blogging’ and using social networking sites like Twitter. I want to try and keep writing as I have been in my logbook because I think it is healthy for my mind! I fully intend to carry on making more Design Process Portfolios throughout my career.
knitterbrown.blogspot.com knitterbrown@hotmail.co.uk
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IMAGE LIST P A G E I MA G E
SOURCE
1 design process squiggle 2 trousers sketch
katherine brown [photograph] 10/2010
3
to-do list
katherine brown [scanned sketch] 05/2011
4
loose notes
katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
5
doodle border
katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
6-7 8
model fitting re-cap 04/2011 red doodle border
katherine brown [photographs, scanned notes]
9
dubied knitting machine
katherine brown [photograph] 05/2011
10
polo neck, 12gg sample
katherine brown [photographs] 04/2011, 05/2011
11
gsa calculation sheet
gsa [scanned] 06/2011
12
colour research
collezioni 1986 [scanned image] 09/2010
14
trouser toile
katherine brown [photograph] 06/2011
15
mums trousers
helene brown [photograph] 06/2011
18-31
working drawings/roughs katherine brown [scanned drawings] 05/2011
katherine brown [photograph] 04/2011
katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
32 knitting 33 collection list
how to knit [online] http://www.learn2knit.co.uk/ knitting/lace-knitting.php (accessed 15/05/2011) katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
35
knit list
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
36
cardigan shape
katherine brown [photograph] 06/2011
37
knit sketches
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
39
garment notes
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
40-41
knitting mistake
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
42
angry note
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
43 108
knitting frustrations
katherine brown [illustrator diagram] 07/2011
I M A G E L I S T P A G E I M A G E
SOURCE
44
collection list
katherine brown [scanned notes] 05/2011
45 46
grosgrain ribbon wikipedia [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosgrain (accessed 06/2011) collection decisions katherine brown [photograph] 05/2011
49
knit tallys
katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
50
collection notes
katherine brown [scanned sketches] 06/2011
52
blood wool
katherine brown [illustrator file] 05/2011
53 54
twin peaks shoes fanpop.com [online] 05/2011 http://www.fanpop.com/spots/twin-peaks/images/12994479/title/tp-shoes- photo (accessed 20/05/2011) laura palmer pose unknown source
56 essay page katherine brown, aesthetic in creative practice essay [mac ‘grab’] 05/2011 57-58 dictionary insert google dictionary search [online] http://www.google. co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=perverse&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_ esc=&ei=QX4cTuqUC4-0hAe_j6GxBw (accessed 07/2011) 59 essay pages katherine brown, aesthetic in creative practise essay {mac ‘grab’} 05/2011 62 i made a cardigan! katherine brown [photograph] 06/2011 67
i made a cardigan! katherine brown [photograph] 06/2011
69-74
final line-up
katherine brown [scanned drawings] 05/2011
75
notes
katherine brown [scanned notes] 06/2011
76-77
knit patterns
katherine brown [scanned sketches] 07/2011
78
knit calculations
katherine brown [scanned notes] 07/2011
80
what would i do
katherine brown [scanned notes] 07/2011
81-83 bless images BLESS [online] http://web.me.com/blessberlin/BLESS_ new/N°/Einträge/2008/10/28_N°36_Nothingneath.html (accessed 07/07/2011) 84-85 inspiration unknown sources 86-87
model fitting
katherine brown [photograph] 05/2011
88-89
trousers
katherine brown [scanned drawings] 05/2011
109
IMAGE LIST P A G E I M A G E
SOURCE
90
6th floor newbery
katherine brown [photograph] 05/2011
91-93
newbery tower
katherine brown [photograph] 06/2011
94
sketch
katherine brown [scanned sketch] 06/2011
95-97 103
twinset The Retro Knitting Company [online] http://www. theretroknittingcompany.co.uk/ladypatterns2.html (accessed 05/06/11) logbooks katherine brown [photograph] 07/2011
104-105 DPP
110
katherine brown [scans,grabs,photographs] 10/2010 - 07/2011