Ice Breaker:3D portrait

 In our first week we were assigned to create a 3D portrait of ourselves. I chose to do a representation of myself meaning how I view myself and how I feel about myself hence not a literal 3D portrait of myself. I chose to do a mini carpet having a size of 54x53 cm. The reason behind this choosing is because I feel that as a person I give people my all and I am always there for my close ones just like a carpet that comforts you during cold mornings once you step out of bed. On the contrary one appreciates a carpet in the beginning when buying one but then becomes a nothing to them, just a simple item in their life that is always there to step one but is still there. That is how I feel sometimes, meaning that there are times in which I am at my lowest but no one is there for me the way I am there for them. I specifically feel like this because now we can really see the true colour of people and how we act upon them as we are under lockdown. Due to this matter I have personally lost many friends as they were not there for me in comparison to when we could go out and we had no problems and viewed them as friends.

I began this process by taking the materials shown below:

I chose blue for my "hair"as it is a calming colour that represents intelligence and responsibility just like my character. I chose grey for my face as it is a dull colour and this is how I am feeling at the moment, sad, lifeless and out of my normal personality. I chose embroidery purple for the eyes as it is sparkly and the eyes are the door to our soul, and mine normal is full of life but is currently trapped due to several reasons. Purple also represents independence which is a personal trait I possess. I chose white for the mouth as it shows purity which is what I possess too. I chose not to create a nose as I currently feel trapped and as if I cannot breathe, again due to personal reasons.

The first step was to lay out the grey fabric as shown below and cut rows as depicted in the video.

laying out the fabric

cutting the fabric as shown

This was the result after the actions above:

fabric layers

Additionally to ensure that the layers were approximately the same size, I layered each one on top of each other after cutting and proceeded to use it as a prop to "trace".

After that, I folded the edges as shown to create a "bilayer" in order to sew them together.

I took a needle as shown below:

I began sewing the layers together back and forth in order to create a solid base to braid the layers of fabric together.

This is what it looked after sewing:

I then began braiding which is basically "tangling" the strands together in a way. The reason I chose to braid the fabric is to accentuate the asphyxiation I am feeling internally that is trapped and has to come out.

mid braiding

This is the final braid.

I then decided to open it up meaning make it lighter by pulling each section outwards to give it a more fluffier appearance.

Below is a more close up version.

After braiding I sewed the ends together and voila, a braid!

I then took the blue fabric, laid it on the floor and began the same process as the grey fabric.

laying the fabric on the floor

blue layers of fabric displayed

Overall I had 12 layers of blue fabric to braid and 6 layers of grey fabric.

If I am being completely honest, the blue fabric was much harder to sew even if it was a thinner fabric compared to the bulky grey one, it was stiffer hence harder for the needle to pass through.

This is why it looks tackier and has only one layer of sewing.

Braiding it was also harder as it was more silky and would not "fluff" and stay in place when braiding 9it would "slip").

Above are the 4 layers of braids.

Then it was time to sew it all together and create the final piece.

I then proceeded to roll it into a snail like shape as shown above and sewed each side together as depicted.

This was the sewing technique I used.

This was the front view after sewing both of the grey pieces together.

This was the back view.....

I then proceeded to sew the hair onto the sides of the what was at that point grey circle.

This was the back view.

This was the front view.

Later on I cut the strap of embroidery into the specific shape and placed them on the mat to see how it would look.

I then cut the white piece of fabric into a half moon to give it a mouth shape.

I then sewed them onto the "face".

And then  it was done!

I also chose to do a carpet as I also like interior design and due to my progression route being fashion design I wanted to experiment with different techniques of fabric to elevate my sewing skills as this term we have to create a 3D piece for out final project. 

Overall I am satisfied with my work and how this came out and fully depicts what I wanted to portray.

It seems happy as it is what I try to show everyone and actually what we see when we see someone but everyone has a different story and is more complex than what they seem.