Designed with Purpose

A little while ago, I received an email about a website called Goodfibres... I wasn't really sure what it was about however since then the site has opened and I think it's a nifty little idea!

So, what is Goodfibres? The website (you'll find a link below) states in it's mission that:

"Goodfibres is building a community for artists, and those who appreciate art, to share their tastes and talent to promote cool designs for a good cause. We believe that the individual spirit of many can be used to collectively inspire, and directly impact many people’s lives. We hope to build a unique relationship between our artists and our customers by providing a venue for artists to showcase their other projects and by allowing customers to voice their support and feedback on new designs. Additionally, we hope to create a forum where users can discuss causes that they feel strongly about and collectively choose the future recipients for our clothing donations (and hopefully soon other items like art supplies, medicine and drinking water)."

Goodfibres allows just about everyone, to design a t-shirt that is then showcased and voted for by people who actually want to buy it. Once it has received enough positive feedback, the t-shirt is then made (sustainably and ethically!) and for each one that is sold, Goodfibres will donate a t-shirt to someone less fortunate! The good news for the designer is that they hold all rights to their artwork/design and they receive some of the royalties. Therefore the designer is rewarded for their work, and they're helping someone less fortunate in the process of selling their designs. I've included some examples of artwork that you can vote for online, just some that caught my eye.

 Anyone can get involved in this cause, whether it is designing a t-shirt or simply just purchasing one!! Simply go to www.goodfibres.com to see what you think!

All images were taken from the Goodfibres website.

Upcycling - Turning Jeans into a Skirt

Over Easter, I had a few days off from work, and during this time I decided to do a big Spring Clean. This involved everything (except my boyfriends things of course) from clothes to collected clutter. I then went through all my clothes to decide which fabrics I wanted to use, to those things that were suitable to give to charity. I found I had a pair of Topshop jeans that weren't too battered and beaten to be chucked away, and that were a nice denim that it could be useful to use in design journals next year.

Then I thought about Upcycling these jeans into a denim skirt - it is summer after all! So here is how I did it:

 

 I took the jeans pictured above, and I cut them at the knees (as in the picture below), much longer than I anticipated the skirt to be, so that I could choose the desired length later, and leave enough extra on the hem the skirt.

I then opened the Inside Leg seams to open the jeans into a skirt. The Front Rise was unpicked to the bottom of the zip fastening and the back rise was unpicked up to halfway of the seam.

I then changed the way the back rise sat, eliminating the curve as much as possible to create a straight seam. I then added the extra top-stitching as in the original design of the jeans.

 

At this point, I cut the skirt to the desired length with added hem depth. I then pinned the front rise so that it overlapped under the zip and lay flat. I cut up part of one of the remaining legs to add an insert into the front where the inside legs now opened out. I then stitched this in place following the original design of the top-stitching.

 

To finish the skirt I hemmed it, and pressed it. The finished result can be seen below!

 

I would really recommend Upcycling your old clothes, maybe you find something boring now and would like to update it's style? It took me 2 and a half hours to change these jeans into a skirt, and it is definitely worth taking the time to do it.

Feel free to let me know what you've upcycled!

Images are from my own camera.

Deadline Week

It's that time of the semester again, the week we all dread (and sort of look forward to it being over) "Deadline Week". This is where hours of hard work go into completing projects that we have been working on for about 3 months. Sometimes we're sick of these projects, can't wait for them to be over and just power through the late hours of the night adding the finishing touches. Other times you can feel satisfied with the work, and just glad that you'll get a good mark that you can be proud of, this is usually when you'll have been really organised throughout the whole semester and put a lot of time into the project. This semester for me, in my Design Development module has been mixed emotions. I was fairly organised, worked hard and planned my time well, however you can never stop the little things going wrong can you? Anyway after a long weekend of non-stop Adobe Illustrator and putting the finishing touches on my work, I am quite pleased with the final result, especially the flat drawings and illustrations which I think have improved greatly from last semester! Here are some examples of my work:

Images of my work from my camera

Sustainable Style

Since the new term began in January, I have been researching into slow fashion and designing for a sustainable brand for Burton Menswear in my Design Development module. This has been extremely interesting as we not only had to look at the world around us and how fast fashion affects it, but we were also made to think about how we affect fashion and how we let fast fashion dictate our lives.

I am someone who rarely chucks anything away, after living in a small town in Lincolnshire for most of my life, I would rarely go shopping (due to lack of time and travel facilities). This would mean I was encouraged to keep hold of the clothes I had and to make the most from them. It also meant when I did go shopping, I'd buy something I loved rather than something that would be liked for a small amount of time. However that doesn't mean I haven't bought things and then only wore them a few times, surely that's is every girl's weakness?

I decided to aim my collection at a young market, to make them aware of sustainable fashion and to give them the option of affordable clothing that lasts longer. After researching into the more affordable end of the market for young adults, I found that Burton Menswear does not currently sell a "sustainable" collection or brand, so I decided to create one for them.

The brand is called Sustainable Style, and is aimed to be stylish, fit in with their usual seasonal collections, but to also contrast towards usual features and stand out as something different but also something good. Below you will find the Customer Board for this brand:


The customer is aged 20-30 years old, and would have a low disposable income. This fashion conscious gent, is creative, appreciative of music, has a great social life and loves to travel, however, he is also very aware of his personal social responsibility. He would choose this collection so that the items would last longer but would be in style with other items from Burton Menswear. The mood for this collection is also the mood for the brand, using natural shapes, features and fabrics. Below you will find the Mood Board for this collection, entitled Natural Nostalgia:


I am currently working on my design development for this brand, including unique features to make garments long lasting, but also very interesting.

Images are from my own camera.