Evaluation

It seems to me that evaluating a resolved sample is a delicate matter, given the investment of time, effort and emotion.  Between the concept and the finished article lie a succession of small decisions, some of which reveal another problem to be resolved.  Of course that is the pleasure as well as the frustration of being creative.

Writing an evaluation also reveals growing confidence and sure-footedness in shaping materials to an idea.  And that is where I want to start: I certainly feel that in this task I have been able to realise the image I had in my mind, that my skills and the materials  I've chosen are a match for the task. Such a relief too to have escaped the endless looping round of sample making and feeling that I can't move on.

How do you feel about the resulting conclusion?

As I've alluded to above,  I really am delighted with the neck-piece.  It helped to have a really clear idea: I wanted to make a neck -piece that was industrial looking and in a narrow colour range. Working with Tyvek, a new material to me, was challenging and interesting especially controlling the length and width of each bead, to say nothing of the textural effects which were often unpredictable.

Having an idea and realising it are two different things and I was fortunate to find an interesting range of beads to use as spacers; finding the hematite ones opened up my mind to other possibilities and the larger milled glass beads were the happiest of accidents.  I decided not to change the component parts of the cord as I felt it was the best combination of threads and wire.  Learning from early mistakes I adjusted the way I threaded the beads and had less problems.

Is it fit for purpose?

Yes, and for a number of reasons.  Firstly it's light, and surprisingly so given its look, so it will be comfortable to wear.  Secondly, its length is ideal to be seen in a low neckline or within a collar. Thirdly the fastening is secure, simple and easy to use.

If you were asked to make it again, what changes would you make to the way it's designed and the way you made it?

I think the idea has potential.  I could see it translating into pendants of varying lengths with between one and three Tyvek beads, possibly with the inclusion of some metal pieces.  The Tyvek beads could be of a more exaggerated length, for instance between 10cm and 12cm.  Earrings are another possibility, dangling ones using bronze or red-gold findings, or even round shaped beads as studs.  A final idea, and one I suggested on my blog when I originally made the card mock-ups (see the Composite sheet), is a brooch or corsage-style piece of jewellery.  This would be mounted on a pin and suitable for wearing on a dress or jacket lapel.

Thinking only about this neck-piece, I would experiment further with the Tyvek and heat gun to improve the profile of each bead and ensure that there was a place for making a threading hole at the correct point (approximately a centimetre in from the top).  I would also experiment further with using threads and printed words, though the use of these might be more meaningful in the pendant and brooch versions.  The bead fastening could also be made from Tyvek or a small version of the soldering iron samples in Chapter 7.  Thinking about the colour of the neck piece as a whole, I wonder whether it's possible to achieve greater intensity of colour with Tyvek?  Maybe some matte paint under the metallic would help.

The constituents of the cord caused most problems.  If I leave out the hematite beads with their narrow holes the problem of the metallic thread component disappears.  Alternatively I could opt for chunkier spacers and make a slightly more substantial cord, including the metallic thread and possibly a thicker beading wire, as the finer beading wire has also been vulnerable to breaking.  A thicker cord would probably be most appropriate with  the pendant version.  Each decision is a balance between practicalities and aesthetics.