3. Circular Open Source Fashion¶
Research & Ideation¶
"Kirigami principle¶ Looking at the references, I was mostly inspired by origami and kirigami techniques - created with paper. I was excited to try out cut-outs with different left over materials that I have at home, trying to make a functional object out of it. First I made research about the fundamentals of The two different techniques. Kirigami is a traditional art form originating from Japan, which involves creating intricate designs by cutting and folding paper. The word "kirigami" is derived from the Japanese words "kiru" (meaning "to cut") and "kami" (meaning "paper"). Unlike origami, which only involves folding paper, kirigami involves both cutting and folding.
Origami is a technique based on two basic fold types (valley fold and mountain fold), a set of common bases formed from these folds (like the preliminary base), and a universal diagramming system that uses lines and arrows to instruct the folding process.
with credits Origami techniques
Then I had to dig into another technique, that I had seen but never tried and I did not know how to use it in order to create a pattern. That technique is called Tessallation. Tessallation is a pattern of geometric shapes that fit together perfectly on a plane without any gaps or overlaps and can repeat in all directions infinitely. Tessellations can be composed of one or more simple polygons, which are two-dimensional shapes with any number of straight sides.
To address these issues, sustainable fashion and the adoption of circular practices are gaining importance. This includes promoting reuse, recycling, sustainable design and the use of eco-friendly materials. Additionally, consumers can contribute by choosing brands that adopt more sustainable practices and considering second-hand fashion as an option to reduce the demand for new clothing production.
References & Inspiration
Once I made my research, I started looking for inspiration, on other projects made and I went to Oscircularfashion and I found a lot of great works.
Fioen van Balgooi and Berber Soepboer's dress design is a captivating fusion of creativity and innovation. The foundation of the garment lies in the ingenious use of squares.
with credits Fioen van Balgooi and Berber Soepboer
Another isnpirations was the bag fron Liz Cochrane, I liked the way she recreate the penus in a module capable to assamble into a bag handle and the chance of color and shapes.
with credits Liz Cochrane
Jazlun Himawan, made modules of demin, and I had a lor of lefts-over, so I wanted to try it as well. She was able to assamble all the pieces onto a beautiful bags without changing sizes and palying with the mix of colors and textures.
Last but not least, I love the idea that Maite Sosa made with the Kirigami , mixing colors and creating a garment just by kinitting as in a loom with warp and weft. it remindered me of all the artisans work,their delicate weaving and the histories that they tell through esch work.
with credits maite Sosa
All this inspiring designers opened my mind and I decided to try to make a hand bag. I was not sure whether to do it only of modules or try to make an upcycling pattern. Here are some examples os different modules which I cut by hand, because this week the laser cutters where saturated. First I made a Moodboard for inspiation on nature, floors, structures and as well a inspiration moodboard.
WorkFlow¶
I started my project by experimenting with small paper cutouts to get a feel for the paper's structure. I made a circular and square (luck) one. I used felt textile of two different colors to see the contrast and determine how to assemble them. At the beginning it was difficult because of the exact dimension and precision of the cuts. The circles are 5cm of diameter. They have female and male cuts to be able to assemble. La length of the female cut must match with the male one so it can enter through the hole and stay there.
I also, made some hexagons in paper, but I found out the difficulty to assemble and to stay in place, without using thread or glue, due to iys lightness.
And also some Kirigami figures because I wanted to apply it on my project. I did different cuts with different dimensions and realized that they should be thin to appreciate the cuts more and the effect produce by folding them.
After this exercise I started doing some modelling in Rhino and trying different materials in the laser cutter to make a catalog of different textiles that can be cut in the Fablab.
Tools
Textile testing¶
First module came of the examples I made in paper, for future testings. I made them using Rhino. I cut the circles in demin and the squares in leather.
My experience with this two materials are: The demin, is if it has a heavy wieght is easier to mantain the structure, but with the one i used ti was to fragile. In the other hand the leather was to rigid so it was to dífficult to assemble the male with the female, the pieces were to small. I accomplished it bur I did not like it that much.
After that I noticed that in the fablab, they don't have a textile catalog for the laser cutter, therefore I decided to cut different textiles and leave them there for future use. Firts I draw an hexagon and put two different types of letters on it to see how the textile responds to le laser.
Before I started cutting in the laser machine I did some textile safety testing, because I was not sure whether the polyester textiles were without any PVC particles. I made them with the help of Luis from the Fablab. We light fire to different textiles, like: Polar, lace, sequin, microfiber, satin with elastane. All the other textiles were natural.
Preparing the Laser machine for the material cuts. In Fabric Academy we use a CO2 Laser cutter, therefore the minimum level of parameters that can be used to engrave vectors, gets to cut textiles without a problem. If we want I had already the document on the computer. On our Fablab we use a CO2 Laser cutter, where the parameters in its lower values that you can use for graving vectors its ideal for cutting textiles but you it’s not good for the raster. We cannot change more the parameters considering the thickness of the fiber. The higher the DPI the thicker the material, the lower the DPI the lighter the material.
This is the table ideal for the testing of materials for the catalog according to the explication given above:
After that I started calibrating the laser cutter machine
All the materials were cut with the same parameters, only thick leather was not able to cut completely on the first pass, I had to pass it again. Some materials probably by lowering the speed and the power we could prevent from losing the letters when you remove it from the machine, but honestly, they are so thin that it is not worthy to engrave letters using this kind of laser cutter.
My Project¶
After having tested most of the left-over textiles I had, I knew that the leather that I had at home was going to work perfectly for mu handbag. After all the inspirations found and the try-out of the textiles on the laser cutter, I knew I wanted to make a assemble handbag, made of one piece. It sounds easy, but to obtain what you imagine in your mind is not easy. I made a lot of scale patterns, then cut them and tried them. Some broke, some on the way I cut them and made marks so I could fix them. The most difficult part was to assemble the inner pieces because they needed to sustain all the pieces together. Here are some examples:
Having made these tiny models, helped me visualise the handbag and also to have the measurements. All these gave me the confidence that I would be able to model my pattern in Rhino. It was missing only the modules for the stripes, but as I did some try-ons with the squares and with the figures like eights, I thought of trying them on my final bag.
I struggle with the software because I'm not an expert, so I had difficulty with the dimensions, even though I had a scale paper pattern. I used the command mirror to guarantee that all the curves had the same dimensions and the distances. Then I send my file to the laser program in order to arrange the layers, establish the parameters for the cutting pieces. I also decided to add my logo to the bag, so I had to do different samples before my final cut. I import the logo com illustrator into Rhino, place it on the exact spot of the pattern to engrave it and then do parameter adjustments to all the files.
Once I had all the settings ready, I started with the cutting of the material. It was challenge because the leather didn’t have a regular shape, so I had to divide my file into three steps because it didn’t fit on one process and I had to arrange the material in orther to fit on the space the laser cutter needed to cut all the pieces.
After having all the pieces cut I started with the assemble. I notice that I never contemplate that the leather will behave completely different from the paper so I notice I had to make some changes in order to get the bag assemble. This new settings I will have to modify on my final pattern. I show you some parts of my process and my final proyect and video of it.
I model my handbag again making the necessary changes for the perfect assemble due to the difficuklties I notice and had when I assemble it.
