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2.7.22
WEEK 5 PROGRESS

1. What were your goals for this week?

  • Finish flowers (add it to my plant animation)

  • Finish fire animation

  • Meet with Caleigh (Friday, maybe sooner)

  • Meet with Sasha (mentor) for feedback on designs, emailed and am meeting her Friday (2/4)

  • Connect with Amy Banic (201B)

  • Test bioplastic recipes for accessories and make the ones I have molds for

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2. What did you accomplish, please reflect on your time management. What worked or didn't?

For my goals, I finished the animations (see below), tested two bioplastic recipes (see below), met with Sasha on Friday for about an hour, and set up a time to meet with Amy on Monday at 8 am. I ended up canceling my appointment with Caleigh since I was able to connect with Amy to get help with my code. 

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3. How did you integrate feedback?

  • The first piece of feedback I got was to integrate textured materials into my plant animation and add flowers which I was able to integrate this week.

  • When I met with Sasha, she gave me lots of advice for each of my pieces which I've outlined further down.

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4. What was unexpected / what lessons did you learn?

A few things that were unexpected were the first recipe not working as well as I thought it would. I also learned that I need to have a lot of patience when working with bioplastic when it comes to cooling, but when making it, I need to work very quickly to get coloring or any additions in because it sets so quickly. I also learned countless new things from Sasha for my articles of clothing. She had countless suggestions and ideas that helped me look at my project in new ways. 

Animations

I added new textures to the stem and leaves for the growing plant to make it look more realistic. I added some flowers too and had them fade in to look animated since this was the method that worked best at the moment. I also created my fire animation which can be seen below. I was struggling with baking the animation, so I took a screen recording of it instead and will be working on the animation aspect this week.

Bioplastic Recipes

I tested two bioplastic recipes. The first one was 1/2 tsp glycerol, 1/4 cup water, and 4 tsp agar. I brought that to a boil until it foamed then poured it into my molds to cool. This bioplastic ended up becoming very cloudy and shrunk away from the molds. I was hoping to use this recipe since it's vegan, but will not be because of how it set.

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The second recipe I tried was 1/2 tsp glycerol, 1/4 cup water, and 4 tsp gelatin (instead of agar). I brought that to a boil until it foamed then poured it into my molds to cool. I used a knife to scrape away the bubbles and decided to test two different methods for coloring. I used sugar sprinkles and then regular sprinkles since they are both biodegradable in water. This recipe was much more effective since the plastic didn't shrink from the molds, so I will continue to experiment with ways of coloring it. I reused earring parts and added them to the aliens to see what they would look like. The star and moon still needed to set.

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Meeting with Sasha (part of mentor feedback, but still wanted to include here)

When I met with Sasha, I had a few specific questions for her about my patterns, material choices, and processes. Here are my notes on each thing we discussed:

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Puffer Coat

  • A tefflon presser foot will make it easier to sew with plastic vinyl or put scotch tape on the bottom of my presser foot (then I don't have to use the tissue paper method)

  • The plastic vinyl is going to be very stiff and hold the shape it is sewn in

  • Add a few inches everywhere for allowance because when filled it's going to shrink a lot more than expected (speaking from her experience)

  • I don't need to line the inside with anything

  • Sew channels first then fill it

  • When stuffing, cut the plastic into strips so it's easier to move around and isn't as bulky

  • Another fabric alternative for the outside is mesh (still see through)

  • Secondary alternative is a recycled synthetic fabric since they are also made from plastics (might not be see through)

  • Look at organza and art parts for sheer fabrics

  • Things to consider for inspiration: Patagonia line from recycled plastic fabrics, water bottle plastics are fabric that can't be recycled (only used in fashion)

  • Look at speculative design projects to better understand framing and how to showcase my work

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Overalls

  • Make a mockup with cheap cotton muslin from Joanns since it's my first time working with this pattern

  • Two options for putting it together

    • Sew all scraps together into a large piece first then cut out my pattern​

    • Place scraps on pattern pieces and sew them on an inner lining

  • For the first option, I might have a few loose threads, but this makes more sense in the long run. However, i need to keep in mind what I will do with excess fabric and how I can minimize waste​

  • I should line the inside with another piece of fabric to keep loose threads down

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Bioplastic

  • Pour each layer with a different color

  • Use an eyedropper to add color after it's been poured into the molds

  • Use bioglitter

  • She thinks accessories are my strongest piece and have the strongest message attached to them

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Other things to think about

  • Frame my project as someone ordering the clear puffer coat shell and filling it with their own scrap fabrics or old festival outfits for memories

  • Other materials aside from plastic...fill with old costumes and festival outfits that would get thrown away?

  • Potentially stuff it with outfits I wore

  • Sending the message of rave consumption culture through my pieces

  • Stay excited about the project and other people will react the same way!

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