Author: kwgao@andrew.cmu.edu

Independent Project Final – Kimberly

I went into my final project thinking crocheting a sweater would not be too difficult. 60 hours of work later, I was very wrong.

separate sweater pieces

During this process, I learned a couple factors affect the outcome of my work very heavily. The first being, different balls of the same yarn will vary in thickness and even more so, the same ball of yarn varies in thickness. This led to uneven parts of the sweater and even different sized sleeves of the exact same stitches. Another challenge was how tight/loose I crocheted. This plus the first factor led to sizing being a little off when I tried the sweater on.

sweater put together

After sewing all the pieces together, the sweater kind of fit funny. It needs a steam and adjustments on the body so that I can make and outline to finish it off. I have new appreciation for handmade sweaters, especially the ones my grandparents used to make and also have a better understanding as to why machines were created to manufacture clothing.

In future iterations, I hope to create more consistent stitching with both better yarn and a grasp on my hook. I would like to create a sweater by stitching squares together as a different approach to sizing properly.

Independent Project Update – Kimberly

I’ve gotten a good portion of the main body of my sweater done. It is taking longer than I expected – especially with the neckline and figuring out/counting stitches. I am getting a pretty uniform look which is great but I’ve learned that my yarn is varying thickness sometimes which is another challenge.

I’m currently working on building the back panel up and then the other front panel (folded over chunk on the right). Then I can move onto sleeves and details!

Independent Project Proposal – Kimberly

I’m still unsure of what direction I want to head so I have two thought out ideas below.

The first being to crochet a sweater for myself. When I was little, my grandma used to make me sweater that I would never wear since I didn’t like the style – how ungrateful. I understand she put lots of time into making those for me and I would love to be able to make my own. My mom also used to make sweaters when she was younger so I think it would be a good and new final project. For the sweater, I would need about 5 large skeins of yarn – wool is expensive so I’m not sure what kind of yarn I should use. I learned how to crochet when I was younger and I prefer it much more over knitting.

Timeline : By Dec 3 – finish front and back panels, Dec 8 – finish sleeves, Dec 10 – finished project (I would probably need those extra two days to finish sewing everything together)

My second idea is to make a canvas tote bag with an embroidered design. I am hesitant towards doing this since I did lots of embroidery for the last project so I’m not sure if would like to accidentally stab myself with needles that much again. I would need to purchase canvas as well as any other thread colors that I’d want to use. We were given white sewing thread which is all i would technically need it terms of fabric. Also maybe a iron patch to seal all the threads.

Timeline: By Dec 1 – cut out all pieces of fabric and sew together what can be done, about halfway through with embroidering my design, Dec 3 – finish majority of embroidery, Dec 8 – completed tote bag

Completed Digital Repeat Pattern – Kimberly

After doing the first swatches, the more I looked at my pattern, the more I disliked it which led me to starting over. I was inspired by a bouquet of flowers and the somewhat “sketchy” art style that I really love.

The following photo were my starting elements for the pattern. I left them simple so that I could drag and drop pieces around one another and sort of mismatch leaves and stems.

starting flower and leaf elements

From there, I created a large number of swatches, mixing color schemes and playing with negative spaces/colors. I love the one in the top middle since it’s very toned down, clean, and simple but I had a random stem in the top left of the patter that really bothered me.

swatches from illustrator

My final pattern is that on the bottom right where I was able to fill in the space to create more of a full, meadow effect rather than a bouquet of flowers. This was using a hex by column repeat that allowed me to get each individual swatch very close together.

single block
final print

I can see this being on a planner in Target which is very niche theme but it really does give me that feeling.

Pattern Inspiration – Kimberly

I found two patterns originating from Japan, both of which I really enjoy and would like to draw inspiration from. From the first one, I think the colors used are extremely interesting where the larger pieces somewhat blend into the background and the highlighted parts are all pretty much one color with details using the background color. For the textile on the right, I really enjoy the style of the work in which the there’s a lot of movement and select colors in the textile. It kind of draws your eyes around.


https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/68032searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=textile&offset=100&rpp=20&pos=1085701/main-image

I found this digital pattern wallpaper where I really like to colors used where the accents pop but are covered by the harder to see bike patterns. As it’s titled “Flower Pedal” which I think is super cute and creative, I enjoyed the contrasts between all the details of the flowers and the wheels/gears of the bike.

https://www.flavorpaper.com/wallpaper/patterns/handscreened/flower-pedal

Finished Encoded Cloth – Kimberly

For my encoded cloth, I decided to create a dual sided blindfold where one side represented technology and the other illustrated the destruction of the environment.

I started with the blue eyes which face inwards towards the wearer to demonstrate “blindness” after focusing on technology and my original envision of technology in the eyes by 2030. I really enjoyed embroidering the first eye but it was really difficult to try and get the second one extremely symmetrical.

I then moved onto the trees which I struggled to come up with a design for a while. I went with blackish charred tree trunks and branches that had been burned with 1.25 trees still intact and almost being burnt. I didn’t really know how to portray fire well but liked the idea of mending since it does create that hole through the fabric which I also highlighted on the other side to show that you can’t really just cover something up with technology.

