Fruits of my labour

During my time working at Erdem, i was lucky enough to work the month leading up to the Spring/Summer show at London Fashion Week in September 2009.  

Whilst working at Erdem, i helped to bead, and hem, and stitch many outfits, some of which i have shown below.  I almost feel a tad proud everytime i see one i worked on in a magazine, or on a website :) 

Erdem, has since grown and grown and grown in popularity within the fashion industry.  Even at the SS 09' show, he was lucky enough to have fashion royalty, Anna Wintour attend the show and come backstage for a preview of the collection.  (Was quite exciting to see her i must say!)

I changed the hem on this dress, which was longer in length and didn't have the lace underneath.  The lace had to be calculated in terms of cost and how much would be needed before cutting it up and sewing to the dress.  

This dress was my favourite to work on, as it took a fair amount of time to hand stitch the lace to the blue silk mikado dress.  (The Lace was on the front and back so you can just guess how long this took!)

This skirt i was lucky enough to actually cut the pattern, sew it and embellish with hand stitched silk flowers on the hemline.  

One of the models i dressed


www.erdem.co.uk

Tailored jacket

I made a tailored jacket in my second year at uni.  We were given Paul Smith fabric to make the final jacket from.  The techniques and cutting were used in the same way as a tailor would.  

I decided to model my jacket on a woman, to give the androgynous look that i think the jacket has to it.  It is infact a Mens tailored jacket shape, but equally works on a female.  

MUA: Iqra Akhtar
Photograher: Uzi Sajid (http://www.s4photography.co.uk/)
Stylist: Farah Siddique (shoes/tshirt stylists own)
Designer: Farah Siddique (jacket/trouser)

Updated CV

Click to enlarge

My handy work

During my Alevels i designed, constructed and finished this chair as part of my final year project.  I decided i wanted to create a stackable chair, using two materials that were cheap and able to source easily.  I designed a 'Jig' that made the seat and backrest, the 'Jig' was made using wood struts, that were curved at the edges to give the seat and back rest its ergonomic shape.  The frame was made using tubular steel, so it was lightweight.  I shaped and welded the frame myself.  It was finished using a primer spray then a few coats of black steel spray paint to give the matt effect and definitive silver domed screws were used to secure the seat and back rest to the frame.

I am really proud of the way the chair turned out, as it stands out from other regular stackable chairs. 

I think the fact that i designed and built this by myself, shows that i really enjoy working with resistant materials.  And although i chose to go an do a Fashion degree at uni, i still enjoy building, welding, sawing, sanding and everything else that requires the use of some power tools! 

Interior Design and Communication @ IKEA Cardiff

Since finishing uni i have been looking for jobs, and looking for a new direction within the creative field.  I was lucky enough to work within the interior design department at IKEA Cardiff, where i currently work.  I was given the opportunity to design and create my own displays within the Textiles department.  This was really exciting, as i know how many thousands of customers we get on a weekly basis.  

Below is a selection of photos from the three displays, i also made a curtain for the textiles cutting table using one of the new fabrics available from the range.  

Mood and Fabric boards final collection

Inspiration came from an article in the observer magazine about police women in iran.  The initial image and colours from this image formed the basis of my collection. Fabrics used were a mix of soft hand crinkled, dyed chiffons to more structural leathers and wool.  I also use a different style of pleating called accordion pleats, instead or sunray pleats mainly found on iranian burkas. The colours of the collection ended up being soft candy coloured hues that blended together.  A sharp contrast of black was used for the leather and wool to offset these muted colours.  

Final collection line up

Line up from my final collection, that i made three out of the 8 outfits from shown in my photoshoot images