Natasha Kurd – Wearable Electronics Studio

End of the World – 3016 A.D

Natasha Kurd

Speculative You

Wearable Electronics Studio

December 2016

Final Documentation – End of the World 3016 A.D

Concept

For my final project, I have designed a half-bodice and half-shawl for a woman who is living in the year 3016 A.D. She is also the leader of a rebel group who is fighting against the wicked antagonist machines who have taken over the world. I have taken inspiration from movies with similar storylines, such as, The Matrix (1999), Elysium (2013) and Snowpiercer (2013). All three films have a protagonist fighting the controlling “establishment” (machines and/or antagonist) who eventually overcomes the establishment by leading a group of people to their destiny.

On the lower end of the shawl portion, I am going to add a row of LED lights to line the tip of the shawl, so that the rebel leader is able to go underground and light her way to secret meetings, transport food and medicine to other members of her group, set-up traps and escape (use the tip of the shawl like a flashlight). She can also hide her “flashlight” by tucking it within her shawl. The look of the bodice is meant to reflect her status as a rebel and low-income individual; therefore it is rugged, almost falling apart, ripped and messy.

Since natural resources such as water and land are limited, there is a more emphasis on struggling for food than clothing, so the rebel leader would need to wear this bodice most of the time. In my sketchbook, I have drawn by some designs, shot it on a screen (projected my designs onto a silkscreen), then printed the edited image using opaque silver printing ink.

Materials & Parts List

Organic Cotton & Hemp – Fibre Studio

MX Dye (Reactive) Navy – Fibre Studio (Made by Apoorva Varma)

Conductive Fabric – Creatron Inc.

Conductive Thread – Creatron Inc.

Silk Ramie – Fibre Studio

LED Lights White & Red – Creatron Inc.

Resistors 100 ohm – Creatron Inc.

Silver Opaque Ink Silkscreen – G&S Dye

100% Polyester Thread – Fibre Studio

Power Source & Battery 3V – Creatron Inc.

Visual Process & Documentation

Research & Past Work & Inspiration

Martin, Paul. “Interview with Kim Barrett (Costume Designer) from The Matrix Reloaded.” Matrix Fans. WordPress, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.

Vogueaustralia. “Jodie Foster Is the Best-dressed Character in Elysium, Wearing Custom Armani.” Vogue.com.au. NewsLifeMedia, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Livery, Lord Christopher. “Snow Piercer: Q&A with Costume Designer Catherine George.” Clothes On Film. Handpicked Media, 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.

Referenced past work for circuit process

matrix-reloaded007

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Inspiration taken from The Matrix (1999) – Martin, Paul. “Interview with George Hull (Concept Illustrator) from The Matrix Reloaded (2003).” MatrixFans.net. N.p., 2 May 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Blog, B+ Movie. “Fun with Franchises: The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Part I — “The Tiny Indian Girl Became Hugo Weaving”.” B+ Movie Blog. WordPress Inc., 07 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

agent_kruger

Inspiration taken from Elysium (2013) – Unknown. “Agent Kruger.” Villains Wikia. Fandom TV Community, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016. http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/File:Agent_Kruger.png

snow25

Hello, Tailor. “Interview: “Snowpiercer” Costume Designer Catherine George.” Interview: “Snowpiercer” Costume Designer Catherine George. Awesome Inc., Blogger, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Prototyping Progress

Progress Between Version 1 & Version 2

In version 1, I had mixed feelings of who to design for, the protagonist or antagonist? After spending some time playing around with draping my materials in Version 2, the idea dawned on me that it made more sense to design for the protagonist because the materials I used worked with that idea. When draping I added the silk ramie for more dimension and it was the perfect material for the ‘rugged’ look and frays easily which defined the wear and tear aspect I wanted. Originally I was just going to develop on top of Version 1 but I am glad I started a new because I think the thin material (cotton muslin) would’ve just made the design too weak and not strong enough to portray my idea. Using the MX reactive dye help define my wearable piece because almost all of the clothing in the three films are the same monochromatic tones of black, grey, dark navy, and earthy tones.

