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. 

Washers / Branding

"Print" left after using washer with a branding technique.

"Print" crumbling off after material was crumpled.

A washer before branding (top left), a washer after branding (top right) & branding "print".

After a slight break from the project as I was settling into my new home, (big thank you to Sara for her work on the project the last couple of weeks), I was excited to get back to experimenting with the last batch of items I received from Sara.

I mentioned before that I was eager to use the brass washers as tools for branding the wool - and I am glad I pressed on with this idea as the results are fantastic. Rather than a circular burn, as I had predicted, I was confronted with a silver coloured "print". There was obviously a coating on the washer that reacted with the heat of my torch and stuck to the surface of the wool - especially obvious as when the washer was first applied to the wool it stuck on to it - something I think would look great on a large scale piece: showing the washer still attached to the wool combined with the print. I like the idea of the washers falling off as the piece is worn, revealing the graphic print underneath. I am really excited about these results - much better than I had anticipated. I will have to try the technique out on a few other materials to see if there is a similar result. Unfortunately, the smell of singed wool was also a surprise to me, albeit an unpleasant one!! I may have to continue these experiments outside from now on!

I also did some smaller experiments just using the washers as protective elements, singeing the wool around it. This didn't prove as successful though I do like how the middle of the circle is darker than the surrounding singed material. I have discovered that, with textiles, it is hard to predict how the piece will look on a small scale. I suspect that the above singeing and even the branding "print" will look far better on larger areas of fabric, however the smell of the wool has put me off testing this out for the moment! Repetitive patterns really appeal to me for Re-worked as a whole. 

Altogether I am still really pleased with branding & especially the "print" so will continue to push this idea further & try to apply it to larger areas.

Parcel & Contents

Letters / packages from Sara.

The accompanying letter with contents.

A vintage collar that really appeals to my personal taste.

Sheets of wool.

Brass washers.

I really enjoyed the contents of the latest parcel I received from Sara as I felt they were really in par with the direction of the experiments I have been doing for Re-worked. Sara & myself both agreed that the sheets of natural cream wool instantly lend themselves perfectly to branding techniques, something I particularly want to use the brass washers for. Included in the parcel was a piece of wool shaped almost like a shoulder pad that I found really interesting - hopefully Sara has more or similar? I think they would be amazing layered up - very dramatic. Also part of the parcel was a bag of butterfly clips - another perfectly suited - easily found item that will be easy to work into experiments and the overall look / feel of Re-worked. 

One item I instantly fell for was the vintage lace collar. This item is the sort of thing I first had in mind for the project and the sort of thing that falls into the "soft" category - in need of some destructive processes to bring it back to life. I think that it's a perfect base to create a piece from. It also reminds me a lot of the sort of vintage items I searched for use in my degree show project Vanity Series 2010. While in my personal project I played on the idea of "feminine" by creating intrinsically "pretty" items, I am looking forward to taking this element away from most items - making them beautiful in an alternative way.

I am also excited to say that Re-worked will be expanding to Aberdeen! In our initial proposal Sara & I specifically identified that this project would expand over two cities (Inverness & Dundee), highlighting that collaborations can take place by different means i.e our blog and posting items and ideas so to add a new city into this equation, as I will be moving there on Sunday, is just another exciting turn. 

Myself & Sara also have a few more steps planned for the course of Re-worked. We hope that once I am moved in and have set up my work area that we can have mini workshops in each other's discipline: Sara learning a few metalwork techniques & myself learning some basic textile approaches. We also hope to have a day or two rummaging around some local vintage shops and recycling centre and I would love to take Sara, at a later date, to Baird's in Glasgow to hand pick some silver wires / chains etc to use.