Women in WW2 Patchwork Quilt

For my final A-level Project i looked into the job roles of women in WW2. In 15 hours I created this patchwork quilt with embroidery pieces inside each containing a different role taken on by women. 

Wartime Train Station Photoshoot A-level

For My A-level textile Exam I choose to base my project around the roles of women in WW2. 

Alongside researching the physical roles including the land girls, the women who went away to work in factories and complete other jobs I also focused attention on the heart break and dealing with the waiting and loss of loved ones. This was a photo shoot I did at the beginning of this project to inspire some textile pieces.

EPQ Flowery Jacket

I was lucky enough at sixth form to be asked to complete an EPQ (Extra Project Qualification) It would go towards gaining some more Ucas Points. I could choose to either write 10,000 words or 3,000 words and create something to go beside it. I choose to look into tailoring, The history, fashions, styles and fabrics. I went on to create this jacket which I kept straight from the pattern. But i also added personal touches to it, including a last minute decision to turn the pockets the wrong way round to expose flowery fabric. 

I worked on this over summer and into the first term of upper sixth. I then had to give a 10 minute presentation on what I had learnt. this project gave me a greater confidence in making and developing patterns. 

 I was Also very grateful to have some very lovely friends that wanted to take photos of me in my jacket for their photography projects. 

1870's Corset and Bustle

This Corset and bustle became the final piece of my A-Level Project based around the fashions and trends in 1870. I was greatly interested in the shape of the body and wanted to focus around this and therefore decided to only create the undergarments of what a women in this era would wear. 

It was my first corset i had ever made and it came with quite a lot of problems but I managed. I was also Graded 100% in this project which i am extremely proud of after my hard work and a lot of time and effort went into this project out of hours. 

1870's Inspired doll

This 1870's Inspired doll was something I created before I went on and created a life size corset and bustle, as I knew this doll would only show the fashion of the day. I used a free pattern but I had to increase the size quite a lot. I stuffed the doll with basic wadding and hand stitched the bodice straight onto the doll as this gave the impression of a close fitted bodice. I used wool for her hair and used fabric paints to paint her face. 

1870's A-level Project

My second year Project was based on the fashions and history in 1870. I focused a lot on corsetry and the bustle. I began by creating my own sketchbook and slotting in pages as I went along. I really loved this as it kept me looking for interesting papers and fabrics to use and work on. This I created to open like a corset.

 These were all extra things that I created as part of this project. This very old tattered book of Jane Eyre i bought for 99p and Turned it into a old fashioned Silhouette image. 

Here I covered a shoe box with newspaper and coffee stained it to look much older. I covered the inside and free machined quotes. In the shoe, which I made by covering an original shoe in clingfilm before covering it with newspaper, It says "Worn into your heart" .

 My Rather chunky sketchbook for this project, it included a lot of lace, old photographs, coffee staining and research on textile artists which related to this poject.

My First As Textile Project at Sixth form was named "Shabby Chic". I Researched a variety of textile artists that worked in this way and created a variety of textile pieces. This piece I completed in 5 Hours in my exam. I Free machined this lovely quote onto what was the Lining of our very old Curtains. The frame was an old one I found in my garage which I persuaded my dad to make smaller to fit my quote in. I still can't believe it was one of the first things I made, I still love it and can't wait to be able to put it up in my own house one day.

Ok, here we go.

So Basically this little blog will hopefully become up to date of things I have made whether it be crafty, textiles or dress making. I am a Costume & Textiles student from Huddersfield Uni, I am currently on Placement year out so I finally have my evenings back. I decided to do something useful with them and after having a bit of a drama with other sites that I wanted to have all my images on I decided a blog might just do wonderfully. As i have a while before I go back into final year and work my butt off like a crazy person I thought I would go back to the beginning. I will try my best to put all my work in order and remember what it was that I was even doing. So I'm going back to A-level Textiles work. Wish me luck !