CRITICAL APPRAISAL _ Intorduction to Fashion and Textile Processes

Critical self-appraisal: Considering this was my first project at university, I feel I achieved and learnt a variety of different processes and managed to stay up to date and focused on creating a good body of work. I really engaged with the module and fully applied myself to push myself to be the best I can. Making a shirt from scratch was a wonderful way to interact with the machines and discover many processes, such as creating a pattern from a block, and putting together a shirt in the correct order, all which were very new experiences. As confidence is a massive issue for me, I found it hard to trust myself when putting the shirt together. I wanted reassurance, but as I became more confident with my surroundings and that in fact I could do it, I progressed and was very pleased with the outcome. Of course the shirt wasn’t perfect, but what we were taught to me was far more important- I feel now, with a small amount of help I could create a pattern from scratch and put together a garment. In the 3 or so weeks we had, that is amazing. The use of recording step by step of how we did things was very valuable and a good habit to get into, as its ideal to look back on. I am very positive about the fashion construction section, which definitely helped me achieve the shirt to a high standard. Perhaps I’m not a natural, but I have a passion for it and am willing to work hard to better myself. Textile processes was something I had never explored, and it didn’t disappoint. Again, as a lot of processes were put upon us, so much was learnt. Photoshop for me took some getting my head around, but I was impressed with even the simplest of prints I produced. After practicing, I really engaged with it and felt I could understand it and create some layered in depth prints with the potential of being printed onto fabric. Research is key for both sections, and it helped me to understand and inspire me. Looking at prints and breaking them down proved vital in understanding how a textile print is put together, therefore it made sense when producing a 50x50 print. At this point of the course I lost my way slightly, and began to doubt myself of my capabilities. So I didn’t see my print as the best they could be. However I got back on track and tried again, creating a print I was proud of. This homed in on all that I had learnt, and showed it off. Because this was such a drawing based workshop, it really appealed to me as my drawings and mark making are strong. I got on well with the more manual approach to putting a print together, as I had more control, but both this and Photoshop were successful. I am over the moon with my progress, and have learnt so much in the short time I have been here. It’s not been easy as I constantly doubt myself, but that makes me strive for a better standard. Of course what I produced in both sections needed refining, but I built up a strong body of work to look back on and refer to when I use the same processes.