I have looked at road markings from
chevrons on the motorway to give way signs on roads to help develop my drawing
and pattern work. Triangles and arrows feature heavily in signs and road
markings, and I feel that combined with the bright fluorescent green, this is a
strong symbol to translate in to a woven pattern for the brocade.
I have found it quite hard to get the scale
of the points and arrows right, even though I am limited in width. I didn’t
want the floats to be too long on the front of the fabric, but too small and
they just disappear without creating impact. Through sampling, I think I have found patterns that sit well on top of the fabric, using the brocading warp to its full potential creating energy and
direction.
The 100% wool warp is much easier to weave
with and has given me less problems, which has allowed me to be more experimental
with weft yarns. I have experimented with Lurex yarns, knitted glitter yarns,
glow in the dark yarn and thick fluorescent tape, which has worked well I think
against the flat colour of the warp. It helps create the busy lifestyle fabric
that I had intended to and changes the weight and feel of the fabric to create
a wide range of samples that work well as a collection.
Working with a blanket warp has given me
many more options and has let me explore two different checked patterns with
and with out a brocade. I wasn’t sure at first how it would look against my
warps, which is why I only included it on one side, but having enjoyed working
with a new technique and producing quite patterned samples, I think this may be
something I take in to Unit X, as it can be used heavily in a sample, or hidden
completely giving plenty of range which is needed within any collection.
The sample above uses a glow in the dark yarn in the weft to help depict a busy lifestyle but during the night, as people are constantly on the go. I photographed it in a dark room, something I have never done before, so it took me a while to work out the correct exposure, but I feel more confident to use this technology again now if needed. I was concerned that the yarn may not glow strongly and the pattern wouldn't be able to be seen, but some structural elements can be seen and the bright green is similar to that of the brocade in the other half of the blanket warp. I think it could be more successful however if I had tied some glow in the dark yarn in to the warp and reduced the number of ends in the weft to create stronger check patterns.