Tamera Francis
Specialising in woven textile design, using natural fibres for handwoven and jacquard designed fabrics.
Specialising in woven textile design, using natural fibres for handwoven and jacquard designed fabrics.
My final project was inspired by my home in the northeast of England and my grandparents who moved there at the start of the 1960s as part of the Windrush generation, building a life for their children and future generations. I spent the first 18 years of my life in the northeast and always found myself wanting to travel away. However, when I did eventually start travelling and exploring the world I always found myself missing the comforts and happiness that home would bring me.
Whenever I returned home, part of my travels would always stay with me and I wanted to incorporate that into my final textile pieces. My most recent time abroad was during my exchange year in Japan. During my time there, I learnt about a type of textiles called furoshiki, the art of using cloth to wrap an item to be transported or as a type of gift wrapping, by using knots to close the openings.
This inspired the idea of a multifunctional fabric that can used for wrapping, carrying, and even draping depending on the size of the piece.
My family worked really hard to make sure my generation had many options in life and they always encouraged me to follow my own path. Because of this I was able to explore my interest in textile design.
I took pictures of places that I have always liked to visit in the northeast of England and then I have tried to translate these places into designs for my woven work.
The northeast has lots of historical landmarks, beautiful scenery, and detailed architecture which has been well preserved.
The aim of this project is to create a collection using natural fibres, primarily wool and silk for both handwoven and jacquard pieces, in a range of different sizes which can show the different purposes the collection can be used for .
The goal is to allow the end user to have freedom over how they want to use the fabric and to also cut down on waste that comes from gift wrapping and fast fashion as the quality of the fabric allows multiple uses over a long time.
