MA in Textile Design - a mature student's journey

On the weekend I met my oldest friend (as in I've known her for a long time and not that she's really old) in London. We had a cultural day visiting Kensington Palace to see the Princess Diana clothes exhibition and then to the Josef Frank exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum. I think its great to be able to see Diana's clothes close up but I wish there was more of them. I know since they were sold at auction that the clothes are scattered around the world, but surely on the 20th anniversary of her passing more could have been done to celebrate her clothes/fashion. Usually you can buy a book about the exhibition but sadly this one did not have one, a pity really as I would have bought it. If you plan to go to London it might be worth a visit - Kensington Palace They did have some other clothes dotted around upstairs from the 16th and 17th Century in immaculate condition. The Fashion & Textile museum in Bermondsey is well worth a visit as they have ...

On Thursday we had an inspirational talk by Emma J Shipley, she graduated with a BA in Textile Design from BCU before going to the RCA to complete a two year MA. When we had visiting lecturers, some bring a lot of bullshit and self importance with them - not Emma - she was genuine, honest and someone who has worked very hard for what they have achieved. Her niche is designing highly illustrative drawings that translate onto scarves, bags, sleepwear. She has collaborated with Disney and Aspinall bags and is stocked in Liberty and Browns. Most recently designing a range of scarves for the older clientele for the Beauty and the Beast film https://emmajshipley.com/ - check out her website.   Her are some of the pearls of wisdom that I picked up on: Enter as many competitions as possible to get your name out there Don't sell yourself cheap Consider putting your name to your designs rather than selling them onto a 3rd party Work your butt off Get a PR firm involved in pr...

I have some spare time today, so I'm looking at my Etsy shop and how I can promote and sell some more on it. Here I am looking at their badges to help promote.

So today I attended my second meeting of the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild of Coventry. I took along some wool to crochet because there's no way I could take my loom in with me. There were about 20 people there, of all ages, but as you can expect more of the older generation rather than young people.  The great thing about the Guild is that I could pick the brains of some of the weavers because I was having trouble with understanding some of the patterns from my book. In the afternoon we had a talk by the Stratford upon Avon Guild, specifically about some tapestries that they had created over the years. They also brought in some examples of their work and the yarns and designs used to create tapestries for Compton Verney , Packwood House and Shipston on Stour Millennium project. This week we had another inspirational talk from an ex student of BCU Jasmine Gilhooly and her handbag range called J D' Cruz . She buys hinds from Northampton, prints and foils onto the hinds...

So today was my second time at helping in the Fashion and Textile department at the college. If I'm really honest I prefer the college to the school. I think its because the students at the college are doing Fashion and Textiles and that's it, at the school they are doing A-level Textiles and some other subjects so their focus isn't 100% on Textiles. Things I find infuriating: They are constantly on their phones I know more now about Kim Kardashian than I ever wanted or needed to know They have a massive energy lull in the afternoon Things I like: The students - I can have a laugh with them I can offer my view and they listen and use my ideas I'm learning from them (see Kardashian bullet point) Anyway, today they started a new project. They have to video their last project creations (a 60's inspired costume with a sportswear theme). So, they have to create a story board, think about lighting, make-up, accessories, venue, etc etc. It was great to...

This week I spent a mini fortune getting more sublimation printing done and I was really happy with the results. I also turned some of the prints into tops and I hemmed the chiffon print with a rolled hem. Here are some of the photos: Polyester print, the results are clear with the design. I'd never wear white to work out in but the print didn't work well on this one so I used the lycra to make shorts. The seams didn't quite match up, but its only a practice piece. This is my favourite, a chiffon scarf with a fern background overlaid with my own lino print design which has been put into a repeat. I'm also going to re-create this on a larger scale. A close up of the design which reminds me of the those psychological tests they do to see if you are a psychopath or not! What shapes do you see?