“Reclaim”
“Reclaim” is a 3-piece garment created entirely out of recycled materials that were cut, sewn, and embroidered. It serves as a sustainable commentary, bringing to light the negative effects of the plastic and fashion industry. The pieces were created with the goal of maintaining the integrity and original elements of the recycled materials and to share a particular narrative. “Reclaim” juxtaposes the idea that plants are now taking over plastic, represented by the embroidery of native Chinese plants throughout the garment. Nature is now “reclaiming” an environment that was once theirs.
Materials: Synthetic Fibers and Plastic Packaging (Food and Delivery Bags), Recycled Blinds, Thread (Sewing & Embroidery Machines), Glue
Artist: Benjamin Tablada II, IMB & Fashion Studies
Deconstruction: Sourcing my materials were ironically NOT the most difficult part, but deconstructing the materials to create a usable’textile’ proved to be the most difficult. I started the process by taking the synthetic bags and removing the previous stitches. In doing so, I was able to scavenge quite a few pieces of materials from zippers, large plastic ‘textile’, straps, rope/string. I didn’t want using other materials aside from the ones I sourced, so instead of looking at this as a limitation – I challenged myself to create something from the pieces I was presented with.
Beginning with the bodes, I didn’t want to use a pre-existing pattern and wanted to create something new and innovative. This meant that I cut the Waimai bags and draped it on the mannequin multiple times to find a silhouette that I was happy with. After pinning it on the mannequin and finding the right shape, I then cut the plastic accordingly, making sure to add room for an inseam and excess material for tailoring later on.
Production Phase I:
I was quite picky about the choice of materials that I used, making sure to integrate waste that I created most often. For me, this personal collection effort garnered tons and tons of Waimai bags and other plastic synthetic fiber bags from shopping on Taobao. I was also quite selective with the choice of materials in the sense that I wanted source 90-100% of my garment from these waste items. The only new aspect I wanted to integrate was the use of digital fabrication machines like the sewing and embroidery machine (thread, glue, etc.) and any other interesting material that would otherwise be thrown out. I was also able to find a pair of broken synthetic IKEA blinds that were being thrown out from the IMA studio. This would later be integrated into the garment.
My process of creation begins with experimenting with the materials I’ve sourced. I wanted the materials to speak for themselves, making sure to cut and tailor the pieces based on how the material would lay.
Mistakes!!
My biggest mistake during the creation process ended up helping me out in the end!
Heat: Plastic is quite a tricky material to use. Certain plastics have different melting points, and after trying to iron the textiles that I sourced – some of them ended up burning. It wasn’t a massive burn, but the plastic melted and ended up distorting the plastic. My perfectionist side kicked in and I ended up finding other materials to use which were better than I expected. The new material was more heat resistant and I applied heat more carefully – making sure to not damage the plastic.
Sewing: My greatest fear was being unable to sew through the plastic. My greatest fear came true, the material I used to create the bodes was extremely difficult to sew. I ended up breaking a sewing needle on the machine after trying to sew it. Instead of sewing a finishing seam for the raw ends, I ended up cutting pieces of plastic and physically gluing it to mimic the appearance of a closing seam.
Production Phase II:
Sleeves: I knew that I wanted to make bell sleeves, but finding the right material and manipulation would be difficult. I repurposed the blinds to create the sleeves. I first cut the blinds, 32cm to be exact, and created drawstring sleeves by folding and sewing over a 1 1/2ich open seam and running a plastic strip through it. I then pulled the sleeves to create a “pulling” effect and wrapped it around the model’s arms.
Skirt: The skirt was created by taking (2) pieces of the deconstructed plastic bag that my comforter came in (lol). I decided to keep the original elements of the handles as design elements and placed the panels with the text along the hips. The skirt was then sewn together and around the model. I used the same techniques as the sleeves, creating a 1 1/2inch open seam along the waistline to create a wrap skirt. Since I couldn’t use the zippers from the bag, I ran the long zippers along the waistline for the “wrap” part of the skirt. This would then be wrapped along the waist of the model to keep the skirt on the body.
Fittings:
Digital Fabrication/Research:
In order to share the narrative that I wanted, I decided to digitally fabricate the skirt via an embroidery machine. I created digital vector files of native Chinese plants on illustrator, converting them into artboards to create stitches, then finally running it through the embroidery machine (Singer Software) to create the designs on the skirt. This process was probably the most time consuming, with each embroidery consisting of almost 6,000 to 9,000 stitches each. The embroidery machine was also quite finicky and needed troubleshooting a few times, otherwise, the process was well worth it. The research phase was mostly used to identify if the synthetic bags I used were sewable! I also had to identify native Chinese plants and which ones to embroider on the garment.
Final Presentation/Reflection:
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed the project!! I really like the challenge of putting together a garment that was 99% made of recycled materials. It made me more wary of the amount of excess waste that I create, but it also forced me to look at materials in a different sense. I had to think creatively and resourcefully, making sure that the end product was still beautiful and wearable – while maintaining its integrity. I decided to keep several aspects of the materials in their original forms like prints and handles. The project was only frustrating during the fabrication phase because it took so much time to finish and I’m VERY impatient. Otherwise, the project was still so much fun and I’d love to incorporate it into my portfolio.
Final Product:
VIDEOS:
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