Primary Research: fabric

I recently went to two different fabric supply stores with my friend yesterday: Material Magic which located in Leicester and next to my accommodation. In order to avoid being too rushed and unable to purchase appropriate fabric creation, I think I should have a look and observe what types of materials I can use, what kind of texture I can choose, and whether there is a suitable fabric design for my theme. If not, I can reorder them online and present the schedule is pressed for time.

I learned some tips from my friend who is also studying Fashion Design in year two, so she had told me some of her experience of purchasing fabrics.
1. When we are not sure if this material is suitable or not for our project, or even we just want to do some basic material exploration, then we can ask and take the sample. He will cut out 5cm to 10cm of fabric for your to reference (usually the situation depends on the owner to decide whether he will charge extra or for free). 
2. Producing a garment usually requires about three meters of fabric (depending on whether our design is simple or complicated)
3. Same as another shop, if we can't find the fabric we want, just ask and state the texture or colour we're looking for, they're pleased to help.

I walked around the store several times and observed that there are various of different fabric design, ranging from the most common type, cotton fabric to bead design, including silk, fluffy and rough texture. Of course, the quality of materials and the source of goods will become the factor of higher expense. However, as a beginner, I think the basic materials is far enough for me to complete my project, for instance cotton, linen, and cotton-linen blend, these are great choices as fabrics for beginners because they do not slip or stretch that much, it's easier of control. In order to match the cultural background of African primitivism, I had been mainly had a look at the diversity of patterns, bright colours, repeated patterns, earth-tone colours and animal print during the tour.  

Here is some fabric that I'm interested in and got inspired:

I am in love with this fabric, either the white or the blue one. Primitivism led me to think about nature, and this sharp and powerful fluor colour printing really catch my eyes and directly remind me of my theme.

There are lots of different sewing support material tools in the store, and I have an idea to incorporate the original feature into the design, like stones, shells or the shape of the tooth to be the bottom, it might increase the visual effect of the primitivism. I still not sure yet and have to keep developing the idea in the following blog post.

(bottom)