Final documentation
Intended effects
My original intention for my final project was to create a reversible tote bag made from my personal clothing that I no longer wear and would have otherwise donated. By repurposing my clothing I wanted to attach meaning to the clothing during this process. As a design student a lot of the projects I create are client based projects where each design choice is carefully thought out and has intent behind it and so for this project I wanted to do something more whimsical and focus on just what I enjoy and like. On one side of the tote I planned on screen printing the word Eggalicious on one side of the tote with material from an unused tote bag and material from a trench coat on the other side. On the flipped side I designed a fake egg log documenting how many eggs I had over the course of three weeks to computer embroider on the side made from the tote bag and the trench coat fabric on the other side.
Initial iterations
Final design
Challenges
After creating my design and was setting up the file I ended up taking out the numbers that symbolized the dates on the calendar as already just setting up the file was taking up too much time and I had too many intricate elements on my design already. But after seeing the end result I think it actually looks better without the numbers as it might look too clustered considering the size of the design as well.
In order to use this tote bag for my repurposed tote bag I realized I needed to remove this screen printing from the fabric and I was able to remove it by first rubbing the fabric with nail polish remover and an iron and a wet cloth.
Unfortunately, I had to pivot from my original design as I tested positive for Covid and was not granted campus access a few days before the submission deadline for this project. Therefore I was not able to screen print my Eggalicious logo and hand sewed the entire tote as I did not have a sewing machine at home. For the sewing, I practiced back stitching as I have never properly hand sewn something before and tested out different thicknesses for the yarn. Also I made the egg log design into a pocket and used an iron for the folds and extra needles as pins when sewing. When hand sewing, I struggled the most with sewing the straps as the material was a lot thicker and I had to make smaller stitches.
Inside of the tote
Successes
Despite the unexpected change of plans for my project, I am overall pleased with how my tote turned out and enjoyed hand stitching. I wish I was able to present my work in person and get feedback on my design but I still happy that I got to finish the tote. In the future, once I get access to a sewing machine again I would like to sew in the trench coat fabric on the inside and still be able to screen print my Eggalicious logo. I think this was a really fun hands on project and a great way to familiarize myself with embroidery.