My name is Rebecca Marshall and I am a 3rd year Textile Design student specialised in Knitted Textiles at Nottingham Trent University. I am inspired a great deal by natural processes and elements such as withering, weathering, decay and textured surfaces. I enjoy pushing the boundaries within my work and going out of my comfort zone by experimenting with new and innovative techniques. I am also interested in working towards saving our environment and researching ways in which I can help; at the moment focusing on ocean waste and overconsumption within my design practice. I am passionate about the outdoors and adore exploring the countryside, which is where I find most of my inspiration for my projects. I would describe myself as being extremely welcoming and bubbly which I find makes people warm to me quite quickly. I'm extremely ambitious and definitely a perfectionist; if my work isn't exactly how I want it, I will either try to improve it, or start from scratch. When in the knit room I enjoy experimenting with new and innovative techniques and find that I am allured by distorted or textural structures which is something I try to achieve within all of my projects. Sustainability and ethical textiles is something which I am extremely passionate about because as an individual, I want to contribute to making our planet a better place and saving our environment. Therefore, when working in the studio I focus a great deal on sustainability and zero waste techniques, as well as upcycling materials- turning trash into treasure.
I am extremely passionate about knitted textiles and can't wait to go into the knit room on a morning. I have in depth knowledge using the dubied and domestic knitting machines, combining samples from the two different machines to create final outcomes. I am keen to constantly learn more and have basic skills in power knitting.
CAD
I use CAD to create experimental designs to inspire my design directions and use both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create my final visualisations. I also have additional knowledge using InDesign as I have used this to create visual essays and look-books.
DESIGN RESPONSIBILITY
Sustainability within the textile industry has always inspired me so I try to push my skills as far ass possible thinking about how my samples can be sustainable. Throughout my final year project I have focussed a great deal on upcycling; integrating plastics into my knitted and woven designs. In second year I focussed a great deal on areas of zero waste; using techniques such as knitting to shape and fully fashioning.
DYEING
I have experience in different areas of dyeing from dyeing hanks of yarn to Shibori mark making. I enjoy dyeing as the possibilities are endless; one area that extremely interests me is natural dyeing using materials such as rust and onion skills to create intricate, beautiful markings.
TEAM WORK
Within second year, I took part in a variety of group projects, most importantly Project 2- Live project 'Mohair South Africa', where we worked as a team to create collaborative designs. I found that throughout the project I played an extremely important role; I kept everyone on the right track, making sure that everything we produced was of a high quality and completed on time. Also, I maintained the workload equally throughout the team and provided support if my team members were struggling.
PRESENTATION
On our Textile Design Course we have to present our work to our class quite regularly, showing what we have done so far and explaining our ideas. We also sometimes have to present in a more formal style, in mixed disciplined groups (Weave, Knit, Embroidery and Print), showing our work through the use of a PowerPoint and concept/ mood-boards, highlighting our design journey throughout our individual projects. The live projects presentation I found extremely exciting in second year, as we were presenting as a team to a company called 'Mohair South Africa'. We highlighted our collaborative designs clearly and talked through the story of our design journey .