I wanted to create something that was important for me. The design on the jacket is inspired by one of the endgame weapons from Okami, a video game that inspired me as a kid. The pattern grew a lot from the initial in game design; I’ve always had problems with creating abstract things, so I decided to challenge myself by doing this for the final project.

Creating a design that would end up on a body was way more difficult than I expected. When designing and making the design, I couldn’t really envision it on a 3D form as well as I had hoped, which resulted in certain designs being on slightly different parts of the body. For example, I had to extend the arm design because it ended up lower than I expected. Running out of colors early on forced me to mix thread colors, which gave the pattern a different feel when looking at it close up.

It was difficult to imagine where and what to put the swirls at the beginning, and I experimented with different thicknesses of lines by adding lines next to each other, using less thread in my stitches, and doing different types of chain stitches. About halfway through the design in the back, I felt like I had a much better handle of what I was doing. I also really like how the disc ended up, with the darker red thread adding a bit of depth. I even added a bit of weaving to create a thicker effect in the center of the swirls.

Overall, I really like how the jacket ended up. I might add more designs in the future, but I did manage to create the asymmetrical design and feel I was going for.

Materials: Jean jacket (x1), embroidery thread (a lot), felt patch (x1)

I then embroidered the other parts of the jacket, eyeballing it as I went down since it was difficult to mark the dark jacket. I tried to change the thickness of the markings by using varying strands of embroidery floss. About the point of the first picture, I noticed that I was running out of embroidery floss and started mixing colors. I also made some rows of 2 chains to

For the “eyes” of the flame pattern, I decided to create a lazy daisy flower and weave through it, creating a bunched up effect. there are still some pieces of the jacket I’m not satisfied with, namely some of the strokes. I’m thinking of going in and adding more thickness to make some of the strokes seem more “full.”

My next steps are to fix some parts on the back of the jacket and work on the sleeves and potentially add a front design. This design didn’t curve around the front as much as I wanted it to, so I might add something small in the front to bring the entire jacket together.

Choosing a color scheme was especially difficult, since I had wanted to make each cat unique in their own way, but I still wanted to stick to a bit more monotonous color scheme. I am a bit iffy about the shading though, since it was difficult to get certain patches colored in properly. I also wanted to give this a more cartoonish feel, so the line widths of the keys and the designs of the cats were chosen specifically to match that. I feel like overall, the calmer scheme of what I was aiming for definitely worked.

Since the review, I added a background color and integrated the cats and the keycaps a bit more. One of the color patterns is much more subdued and darker, with more shadows on the keys. Meanwhile, the other one is more lighthearted.

In terms of where I might see this, I think this would be really cool on the inside lining of a jacket, maybe on a mask.

I’m planning on using an appliqued felt piece for the red circle (mostly since it would be very difficult to embroider something of that size and I’m running out of red thread), and embroidering the darker flames onto it. For the rest of the designs, I’m planning on using embroidery thread since I can create different textures and different thicknesses using those. Given that, I’m thinking of creating more elevated areas in the centers of the swirls.

Timeline

Week 1 (11/24-11/27): embroider red piece and applique it to jacket

Week 2 (11/27-12/4): embroider back of jacket

Week 3 (12/4 – due date): embroider sleeve

Idea 1: traditional Chinese symbolism/mythology (similar to encoded cloth)

Idea 2: exploring childhood, or specifically, studio ghibli since it had a large impact on me

Idea 3: some other design that I can throw LED/other electronics in, with hidden sensors that do interesting things when poked (eg. moon and fish light up when it gets dark, glowing flowers, space whale)

I had decided to go the third prompt: drawing from my surroundings. I had recently got a mechanical keyboard, and decided to base my ideas off of that. The fat cats are based off of cats of a youtuber who I was watching while doing this assignment.

Choosing a color scheme was especially difficult, since I had wanted to make each cat unique in their own way, but I still wanted to stick to a bit more monotonous color scheme. I am a bit iffy about the shading though, since it was difficult to get certain patches colored in properly.

I also wanted to give this a more cartoonish feel, so the line widths of the keys and the designs of the cats were chosen specifically to match that. I feel like overall, the calmer scheme of what I was aiming for definitely worked.

The type of repeated pattern was also easier to choose than I thought it’d be, though I mostly went by instinct. I didn’t want the final pattern to be too crowded, but I also didn’t want to make the repeat block too obvious.

For the patterned cloth, I chose this one from the Ming Dynasty in China. I found this one interesting since it seemed very delicate and the patterns almost seemed floral until you look in closer. Then you’ll notice the snakes, scorpions, and other poisonous creatures on the pattern. The deception in it really interested me.

I picked this contemporary repeat pattern since I really like feathers. I also found finding the repeat very difficult since it crosses over itself a lot, but eventually doable.

I had intended to make the flower pop out of the darkness, similar to hope out of darkness. The red and yellow colors of the flowers can also signify a warning or cautionary tale. I wanted to further play with the theme of hope and despair with the choices of flowers – the red mums signifying joy in some places of the world while being a flower of lamentation, adversity, and death for other places. Meanwhile, the yellow wormwood signifying absence. I think despite not knowing the flowers or the meanings behind them, the mask still conveys a sense of that, which I would consider a success.

I found it difficult to integrate the lights into the flowers – the light needed to dissipate through a light colored fabric, and I tried to use the palest yellow to achieve that effect. I also wanted the lights to react to the environment in a way, and had a hard time thinking how I could do so. I ended up adding a photoresistor (light sensor) to the mask and made the upper lights shine faster in darker environments, while making the flowers shine brighter in darker environments, adding to the “finding hope in darkness” theme. It turned out to be pretty ominous in the dark, which was an unintended surprise but pretty cool.

I also found it challenging to camouflage the microcontroller and battery on the side of the mask. If I had more time, I would’ve made a better pouch for the battery to hide it better and make it more secure.

Here are a few more photos of the mask on Rowlett:

Per ardua ad astra – from adversity to the stars

Seeing this, more rational world governments have introduced harsh taxes on greenhouse gas emissions. Electric cars and clean energy become popular, gardens on balconies and rooftops are widely seen in large cities, and a large campaign to “save nature” begins, its efforts too little, too late. Blue skies become more and more rare within cities, and smog seems to be the norm. Efforts to create air filtering technology redouble.

Technology and automation have become a much larger part of people’s lives, and wearable tech has become all the rage. Google glasses have made a comeback, with more competitors. Apple’s iPhone now has 20 cameras on the back, and for some reason, people keep buying it. Self driving technology becomes more commonplace, and Uber’s and Lyft’s become more safe. Video games have evolved as well, and NerveGear becomes the next step after VR.

Automation has taken over many more dangerous jobs, and the skill levels needed for jobs has decreased due to the amount of assistance automation provides. This results in the job market being more open to people with lower levels of education, and an increasing middle class. The fast food industry will be taken over by robots. McDonald’s McFlurry machine will never break again. As much as life has been enhanced and eased by technology, human skill and labor is still valued.

Humanities attempts at going back to the moon as succeeded, and the moon colonization process has begun. Scientists have a regular base there, and people with enough money are now able to spend a few weeks for vacation on the moon. Space outfits become trendy. People are looking forward to the first humans landing on Mars.