Zero Waste Pattern Cutting - Fiona Mills

Although this lecture was most relevant for the fashion students in the audience, it helped to cement my idea of using origami and was thought-provoking.

Fiona highlighted the 20% wastage of fabric at the pattern cutting stage, and talked about the fact that although there are researchers out there trying to create zero waste garments, designers and the high street have not taken up this idea yet. Many of the designs shown were admittedly oversized and not to my taste, but a select few were fitted extremely well and could easily be mistaken for a high street garment.

Unsurprisingly I particularly liked the effects generated by Jungeun Lee, whose speciality is textiles. By heat-bonding fabric she eliminates the need for seams. The front view of the dress again looks wearable, and althought the right hand shot shows a shark -like silhouette, it could easily be modified for less extreme tastes!

The idea of seamless designs fits in well with my idea to explore origami and folding, and the zero waste philosophy is definitely to be admired - perhaps I could work on producing some zero - waste papercuts? Also, using recycled or found paper would be something to consider.