Textile Designer
Fashion textiles! The course I took in college, where my whole fashion journey began.
Textile Techniques:
Weaving
Knitting
Crochet
Machine Stitching
Embellishing
Fabric Painting
Block Printing
Screen-Printing
Embroidery
Dyeing
A fashion textile artist is an individual who specialises in creating art using fabric or other textile materials. They use various techniques to transform textiles into unique and expressive artworks. Textile artists are highly creative people who need to have skills in drawing, have a very sharp eye for colour, pattern, and texture. Just like most jobs in the fashion industry, they need to have an awareness for trends, be good communicators, and follow budgets and deadlines.
I could see myself possibly going into textile design, but I've found myself to be so set on styling its been hard for me to envision myself following a different path. In college I really enjoyed the freedom to experiment with different textile medias, and to be able to take a brief and follow my own direction towards making a final design/ garment. I think I could see myself doing freelance design, as working under a company or brand and having to work under a prompt and expectation just doesn't suit me or the way I want to work and live. I prefer the freedom to have a personal branding and advertise to clients who like my products for what they are, over clients who already have a vision I have to follow.
Below are some examples of previous textile experimentation I did in college!
SCREEN PRINTING
MONO PRINTING
EMBROIDERING
COLOUR SAMPLING
FELTING
DISSOLVABLE FABRIC
Some of the common textile techniques I looked at during college include screen printing, felting, colour sampling, embroidering, mono printing, dissolvable fabric, fabric waxing, rust dyeing, puff binder, knitting using machine, collaging, ruffling, crimping and weaving. Out of those, my favourites would have to be experimenting with dissolvable fabric and screen printing.
Dissolvable fabric is fairly self explanatory. It is a thin, opaque material which you can sew or embroider into, and once you have your desired design, place the fabric in water and watch as it dissolves, leaving whatever you sewed into it behind and in one piece.
I really enjoyed using this technique as it has so many possible outcomes. What I made (which can be seen in the collage above) gave me very apocalyptic, worn down vibes which I would really like to experiment with at some point in the future, as I've always had an interest in that look with clothing.
Screen printing is a technique that is helpful when wanting to replicate a design multiple times with consistency. It involves a mesh screen which ink is forced through, and a stencil that blocks it from passing where you don’t want it to. I enjoyed this technique as it was useful being able to experiment with a design on different materials and patterns without having to paint the same design over and over. One drag of ink and you can print the same design over and over.
On a side note...
My inspiration throughout college was a mix of my own interests and aesthetic, as well as Vivienne Westwood, Adam Ant, Betsey Johnson and my extreme fear of my work being viewed as average and basic. These people, their impact and their work influenced my joy of working against trends and to follow what I wanted to do, and the things I was too scared to do when I was younger. College played a huge part in my growth as a person and with my work, tutors would try and sway me away from certain things and disapprove of certain things I did (which I'm well aware they did for a reason, and not just because they felt like being mean..) but this ultimately taught me that following others advice did not always lead me to produce work I like and am proud of, and would often lead me to lose myself and my motivation. My value for peers and tutors advice hasn't disappeared, but I have thankfully learnt what works best for me and am able to balance advice with my own opinion, leading to successful work on my behave, and the approval of those who view it. I'm hoping to continue this throughout Uni, and enjoy my work as well as the relationships I have around me.
Vivienne Westwood
Adam Ant
Betsey Johnson