Experience of Wearing

Felt comfortable
Stiff and rough
easily moveable
homeless
hide things inside

circuit – Link to circuit diagram/layout

Making Conductive Felt by Hand

Intro…

In this project I wanted to use/experiment with conductive felt but unfortunately it was not easily available, therefore I decided to make my own felted shapes and added conductive thread to make it appropriate for the project.

I experimented with shapes and materials all with the same hand felting technique. Hand felting is a simple technique, which is quite a long process, and repetitive. It consists of using a specialized felting needle that would be used to puncture into the loose felt to make various shapes, sizes and designs.

How Its Made/Process…

I begin the felting process by first retrieving a large sized sponge and set it on a table then place the fabric I want to experiment with on top. Since my pieces are small sized using the sponge was easier to use. I take thin piece of loose felt (since I want an intricate design) and start to form my design on top of my fabric, then I start to repetitively puncture my needle through the felt until its flat and most of the fibres have gone through the fabric to secure your materials and designs in place.

After needle felting in my designs, I place the conductive thread over my designs and using the same felting needle to puncture through the thread to keep it in place.

Loose felt – merino wool

Silk felt (inside plastic baggy) with wool yarn

Cutting organic cotton and hemp fabric – prepare for felting

Placed on top of felting sponge

Using my hands to place felt into place (purple felt is also wool) and using the needle felt to puncture it into place. End result of felted in shapes after being punctured.

Back of fabric after being needle felted into place

Felted heart designs

After design is complete, I add conductive thread on top of the felted designs.

Finished purple hearts.

Silk/wool blend felt – shaped acutely into a heart on top of a felting sponge

Continuous process of hand felting with needle – added more silk felt to fill in small space inside the heart shape and make it more thicker. Used fabric scissors to cut off excess felt and make the heart shape more prominent.

Added conductive thread – felted with needle in a spiral shape for a design aesthetic. Started process of felting a ball.

Added conductive thread – felted at the bottom and worked my way up.

Finished felted ball – wrapped conductive thread around – wrapped the pink wool yarn afterwards.

Resources & Different Uses of Felt

OCAD U Fibre Studio Room #201 (equipment can only be used by MAAD students but I think materials can be purchased including felt needles)

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Examples of Canadian designers and their felted products

Left: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/250217773/toronto-maple-leafs-blue-felt-ornament?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=toronto%20felt&ref=sr_gallery_3

Right: https://rimanchik.com/collections/bags/products/felt-no-2-tote?variant=6076087045

It is not 100% guaranteed they hand felted the bags, probably used a different method but it is the same idea but faster process.

Materials

Conductive Thread – Creatron Inc. 647-349-9258

Wool Felt White – Fibre Studio @ OCAD University

Silk Wool & Purple Wool – Romney’s Wool Queen St West Toronto

Felt Needles – Fibre Studio @ OCAD University 416-977-6000 ext.267

Pink Wool Yarn – Romney’s Wool Queen St West Toronto 416-703-0202

Organic Cotton & Hemp – Fibre Studio @ OCAD University

Felt Sponge – Can only be borrowed from Fibre Studio (cannot leave studio space)

Imagined Uses

The handmade shape of hearts give off a childish vibe. I can see the silk-felted heart being used as a nightlight for children and the purple hearts can be used as a mobile above a baby’s crib.

Wearable Light – Asymmetrical Vest

– Description –

I’ve designed a casual asymmetrical vest, that is longer in the front and short in the back to fit into a modern style. It can be layered with many different styled shirts, such as, long and short sleeve, casual and dressy tops. Also add accessories to spruce up the piece, infinity scarves, long and short necklaces, add a belt in the middle of the vest to emphasize body shape.

I cut conductive fabric into strips to playfully blend into the vest in a stylish way. The fabric is made of organic cotton and hemp that is nature-dyed using indigo.

The type of light used are white LED’s that are attached at the bottom of the conductive fabric, while the light source is hidden inside the vest. The bendable plastic is used to diffuse/play/experiment the LED lights.

– Pictures with Process –

Vest designed completely by ‘draping’. Started off with a large rectangle piece of fabric and pinned onto the mannequin, then shaped and cut accordingly to style. Size was not a concern since the mannequin is a certain size and the shirt naturally builds to the size of the mannequin.

