"Lets hope the rain stays away"

More from the photo shoot, we eventually got some great photos taken once the rain and the wind subsided, you'd never know tho, as the photos came out brilliant.

The rest of the photo shoot....

picturesque walk down by the stream....

Scraps Of Nostalgia

Statement Of Practise...

For my final project I was inspired by a photograph of a stylised Romany caravan, this furthered my research into gypsy lifestyle and clothing. Specialising in knit I tried to capture the essence of travellers’ idealised lifestyle, I looked at lightweight knitwear and found myself drawn to lacy and very delicate knits from collection by Mark Fast and Missoni , I started to sample out techniques on the domestic knitting machine, using elastic and lace holes.

My research blossomed into a collection of knit swatches for fashion. By using a variety of different knitting machines i created a collection of fabrics that ooze romantic feminity and a reministant pass-me-down feeling to connect the past with the present with an array of old and used buttons and trims to create a quirky but delicate impression that compliments my eclectic colour palette of soft pastels and aged neutrals. Using the Shema Seiki I found myself pushing my knitting to another level of delicacy because the power machine gave me the opportunity to create fabrics that I could not have achieved on the hand machines. I spent weeks getting a handle on the software and how the machine worked. All knitting from the shema seiki, I had to draw a pattern using technical colours that all have their own command. This took a lot of trial and error before I arrived at my end results.

From the collection of swatches I had created, I spent time designing for knitwear and deciding the aesthetics of the garments I wanted to make. I used WGSN to research key shapes and built up my collection from there. I wanted to put together a collection that gave my knitwear a romantic vintage feeling. I tested various trims and edging, to find the perfect match for my designs.

My swatches have influenced my range of knitwear design for women ages 25-40 for spring/summer 2011/2012. Bringing to life a nostalgic collection of soft delicate laced knitwear that look like that have been give a second lease of life, compiled of slouchy cardigans, teamed with little day dresses and jumpers in a blend of reminisant pastel shades for a fresh feminine twist that is unique to the wearer as they make it their own.

Photo Shoot for degree show...

For my final show I put together a small collection of knitwear, inspired by Romany caravans. Here are some photos from my photo shoot....

Please let me know what you think...

Zigzag Lace Day Dress...

Moth Eaten Slouch Cardi...