I also did some duality between fire and leaves when doing the sides of the tree side. This continued to the ends of the blindfold where the fire side I burned with a lighter and the leaf side I sewed up for a clean edge.

I overall really enjoyed the freedom in this project. I wanted to ensure I had all the supplies to create what I wanted which I why everything was mainly embroidery and a little bit of sewing, both of which I like a lot. If I was to continue working on this project, I would probably add something to the leftover sides after tying the blindfold on – maybe more fire and leaves.

100 ideas of Encoded Clothes – Kimberly

  1. Burnt quilt with nature/greenery on it
  2. Eye covering with technology on one side and nature on the other
  3. Trashed shirt that was ethically made
  4. A design of a perfectly green planet of the past
  5. Quilt with extreme fire, water, and air weathering
  6. Zoo like quilt – extinct animals
  7. 10 years from COVID 19 – face masks??
  8. Quilt with relocation paths of people
  9. A map of earth but all unlivable parts are blacked out
  10. Even cheaper, worse quality fast fashion clothing
  11. Summer clothing from climate change
  12. Gender neutral fashion
  13. AI developed clothing
  14. 3D printed clothing
  15. Clothing that filters pollutants (masks?)
  16. Reusable bags
  17. Not plastic food wrapping
  18. Reusable bags for tupperware/glass jars
  19. Story quilt of what we miss the most
  20. Timeline patchwork of each decade so far
  21. Air particle filtering mask
  22. Patchwork of COVID face masks
  23. Clothing that people wear on Mars
  24. What people wear on the Moon
  25. Green fashion
  26. Burnt flag of corrupt countries
  27. Web of everyone connected by the internet
  28. World war plans
  29. Other planet clothes
  30. Hive mind quilt
  31. True conspiracy theories
  32. Cloth from melted plastic
  33. Clothes made from trash
  34. All ebooks
  35. Loose pages of book in a quilt
  36. Paperless money aka venmo
  37. Hologram fabric
  38. Scorched pants
  39. Fireman suit but lighter for daily wear
  40. Rain jackets that doubles as fire repellant
  41. Cheese cloths but better to make drinkable water
  42. Face masks like the ones we have now but for your entire face
  43. Space efficient reusable water bottles
  44. Skyline but some building are chipped/fallen
  45. Skyline of broken landmarks
  46. Skyline but bombings
  47. More functioning clothes
  48. Plants made of cloth
  49. Helmet that filters air
  50. Tech fabric
  51. Water resistant clothes
  52. Cracked grounds quilt
  53. Desert quilt
  54. Evolution of tech
  55. Evolution of countries
  56. Before and After COVID 19
  57. The weathering of a tree over the last 10 years
  58. Broken houses and neighborhoods
  59. Green structured architecture
  60. Recycled fabric
  61. Structures made from trash
  62. Dark city days
  63. Orange skies on fire
  64. Modern clothes being thrifted as vintage
  65. Computer that are even higher tech
  66. Built in lights better than lamps
  67. Fabric scraps woven together
  68. Plastic woven together
  69. Fashion out of plastic stuff
  70. Toxic oceans
  71. Black lakes and waters also covered in trash
  72. Melted snow caps
  73. Volcano eruptions and tsunami damage
  74. Technology controlled by eye movements
  75. Either bigger or smaller clothing depending on the weather
  76. Ever changing winds and weather
  77. Cleaner living building/neighborhoods away from the destruction
  78. The last few specifics of animals in their own sanctuary
  79. Abandoned cities and areas full of rubble and trash
  80. More and more graveyards and landfills
  81. Smoky buildings and cities
  82. Real models of solar system
  83. Buildings on other planets
  84. Better ways to travel to outer space
  85. Either a lot of people gone or overpopulation and cramped areas
  86. Current computers and phones as relics
  87. Hats that offer greater protection than style
  88. People connected through technology in their eyes & ears
  89. Neck and back braces from overuse of technology
  90. Destruction of governments and rise of people
  91. Effects of nuclear war
  92. Rising ocean levels and underwater cities
  93. Food thats evolved from our own based on climate change
  94. More processed foods to combat harsh climates
  95. Index of natural fruits and vegetables there once was
  96. My life in the last 10 years as a quilt
  97. Family trees as digital quits
  98. Random obsolete things we have now that got replaced my machines
  99. New machines that got integrated into daily life
  100. Faster travel and plans for better airplanes

Encoded Cloth Part 1 – Kimberly

Based on how the world looks right now, I picture a 2030 where human have become so absorbed into technology that the environment of earth has fallen apart.

In terms of technology, it’s become so advanced that we have technology using our eyes rather than screens. Similar to a Black Mirror episode, its like holographic versions of our phones, laptops, and other technology all in the blink of an eye

Advanced Eye Technology from Black Mirror Episode: History of You

Advancements and focus in technology has left the Earth helpless and full of waste since no one was truly doing anything about it. Natural disasters only become more extreme and the world has fallen apart beyond no return.

Future Earth Predictions

I also think that our space exploration may have reached new planets to inhabit? So humans may have begun living on places besides Earth and maybe met people or creatures on those planets. This seems far fetched for 2030 but I the possibility of it just amazes me.