3. Circular Open Source Fashion

Research & Ideation

This week, we are focusing on circular design through modularity. I’m excited about how I can incorporate this into my practice, where I use yarn to create items like sweaters, dresses, baby outfits, blankets, pillows, and bags. My goal is to minimize waste and create sculptural designs that are easier to store, repair, and reconfigure.

I’ve gathered some images of repeating patterns, tessellations, and interlocking modules that inspired me. Understanding how to design these modules feels encouraging, especially since I excelled in mathematics in school. I never expected to apply geometry in my daily life through crocheting and knitting. I want to draw inspiration from natural tessellations and likely create something more sculptural than just a garment.

Paper prototypes

We began our 2D design work using grid paper, rulers, and scissors, experimenting with creating interlocking modules that had strong joints. At first, I was a bit confused and had made some interlocking pieces the night before that neither tessellated well nor considered waste reduction. I experimented by cutting small pieces of paper, attempting to shape them into something resembling a flower.

We first created a Rhino sketch of the two options^. The sketch was designed with a knob and slot. I saved this file as an .svg You simply upload the file, attach your document and then adjust factors such as size, cutting pressure and material type. But for us we have used scissors by cutting the paper. Down here you may get the final product of my made.