9. Amie Farr’s
2nd
Year Work Placement.
‘Its blend of high fashion and
world-class photography with
features on the arts, politics
and literature continues to
make each beautifully crafted
edition a collectors’ item. ‘
10. Where did I go: London, 10-17th
May 2009.
Name of companies: Dazed and Confused Magazine, and
AnOther Magazine
11. • Type of practice or company (What do they do?) Published twice a year, AnOther Magazine
quickly established a reputation for highly original content brought together in its pages by an emerging set of
photographers, stylists and writers bound by a search for creativity and authenticity.
It is now the most recognised biannual fashion
magazine in the world.
13. What did I do on placement?
Returned thousands of pounds worth of clothes samples
to press offices and high profile flagship stores such as
Burberry, D&G, Dover Street Market, Miss Sixty,
Topshop,.
Helped with Model Research and casting for
photoshoots.
Went through archives of all the designers AnOther
work with.
Got given independent tasks to source out accessories
for parties, articles or magazine reviews.
What did I learn?
17. Paper cut illustration for an article called 'The
Books That Changed My Life' - "writers,
designers, artists and trendsetters" talking
about books which have change how they
read, work and live. July 2009 edition of Elle
23. TASKS WHILST ON WORK PLACEMENT
Animated advert for Volvo, Sweden
Visual promotion for Pilsner Urquell beer
Vogue commercial experimentation
Work towards her exhibition at the Bronte Parsonage
museum
27. Shop and studio based in
Holborn, London.
Gallery space for exhibiting
designers work – Donya
Coward
The Old Curiosity shop
footwear collection - a
collaboration with Margo.
28. Many of the items that are sold in the shop are handmade in the studio
29.
30. • The collection of stretch Silk fabrics are
designed and sampled in the studio.
•The cloth is then produced at a mill in
India And sent to the shop on 50m rolls.
31. Weaving workshops –
following on after the success
of Mastercraft
A collection of bespoke
jackets handmade by a young
designer using left over
scraps of fabric
32. •Emma Sewell and Harriet Wallace
Jones
•Textile design studio and shop London
and a studio in Dorset.
• Products woven in British mills and
Summer collection woven and hand
dyed in the studio
35. + fun, fulfilling, creative
- admin, marking, long
hours
Norwich High School for Girls
One day workshop
85x Year 8 students
Hand stitched 3-dFelt Letters
Created ‘Ball Gown’ onto metal frame
Timing and organisation essential!
teacher
36. + working with people,
enabling, sharing skills &
knowledge
- Preparation time = 2x
workshop time plus!
Workshop
facilitator
Carrow House Costume & Textile Archive
contextual research
preparation of workshop resources
working with schools and groups
fibre to fabric –carding, spinning, weaving
37. + experiment, explore,
create
- messy, cold, hard work!
Woad Inc.
Two day work experience
Shibori Silk Scarves
Cross Dyed Weld & Woad
Creating products for shop
Dyeing my own project materials
dyer
38.
39. + experimenting with a range of
techniques & processes
- slow output – cost effectiveness
designer
patterns & garments from woven cloth
upcycling offcuts overdyeing/stitch
woven tweed designs natural dyes
low impact acid dyed scarf designs
40.
41. Future
considerations...
• Lifestyle – home, family, pace of work
• Ethos – what is important?
– Sustainability
– Local Provenance
– Sharing / working with others
– Making beautiful things that will last
• Making a living – be realistic!
44. What did we do?
• Helped with self advertising
• Prepared fabric pieces for her work and
helped with construction
• Knitting and beading
• Deconstructed skirt
• Used industrial sewing machine
45.
46.
47. What we learnt
• How a freelance designer advertises themselves
• Where she sources her fabrics
• How to price your work and what costs you need to
include
• How to communicate with potential buyers
• How to professionally finish a piece of work
• How copyright in textiles works
48.
49. Did it help your work?
• Watching a designer work made us realise
how fast the industry is, and the pace of work
we should be achieving
• Learning new techniques
• Alison taught us about other current
designers, which helped our research
50. What was it like working in London?
• Working in London made us realise how close
and accessible everything is
• Massive source of relevant information
• The place to go for our profession
• The place to source a variety and quality of
fabrics
• An inspirational city
51.
52. Did we enjoy it?
• Yes!
• We were doing practical work, not just making
tea!
• Friendly yet working environment
• Got some freebies!
• Nice change to be working in London
67. My time was spent………
• sourcing materials
• hand sewing
• reproducing designs
by ‘pricking and
pounding’
• working on a
databases
• making teas/coffees
• stocktaking
• delivering embroidery
68. Hand & Lock provide hand &
machine embroidery services
• military
• catwalk
• theatre
• bridal
• Ecclesiastic
• monogramming
69. What’s
there?
• embroidery studio with
Victorian Irish and
Cornely sewing machines
(which produce chain
stitch) and modern digital
sewing machines.
• embroidery school.
Currently also setting up
a school in New York.
• design studio
• military section
• offices
71. Goldwork
• The gold work
embroidery is
stunning. The metal
is 2% gold and
shaped in a minute
coil which is cut into
tiny lengths. The
needle passes
through the centre
and secured in single
pieces.
