orenji-jyusu asked: hey! im soso happy I've found your blog as I want to apply for contour fashion after my foundation next year. I don't honestly think I knew what life was til i found out about it! (Expect a lot of questions haha!) I was just wondering, when making lingerie for your portfolio before starting the course, did you use any patterns or go to any classes?? or did you make the patterns yourself??? Thanks!! xxxx :D :D

hahaha ! that’s good then !! ohhh, are you excited?! no, i didn’t use any patterns! i couldn’t really find any! i got a cheap bra (primark/tk maxx) and then i unpicked it all and re made it using the pattern with other materials or took a note of the pattern and just adjusted it to make some differnet shapes. it’s the best way for the time being because you’ll know the wire will fit properly and the overall shape to the garment will be decent! when you unpick the bra take notes of how it was constructed then when remaking it work backwards through your notes. 
( stitch cups together, make up cradle, attach wings, put cup into cradle, elasics, straps and then wire casing) that kind of thing :) 
ahaha pleased i can help, ask away ! or email me if you prefer at ebalwako@gmail.com 

Anonymous asked: Hey I love your blog, I just got offered a place at de monfort for the contour fashion im worried though that ill be behind because I lack the skills in construction, did yous get taught this ?? please help :)

hey ! congratulations on your offer, bet you’re so happy ! 

don’t worry ! there are a few girls in my year that had never even used a sewing machine, let alone done construction and now they’re making amazing garments ! so you will definitely be fine you’ll learn everything you need to know for the basis of construction, and if you’re unsure of something there will always be someone around to help out :) 

mermaidsagainstmysogyny asked: I got my offer to do contour at DMU a few weeks ago! I was convinced I wasn't going to get a place after my teacher put me down a lot about my ability and now i'm worried i'm going to struggle loads :/ That's if I even get my C grade in textiles which i'm also convinced i'm not going to get D; But yeah, if you have any advice for me that would be great, although I get that that's a very general question haha, and if there's anyone else with an offer on here i'd love to speak to any of you (: xxx

ooh ! amazing ! :) the feeling when you get in is soooo good :) 
don’t be silly. I take it you’re coming straight from a-levels? don’t worry, i did too and i thought that as well. first year is about getting everyone on the same level :)
just work really hard and you’ll be fine. it is definitely a step up from a-levels DEFINITELYYYY but worth it ! 
as for the D, i’m pretty sure you will NOT get that haha.
for the time being, concentrate on your textiles, do work in your sketchbook everyday and it’ll thicken up :)
when you get to uni i’m sure we will cross paths, so if you need help all of the years are really nice so anyone will be willing to do whatever ! 
if you have anyone questions or just want to talk about the course/ whats ahead then ask me on here or just add me on fb :) (elliebalwako on fb ) 

Anonymous asked: Hey, I just got an offer for the contour course at dmu. I was wondering if there is anything substantial you would say is worth getting before the course? (Eg a good camera). Thanks! X

oh wow thats great !!! how was your interview? who did you have ? :) 

erm ! well before you start they send you an equipment list and that has it all on there ! 
what i use all the time is a pattern master, mechanical pencil (0.5), grader ruler, french curves, camera is good too ! (but you dont need a ridiculously expensive one) printer and scanner !!!!!!! they have them at the library, but im super lazy so i got one for xmas haha  its an A3 brother printer and scanner j6510dw its good for when you do illustrations with CAD because you can scan the whole A3  image you want to work in ! 
fabric sheers are a must, as are paper scissors.. a flexi ruler is useful too :)
a3 presentation books are good for illustration projects.
start collecting some nice materials, trims, embellishments for sketchbook work or garments too i have loads and they come in handy for 3D sketchbook stuff :)  

chooselifeinwonderland asked: Heyy, what was ur interview for de monfort like? i have mine in three weeks i am so nervous and this course is like my dream course any advice would be great :) x

ahh ! i know this is very late, and you have probably had your interview !? 
if so how did it go ?
i had an individual interview, but i know its usually in groups, so i never really experienced the full DMU interview process :(
they just sat me down and asked me about my work, you show one piece of work and talk about it to them. then its just a relaxed conversation really :)
group interviews are the same, but it goes around the table and you present it to the whole group as well as the tutors ( dont worry not massive groups :) )  

