A selection of the children’s drawings, beanbags, mites and other work from the project has been on display in the School of Art in Brighton during October 2018.
Exhibition of work at the School of Art, October 2018
workshops
Cutting and sewing beanbags over the Bank Holiday weekend
The weather was so lovely, it seemed a shame to sit inside sewing. So this was an evening job.
Digital printed fabric unfurled before cutting
Cutting the fabric is much easier using a rotary cutter on a self healing mat. Make sure the blade is nice and sharp; I started with a rather blunt one, and realised I hadn’t changed the blade for quite a while. It cuts SO much better now.
Cutting with a rotary cutter is the easiest way to get neat edges
Neatly cut beanbag blanks
I worked out a quick method to sew them without cutting the thread each time, but of course they have to be separated at some point.
Video to follow…
Turning them inside out was a bit of a chore, but when done whilst watching The Woman in White, it was bearable. Using a collar turner to pocke the corners helped to make these crisp.
Turned beanbags ready for filling – thanks to Wilkie Collins for the entertainment
Preparing for Workshop III
The next workshop will concentrate on storytelling – with our lovely storytelling facilitator Julie. Half the group will do this, whilst the other group will fill and sew closed the beanbags decorated with prints of their own drawings.
I filled my trial beanbags with out of date mung beans and wheat grain that I had in the cupboard. I am a little reluctant to use mung beans, as they are a food crop, but then wheat is as well! I know some people use rice, so I may choose that instead… perhaps I will let the price decide.
Whilst there will be a chance to finish off their mites, I really want the story telling to take precedence. Students from Seahaven Academy are coming to the workshop to work with the younger children to draw storyboards and take photos of them telling the stories with their mites. If the mites aren’t completed at this point I don’t think this is a real problem, as the stories will still work.
The final workshop will be at Seahaven Academy when one or two digital media professionals will work with the GCSE students to create ‘multi-media collages’ of their photos and videos based on the storyboards from Workshop III.
All very exciting.
The bean bags are being printed as I write
The order has gone off to PrintmePretty; they were so helpful with this. Because the project is through the University, purchases have to be done through the finance system, which is a bit involved. The company found solutions so that I could use the online upload method, but the invoice would be paid separately, as opposed to paying on order. All a bit complicated, but I am so looking forward to seeing the results!
When we were speaking on the phone I commented that the children were very excited by the thought of seeeing their drawings printed on fabric, and the reply was, ‘..adults are too’. To be honest, I am already thinking what designs I can have printed myself.
Hours and hours spent editing drawings in Photoshop
the 50+ children’s drawings were scanned in and I have just completed editing them. Because they were pencil it’s been necessary to thicken and darken the lines and enhance the colours. They were on white backgrounds, so I have added pattern fills behind them so that the beam bags will be COLOURFUL. Yey! The children drew on A4 paper, but the drawings are to be digitally printed on cotton to be made into bean bags of a specific size, so re-sizing and some editing was needed. Despite being asked to put their name and on the front, not all have them. It may be tricky finding the owners.
I’m using PrintmePretty for the printing as our digi printer at University is busy at this time of year. A metre and a half will be enough for the 50+ beanbag outers, and I will have another length printed for display when the animation is shown.
Exciting!
Workshop One, 28th March 2018
This workshop, held at Coldean Primary School introduced the children to scabies in an accessible manner.
A short visual presentation in the hall to all the children was followed by them drawing pictures of scabies mites, and anything else they remembered from the presentation. They were encouraged to make their drawings as colourful as possible, because these drawings will be transferred to fabric as digital prints from which they will make bean bags. I am planning to use PrintmePretty.co.uk to print the fabrics as our digital printer at University is in constant use at the moment printing lengths for the final year undergraduates.
Stef giving thechildren some information about scabies
The children had lots of questions
They had the opportunity to try on the ‘experiential garment’ designed and made by Vikki that makes the wearer itch.
Trying on the experiential garment
A lovely piece of work
Creating the drawings was hard work, but fun
It was great to see the drawings develop