83. Carrow House – Costume and Textile
Study Centre.
• I worked alongside Lisa Little, one of the curators
at Carrow House.
• They have the mammoth task of conserving and
documenting a history
of everything textile related.
• This includes, clothing,
shoes, jewellery, dress
patterns, magazines,
photos and more.
84. Organising the placement.
• I found I had to be very persistant when I was
organising a work placement here. They are
very busy people, but very appreciative of any
help.
• Contact details: 01603 223870
Carrow House
301 King Street
Norwich
Norfolk NR1 2TS
85. What did I do?
• I helped chronologically order and separate various
Fashion/Textile magazines.
• I helped by sorting through the dress patterns, such as
Vogue, Simplicity.... There are SO many.
• I helped put together a collection to be exhibited at the
Castle Museum, ‘The Beatles to Bowie’ exhibition.
• I put together workshop kits for making Victorian buttons. I
was also there to help set this up.
• I also helped to conserve a beautiful piece of patchwork
that was donated whilst I was there.
• Also, my favourite, I had to catalogue and re-pack hundreds
of shoes.
86. What did I learn?
• I learnt to be more organised
• I learnt how to treat old textiles with care, how
to prepare and store them
• Patience
• I was also lucky enough to attend a Chinese
drawing workshop in place of Lisa Little
• I was able to assess the finished quality of much
of the textiles/clothing and apply it to my own
work.
87. What would I do differently?
• Find another placement with more relevance
to my studio practice
• Contact sooner
• Be brave! Make the effort to go to London or
wherever needs to be to gain that all
important experience.
90. Where did I go?
Azsu Alpacas
www.azsualpacas.com
91. • Alpaca Farm near Dereham
• Farm with 200 alpacas, sales, stud services,
workshops
• Alpaca clothing, accessories and soft furnishings
for sale on-line and on-site
• Fleeces sent to mill for making into yarn and
fabric
• Mainly one off designs
92. Why did I go there?
• Part of a local network PIN (produced in
Norfolk) so possible useful future contacts
• Opportunity to use different knitting
machines and improve my knitting skills
• See how a small business runs
• I love alpacas
93. How did I organise the placement?
• Went on a visit organised by NUCA
• Showed Su some of my samples
• Sent CV
• Arranged dates by email
98. What would I do differently with
hindsight?
• Not concentrated just on machine knitting,
asked for variety of tasks
• Not taken work home to finish as this
proved very time consuming
107. First Work Placement:
Costume & Textile Study Centre at Carrow House
Contact Details:
Name of contact: Lisa Little
Job description: Costume & Textile Study Centre
Curator Assistant
Tel: 01603 223870
Email: museums@norfolk.gov.uk
Website: www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Address: 301 King Street, Norwich, NR1 2TN
108. Second Work Placement:
Ipswich Museum and Christchurch Mansion
Contact Details:
Name of contact: Marcelle Bobby
Tel: 01473 433550
Email: marcelle.bobby@colchester.gov.uk
Website: www.colchestermuseums.org.uk
Address: Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service,
Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich IP1 3QH
109. Organise your work placement as early as possible
Search websites for contact details
Do not just send an email
Do not be afraid to make a nuisance of yourself
Try to state what you want to achieve from the experience and
why you have chosen that particular placement
110. Costume and Textile Study
Centre at Carrow House
Research into historic textiles
and textile techniques
Organisation of the handling
collection
Volunteering on a open day
111. Ipswich Museum and
Christchurch Mansion
Conservation work
Accessioning archives
Visiting the archives
Front of house
The Demon Barber
Surgeon
Chen Hong ‘Fish King’
112. Gaining new knowledge
Effecting studio practice
Making contacts
Confidence
Practitioner
118. First week at Zandra Rhodes
• Adapting Zandra’s style. Scale. Materials.
• Designing her new range for Ashley Wilde
• Picking up Spring /summer collection 2010,
from Blow PR.
119. Second week at Zandra Rhodes
• Meeting Zandra and working with her on the
designs.
• Sitting in on a meeting with Millets.
• Printing, pr and paper work.
128. Steps taken to gain a
placement
• Produce a creative CV
• Write a covering letter – Making it
appropriate to each company.
• Send letter AND email each company-
Including a copy of CV on both
• Be persistent
• I done this at the very beginning of yr
2
129. • Toured the factory
• Worked on 3 different briefs
for specialised clients,
these involved
– Research – internet / book
based
– Found images with the use
of the Walters paper
archive
– Drawing up designs
– Finding fabric qualities /
weights and finishes from
the fabric archive.
• Learnt about finishing
techniques and was shown
examples
• Was involved in photo
shoots for the proposte
brochure
• Produced sample cards of
130. • During the placement I
learnt :
• The importance of the
quality of a finished fabric
• How to use various
computer programmes to
send designs to the
jacquard loom
• Independence
• Teamwork
• To be confident in my own
abilities
• Learnt about what it means
to be a ‘textile’ designer
• Time management
• A great amount of advice
131. If I could do it all again…
• I would organise a placement in a
fashion company as well.
• I would push my work more – Ask
more advice regarding my own
practice
• Take samples of my work
• Be confident in the ideas and work
that I produced