This concept was part of my final major collection for my BA (honours) Textile Design at BCU. I have always been inspired by Birmingham and have a love for fantasy films. I find films intriguing where ordinary characters wake up to an unreal setting- films like Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland. I imagine myself waking up to a transformed Fantasy Birmingham where the colours are very vivid – purples, pinks and blues and a variety of textures. These images also form a collage of notable landmarks which will eventually include Birmingham Museum, Town Hall, Custard Factory and more. I don’t want these images to appear cliched but as…

This experimental project arose from a fashion textiles brief where I researched an exciting designer Matty Bovan, who uses interesting colour palettes and textures. I used a variety of techniques including knitting, hand and machine embroidery to add to digital images I had taken.

Epsom wanted students to develop samples for a trade show to demonstrate what their printers could do. .I walked up my local high street in the heart of Birmingham and became very aware of the large bare trees in Winter. I examined these trees and thought that they too were their own environment – houses for animals and moss. This moss particularly interested me in the way it formed shapes . This brief challenged my usual colour choice as the palette was assigned by Epsom. These final outcomes became homeware products. 

The brief for this assignment required a design for a winter accessory product which was made from 100% British Wool. I was fascinated by wave patterns from growing up in Blackpool and holidaying in Greece. The contrast between seas was very obvious in the ways that the sea moved from very turbulent seas in England to very calm in the Mediterranean. The colour of the water is also very different from the very dark, murky sea in Blackpool to the bright blue in Kos. This directly inspired my colour palette for my final outcomes, eg greys and greens which can be attributed to the murky North West contrasting to the…

Fireworks was a project for a bespoke fashion module inspired by Bonfire Night and the myriad of colours. One night I watched the fireworks from my window and used that primary imagery to inspire my mark making and preliminary design work . These designs formed the basis for creations that evolved into motifs for dresses for the luxury non-conformist market. These initial drawings were manipulated using hand and machine embroidery.

I was asked to design textile products for shoes in this brief. we were asked to market our designs at a particular type of company and produce eye catching creations. i researched current street fashion especially Harajuku in Japan which is similar to Camden market in London. The colour schemes were deliberately very bright with metallic fabrics. We were encouraged to explore different textile disciplines resulting in my embroidery specialism. I explored a variety of embroidery techniques , especially using the embelisher to layer on top of my designs. I loved doing this and have continued to develop this skill along with beading. I also experimented with quilting in particular…

For the launch of the Birmingham City centre Ikea store Ikea teamed up with my college to upcycle some of their products including chairs and cushions which were given a Tropical theme. I created a flamingo print which was then digitally printed to reupholster a Poang chair. I then was also given Ikea fabrics to see what I could create. I manipulated a premade fabric with beading. These were then auctioned for charity.

This is my irregular project from college to create a 5 price fashion collection for the annual college fashion show. The collection was inspired by the feeling that creative people who can feel restricted by society. I produced a woven cage made out of plastic and cable ties to reflect these feelings of being caged in by others. I again used bold, outrageous colours to stand out from the crowd.