FINAL DESIGNS AND EVALUATION

Overall I'm pleased with my final design and I think it would fit into the current fashion market quite well with animals and big, bold prints being key features. I chose the 'bugflower' pattern as my final design as it fits in to these features as well as seeming quite floral which has also seen an uprising recently on the high street and on the catwalks. 

The material that I chose to print onto ( silk/viscose satin) gave a depth and sheen to my colour palette which I was over the moon with, whilst still being quite a light fabric. If I had more time, I definitely would have used devore techniques on the sample to give another layer/ dimension to the fabric, maybe picking out certain motifs or adding another layer of flowers. 

I think my embroidery, though being quite simple, gave a weight the the fabric and a luxury/ more 'upmarket' feel to the design especially as they are hand sewn with more silk being incorporated. 

Fashion illustration showing 'Bugflower'

I believe I have answered both my own written brief and the Bradford Textile Society's brief well and I have done what I set out to do originally. However I think if I had more time I would have incorporated other techniques to make my design stand out from the crowd even more. Despite this I am pleased with how my final sample looks and I have even had some interest from the wider public wanting to buy my design as scarves, which I think is definitely a step in the right direction!

Here are some of the technical details for my repeat:

Textile fabric for fashion.

Digital Print.

Reactive Dyes.

Design Repeat: 60cm x 40cm.

(30%) Silk/ (70%) Viscose Satin.

Threads: Silk Floss

Cotton floss

Eyelets: 7mm (7 per design repeat)

EMBROIDERING THE BUGFLOWER

With the bugs in my design resembling flowers, I wanted my embroidery to reflect this so I set about doing various little tester samples using different stitches to find which would be best for my design. Before I decided on the stitch however, I knew that my embroidered motifs must have a circular shape to them, which is when I decided I would also like to use eyelets in my design. As there is a lot of embellishment on the high street at the moment, I think that the eyelets will help my print fit in with the current demand and also they would give my fabric a little more weight. 
But, back to the stitch type. I finally decided on satin stitch as I can create quite precise shapes using the technique. Then I had a thought, the eyelets would make brilliant centres for flowers! So I have combined the two by stitching around the eyelets and creating the flowers around them. 

MY CHOSEN BUG REPEAT

'Bugflower'

I have decided to use this repeat as my final base design on to which I will embroider motifs. As the bugs in the print resemble flowers, I will be aiming to embroider flower like pieces onto the fabric in a similar colour palette.