Bow: Affected.

The green staining of the bow reminds me of other natural states of disintegration and decomposition  - I think perhaps some other organic processes could be influenced and induced within our project work. More homework required!

Unexpected Bouts of Rust

In the Re-worked spirit, these items have taken it upon themselves to adopt some organic rusty prints. I use the word 'prints' loosely, as these are clearly only marks where the fabric has come into contact with some of my other rusted - and now dry- experiments. Still, I find them interesting additions to our project. Spontaneous little marvels.

Another Collar, in a Similar Vein

In considering with what next to 'affect' the other collars Nicola had sent me, I trawled through other bits and pieces that Nicola has sent over the course of the past few months and found these gold jump links below. I think that working with gold coloured fastenings/fasteners recently (as in the pink basque), has taken with me and I began stitching them onto the collar below. I think that it will make a lovely partner to the pearly collar once rusted up. I would like to source more of these rings for future experiments as (dependant on their ability to rust well), I believe there could be great scope to create large lace-like pattern repeats that could be printed onto soft silks. These could be beautiful organic echos of much of the found lace items we have used throughout Re-worked project.

Final Parcel for Nicola

I have tried to in some ways respond to the materials Nicola had sent to me in my final parcel for experimentation and to also, act on my own instincts when happening upon materials for Reworked. Below are images of the items I have collated, beginning with a trio of vintage gloves. I have been intrigued by the idea of our deconstructed, reworked pieces interacting with the wearer and thought a most immediate way of exploring this could be through the use of preworn gloves. The notion of covering/encasing hands in another skin of sorts (in this case, leather and suede) and then breaking down or affecting this protective layer is interesting.

Leather Lace Gloves

These are rather structured, a heavier leather, whilst still remaining soft and pliable. I love the lace detailing at the wrist. I also like the fact that this pair are joined with a little gold pin.

Soft Leather Long Gloves

These move almost fluidly - especially at the wrist, where obvious wear has occurred and the leather has puckered. The contrast between this soft area and the strong stitching on the back of the hand is lovely.

Brown Punctured Suede Gloves

I was drawn to the punctured surface of these gloves and to the colour - soft and feminine but also, a nod towards our 'broader' colour scheming! 

Recycling Centre Silk

This is a beautiful, piece of abandoned silk - the ends have been pulled and in areas, it is snagged but perfectly suited to our needs! I imagine this working well in printing.

Cotton Ladies Collar

This was a pre-Nicola's parcel purchase. I found it funny that both of us should choose collars as part of our experimentations. I am intrigued to see the contrast between Nicola and my's ideas for use. Though, of course working with and most likely being led by the materials (the men's collars I am working with are starched and Nicola's is soft cotton), I look forward to seeing our different interpretations side by side.

Gold and Silver Studs

Laser Cut Wool Circles

(A repeat item)

Itty Bitty Laser Cut Wool Circles

Though I have previously sent Nicola some of these wool circles, I wanted to send more (and made some tiny versions to allow more room to be playful with scale), when I was considering possibilities for embellishment of the gloves. I wonder if Nicola will see an entirely different outcome for either?

Deconstructed Vintage Bodice

This was part of a 1950s wedding dress. I guess that with this inclusion, I am largely responding to Nicola's pink corset top. I wanted too, to include a defined item as opposed to just fabric, but also wanted   to not be too rigid in suggesting it's use - hence my liking its deconstructed, pulled apart state. 

Charity Shop Buttons

I received these at the same time as some other fastenings for Reworked a long time ago and had other plans for them. They have, however sat rather lonely. I wonder if Nicola can, through the Reworked ethos, put them to better use? Perhaps they could have potential in branding and/or embellishment.

Natural Twine

(Another repeat item - given the earlier earthy browns/beiges, this inclusion is led purely by colour)

Staples (Lots of)

Found Rusties

I found each of these on the same day in November and loved their textures and shapes. I wonder if they could be included in some experiments? We have, to date, 'catalogued' some rusty finds but haven't actively used many in our explorations into form and texture.

I have also included in this parcel, sample sheets of light weight waxed cotton as I thought Nicola might like to try some branding similar to those she tried in an earlier post - the wax might produce some interesting resist-like results? I'm sure Nicola will have other ideas too!

A Rusty Haul

We must apologise for our absence from this blog - it has been a rather busy couple of weeks for us both! In the interim, before we get our teeth back into things, we have been on a joint scavenge for rusty goodies.

The image above - and a rather poor quality image at that, (I am in the process of moving homes at the moment so have been unable to get things together to photograph properly), shows our findings from a short walk along the Riverside. Although, dark and blurry, I like this image as it reminds me of museum displays; collections of curious implements and tools. I find this a very inspiring mode of research - each of the items found tell a different story and some hold such intrigue as we pose question to what they began as at all! I hope to post better photographs soon as the gradation of the rust and the different effects of the process are aesthetically very interesting, and indeed the shapes and altered forms themselves. Some are brilliant orange and others are mottled with such a range of colour and filing, that they appear only a muddied, ruined 'thing'. I feel it was a hugely successful trip - definite food for thought in developing our project. I feel it will help me to move in a less literal manner.

Latest Items.

Here are the latest items I have received from Sara that I will be experimenting with. This will be the last parcel swap of this kind in Re-worked as we will be taking around two weeks to build up larger parcels that will signify the end of the swapping stage before starting more of a design-led stage: mini-workshops, sketching together and beginning to produce larger samples. The larger parcels will be shown differently as well as we will be choosing items that we feel will challenge or suit the other, posting pictures here before swapping parcels detailing why we have chosen the items and how we think the other could use them. I have a few ideas already for what I can send Sara so I am looking forward to this next stage.

Bolt nuts. I am interested to see how this coating is affected by experiments.

More brass washers.

Large screws. Again, another coating to experiment with.

A selection of weather-rusted characters.

Hook & eyes. Both coated and bare.

Coated snap fasteners.

String. I am thinking that wrapping items with this, 

such as the bolt nuts, could produce some interesting results.

Various trims and ribbons. Again. these could be used to wrap some of the other items.