My First Year at University...

My first year at University is coming to an end. All of my remaining modules are due at the end of this month and then that's my first year completed. In September I remember writing in my journal about how scary my first day was and in the first few weeks of my assignments panicking, thinking I couldn't do this and I might not be clever enough to be at university. Now, I'm sat here summarising my year and it's been one of my best years so far.

I've learnt so much, more than I thought I ever would in my first year. I've met new people, I've been inspired, I've done an internship and I have a list of things I want to learn over the Summer ready for year two! I hadn't been on photoshop before this course and now I'm making portfolio boards without a problem, making prints and drafting designs. My construction skills have come on in leaps and bounds too due to my fashion construction module and making the shirt and jumpsuit in my studio modules. Don't get me wrong, I've made a LOT of mistakes but I've learnt from every single one and I can only get better next year by not making the same mistakes.

My first studio module was a bit of a gamble. It was my first project and I wasn't really sure what to include, what not to include, what to research, was I doing too much research? But since I got my marks and feedback back I feel as though I know what to do now. My second semester studio module has been a bit easier in regards to knowing what to include and what to leave out, also all the skills I learned from semester one have come through and I have developed them this semester. Take for example my photoshop prints:

The two prints above were final prints for my first semester studio module. They're very basic, sketchy, plain and were more about me learning photoshop and experimenting with that, rather than actually making relevant prints. These prints were irrelevent to my project and did not link in with them. Wheras now I would like to think my prints are a bit more progressed:

There is a clear colour scheme in my second print collection, it is more developed, has more variations, has differences in scale and repeat, e.t.c. I still feel as though I have a lot of room for improvement in this area. Textiles is still a little alien to me but I have improved and gained knowledge about the subject through my textiles support module on Wednesdays.

I have learned how to mix the dyes and all about them, which dyes to use with which fabrics, how length of time imersed in the dye can create different colours, drawing inks, discharge, manutex thickening agent and how screens are even created. I've learnt a lot since February in this support module.

My fashion construction module helped me the most this year. As I stated at the start of the year, I feel as though this is the part of my degree that I could benefit from the most and want to really work on my construction skills to get to an industry standard level. Although I wasn't happy with my final garment for that module, it was also the first thing I had ever made and for that it was quite an acheivement. The pictures for this garment are on the left.

I tried to be adventurous with the design for this garment. I added pockets, facing, a belt and cutaway sides and back. I made a lot of mistakes but also learnt a lot.

Below is my final garment for my second semester studio module which took place after my fashion construction module and I can see the improvement already. I felt a lot more comfortable making this garment as it was my third one ever, I still made mistakes on this but I documented them all and again, I learnt from them. Whilst making this I was always referring back to my fashion contruction module technical file to remind myself of how to do certain things and I think I will always keep that folder handy... even after I've graduated!

I still feel the same now as I did in September with regards to Fashion Design being my strong point and textiles being my achilles heel but I am trying to fix that and focus more time and energy to get my textiles work better. I am prepared for next year and I know what I need to do to get a good grade, I have fixed issues that have affected me this year. I have even moved house closer to uni to save my six mile walk everyday which sometimes affected my motivation to go in this year. I have taken steps to try and leave this degree with at least a 2:1. For my first modules I was working at a high 2:2 / low 2:1 level which I was over the moon with. I feel I could acheive a 2:1 in my second semester in both my studio module and hopefully my textiles module.

I let myself down in my Critical and Contextual module by misunderstanding the presentation brief (due to lack of attendance) and let my nerves get the better of me which resulted in a failure on that presentation. This meant I needed to acheive 60% on my essay to pass the module but I don't feel as though I did that well on that either although I don't get the results back until this Friday so I will find out then whether I will need to re-do that module. However, when my second presentation came around for my PDP I was more prepared and although I was still nervous and maybe rushed through it a little I passed! I am constantly trying to improve on my downfalls and I just hope I did enough with my essay. I plan on practising my formal writing skills over the summer and maybe investing in a few books to help me out.

When I graduate from this course I plan to have at least a 2:1 under my belt (if I can get my writing up to scratch) then I plan to do a postgraduate degree. My first choice is Womens Fashion at Central Saint Martins. My second choice is Womens Fashion at Istituto Marangoni but I am also considering doing the Fashion and Luxury Brand Management postgraduate course also at Istituto Marangoni.

Whilst on this course I would love to experiment with a bit of menswear or gender-neutral clothing as well as surface textiles and I can't wait until September when I can try and slip some of this into my projects. I'm looking forward to the live projects the most.