RIGHT: Front of bodice, pinned into place. LEFT: Back of bodice with darts

Continuously ironing fabric and seams for a nice clean finish. Set heat on iron to ‘cotton’ setting to properly take out wrinkles. Fold seams twice to prevent fraying.

LEFT: Half back of bodice (left side) ironing out darts and cutting off extra fabric. RIGHT: Checking placement of front bodice, figuring out bottom shape of vest. Folding in seams.

LEFT: Back bodice, pinned into place, cut off extra fabric RIGHT: Side view of bodice, pinned into place.

LEFT: Bottom view of front bodice RIGHT: top view of vest

LEFT: Sewing in seams, taking out pins during process. RIGHT: Sewed three pieces of the vest together at the top first, working my way down.

LEFT: Closer shot of how the shoulder fits onto mannequin, shortened the length of the extra fabric to even out the short sleeve. RIGHT: folded in seams and smoothed out fabric for the sides.

LEFT: Continued double fold of seams to prevent fraying and prepare to attached sides together (pinned seams and pieces in place)

RIGHT: Finished sewn back bodice RIGHT: Finished sewn front bodice

LEFT: Finished sewn side bodice (left side facing towards viewer) RIGHT: Finished sewn side bodice (right side facing towards viewer)

LEFT: Preparation for conductive fabric. Cut into strip on cutting board. RIGHT: Placing strips onto vest (ironing on)

Finished ironed on conductive fabric strips

LEFT: Started to hand sew power source and connections. Running stitch. RIGHT: Hand sewn LilyTiny

LEFT: Final product, successful LED light up! One did not light up, possibly due to connecting running stitch was too long.

RIGHT: Added plastic fabric to ‘extend’ or ‘brighten’ the LED light, which was somewhat successful depending on which angle the plastic fabric bends.

Bending plastic fabric by hand. A small light is extended through, shown in the middle of the two LED lights.

– Materials & Parts Used –

Conductive fabric (silver), Conductive Thread 28 Ohm 30ft Bobbin LILYP-010867, White LED (lilypad) 250MCD W Resistor LILYP-010811, Resistors 100Ω RESIS-521002 RESISTOR X10PCS 1/4W 5%, LilyTiny DEV-10899 ATtiny85 LILYP-010899, Battery Chameleon 3V CR2032 Lithium, Power Source MPD BA2032SM.

All above items purchased from Creation Inc. 349 College Street, Toronto.

Fabric: Hemp and Organic Cotton, Indigo Nature Dye, 100% Polyester thread.

All above items purchased from Material Art and Design Studio Fibre Office, 100 McCaul Street Toronto Room 201a

– Circuit Diagram & Layout –

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My Beautiful Circuit

Intro…

In my beautiful circuit assignment, I have constructed and designed a pouch made for men and women. It is made out of cotton muslin, one undyed but silkscreened a geometric print and the inside is nature dyed with woad. I machine sewed the pieces together, added a white zipper on top and then began the process of putting my circuit together. I hand-sewed conductive thread in a square shape to go along with the geometric print. Placing the power source inside the bag prevented the design in the front to be unobstructed. I wanted the light to be a simple addition to the designs and that only shut off if you pulled out the battery.

materials & parts list…

LED lights, 3V battery, alligator wire, power source, conductive fabric

electronic materials purchased from Creatron Inc.

cotton muslin, woad, zipper

materials purchased from Affordable Textiles

Diagram of Circuit…

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Image One – Close up of cotton muslin material used. Nature dyed with woad

Image One

Image Two – Silkscreen cotton muslin with woad dyed cotton muslin

Image Three – materials and tools used to construct pouch. Sewing machine, fabric scissors, pins, thread, thread cutter.

Image Four – Used iron to straightened out materials for a clean finish.

Image Five – Added zipper under layers

Image Six – Machine sewed pieces together

Image Seven – hand sewed conductive thread into rectangular shape with LED light

Image Eight & Nine (left) – Hand sewed power source in place with 3V battery. (right) Clipped on alligator wired from power source to conductive fabric

Image Ten – Close up of alligator wire

Image Eleven – Final pouch

Image Twelve – electronic materials used for circuits