Today I am going to try and finish knitting the vest top so I can make some final choices about my clothing range.  Then when I get back from holiday I will buy all the materials needed.

Experimenting:

Today I have been carrying on with my sketches. I need to think of some more ideas for clothing so far I have a few firm ideas that I have drawn. I need to think about what is realistic so to experiment I have been knitting a vest top. If I successfully complete it then I will go on to knit a jumper for my clothing range. So far I have completed the front of the vest top. I have also been experimenting with croquet which I can now do. The only problem is I am making a summer clothing range and so can not knit or croquet too much of it.

Designing my clothing range:

This week I need to finalise my ideas. I am currently sketching six figures which will be wearing the clothing I will make. I need to decide if there will be a theme for this clothing range and which particular pieces of items I will draw on the six figures. To decide I will use the market research I carried out, my research on the trends in the market and also the sketches and brainstorm I made in my ideas and planning stage.

My ideas and planning stage is coming to an end I have brainstormed and I am carrying on sketching outfits next I have to decide which are my favourites and which are realistic to make.

Sketches:

I have been carrying on drawing sketches over the last couple of days. They are time consuming but are useful and is a good way of expressing my ideas.

Ideas and planning:

Yesterday I wrote an ideas spider diagram with key, inspiring words that should help me to design my clothing range and this evening I am going to draw some sketches to spur on further ideas.  

Collages:

Today I have been carrying on making A3 sheets with magazine cuttings on. On each A3 sheet there is a particular theme. Once I have a sufficient amount of themes I will either chose one to use for my clothing range or I will chose to use a couple. My decision will also take into account the results from my market research. 

Survey

These were the most popular answers from my survey: 

1. What is your favourite material your clothes are made out of?

Cotton

2. What types of clothing would you rather wear?

Fit in with your peers

3. Do you tend to follow the trends in the media?

No

4. Which of the summer 2011 trends are you most likely to follow?

The festival look

5. Which items of clothing appeal to you most for summer 2011?

Denim shorts and a vest top

6. What colour schemes are you most likely to be wearing on your clothing this summer?

Bright colours (pink, yellow, orange)

7. What designs on clothing would you prefer to wear this summer?

Tropical prints

8. Do you normally mix and match your clothing together or wear the same outfits?

Mix and match

9. What accessories are you most likely to wear?

Lots of cute bracelets

10. Describe your ideal summer 2011 outfit.

Vibrant I have also printed out a summary of the answers which shows how many people  voted for each answer option. It also shows all of the answer to the open ended  question. The market research has helped me gain a knowledge of what teenage  girl fashion is like.  I have used 'woordle' to present the most commonly used words from question 10. Here are the results:

                

Magazine cuttings:

Today I have been cutting out clothing from fashion magazines. So far I have three A3 sheets with different looks on. They are; festival fashion, flowy dresses and celeb watch.

Ideas and planning:

To get more of an idea about how to go about presenting my ideas and planning I have been looking on the internet to see how other designers have gone about this stage. Here are some relevant things I found:

‘What inspires you?'

'Anything and everything. Designers get their inspiration from all different places including: the street, magazines, books, vintage, exhibits, art, movies, the news, nature, cultures, history etc. Your inspiration comes from the elements that affect your thinking and make you feel the need to express your views or thoughts on the subject using clothing as your canvas.

How do you start designing a collection?

Different designers have different methods. I gather up magazine photos or other inspirations items and then start designing silhouettes within that theme. Then I find fabrics and trims and stir it all together and in the end you have a cohesive thematic collection.’  http://www.pamelathompson.com/pamela/designer.php


Also on http://www.flickr.com/photos/akashisko/5581464307/in/pool-945102@N20/ there are various pictures of peoples fashion collages they have made. There are also links to fashion blogs which are useful and inspiring.

'The first attempt towards designing clothes would be to get a sketchbook. Start by drawing a body or mannequin which serves as a host to the clothes you design.

Now, draw clothes on the mannequin. Once you are able to transfer the designs, which were in your mind, on paper, it's time to get a little colourful. Add colours and prints to the sketched clothes.’ http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/how-to-design-clothes-4084.html

This YouTube video shows exactly how to do fashion sketches:

From my research today I have decided I will make collages, mood boards and write brainstorms. This will help me to decide what theme my clothing range will have and how many items of clothing it will comprise of. I will then draw various sketches and then in my designing stage I can select a few sketches label them and work out exactly how I will make them. 


For my market research I will analyse the results in a few days so far 48 people have answered my survey, I will wait a little longer to see if any other people take it as well. 

Knitting practice:

So far I can do simple knitting and here is my practice piece:

As I enter my ideas and planning stage I will carry on practising knitting but I will focus more on working out what kind of clothing I will be making. 

Sewing shop:

Today I went to a sewing shop and got some remnants. The eight pieces of material where mainly; cotton, synthetics and velvet. They all had different patterns and in the shops they sold all kinds of fabrics so once I have planned the items of clothing I will make I will go back there to buy some material that will be suitable. I bought a knitting pattern, it is a sleeveless jumper so ideal for summer.

Monkey survey:

I set up my questionnaire on monkey survey. Here is a link: 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCBSLHX
I will analyse the data next week when I get back from Duke of Edinburgh and this will spur me on with my ideas and planning stage.  Also leaving it a week will allow time for a sufficient amount of people to take the survey.