Anonymous asked: what sort of sketches did you put in your portfolio? :)

so sorry about the late reply ! i havent been on tumblr in such a long time ! ( email related.. and work load :( ) 
oh gosh, im not the worlds best at drawing.. so i just took sketchbook i did for my a-level fine art and textiles. they had mixed media in, some drawing… but anything can count.. they like a range of techniques :)

this is very late and most likely no use to you now, im so sorry !  

Anonymous asked: when you filled in the art and design application form did you hand write it or do it online? im having problems with it online however if i hand wrote it i wouldnt have enough room

hello ! oh my gosh im so sorry for this late reply. the e-mail i use for tumblr was blocked so i took it off my iPhone ! only just been on tumblr today in ages!! 
 i did it online, that way they couldnt see my messy handwriting hhaha  

Anonymous asked: when you made the underwear for your portfolio, did you teach yourself? and could you post some photos of your portfolio? also, what project are you working on at the moment? hope you're enjoying university!

hello! oh my goodness, i’ve just seen this!!! my e-mail must have messed up and sent to my junk or something ! so so sorry !! 
yes, all the garments i have made i taught myself how to do it. my textiles course was fine art based so we didn’t learn about garment construction. However, we were still allowed to produce garments as final outcomes. Which was good!! 
i basically got a bra from primark/tk maxx and unpicked all the stitching, wrote down the step by step for unpicking and then when you read it backwards its make up steps!
i went and ordered materials and components from the sewing chest ( type the sewing chest into google and its the first link)
all the images on my blog are a mix of stuff i did for my interview and things i did after ( all before i started uni though)
all the garments i submitted in my portfolio are photographed with the white background in a studio.. (cringe these are awful pictures, it is safe to say photography isn’t a strong point of mine)
unfortunately, i cannot post my sketchbook/ presentation board work because my college are using it for example work/ open evenings, but ill get it back soon. but honestly it wasnt all that great !
 at the moment the university have set us a ‘little black lingerie’ project where we have to design and make a set ( minimum 2 garments) and then we have to present them with a tech pack, presentation boards and a sketchbook ! all very exciting ! such a good project as well! 
i am indeed thank you very much - i apologise for the incredibly late response - hope this has helped ! and good luck for your interview !!! :):) 

Anonymous asked: for the art and design foundation course at DMU, i was wondering if you knew anything about it. online it says that the subjects studied include fine art painting, sculpture etc as well as fashion, textiles and so on. i was wondering whether you get to pick the areas you personally want to do or if you have to do all of them? thank you!

hey ! so sorry about this incredibly late reply ! 
there is an art and design foundation course at DMU and ive heard nothing but good things about it. i think the basis of all design courses is that you study multiple areas in the first term then you decide which one you would like to continue with and do a project based around that. so if youre wanting to study fashion at degree, you would probably take the fashion route come second term in the foundation course ( not always the case though ! ) 
sorry if this didn’t help much !! i’m not too sure about foundation courses because ive never done it (even more so specifically the dmu one ) but all the people i have spoken to about them have said that is what tends to happen with the structure of the course !
:) xx 

Anonymous asked: ah thank you. I just can't decide, do you know of any foundation fashion design courses that are just a year long?

i would say 100% apply for both contour and foundation - thats what i did. my plan was that if i didnt get in this year i would reapply the year after (when studying foundation) . okay so i dont personally know of any courses that are structured like that because i didn’t search for any last year. Howeverrrrr… i just googled it and it came up with 
http://www.westlondoncollege.com/courses/fashion_foundation_diploma.php
this looks quite good, it starts in January and its a diploma for fashion!
after some more research, i got the general idea that university are offering a ‘zero year’ which is equivalent to a foundation, well for art and design degrees and zero year is pretty much a foundation course ! I think if you apply for one at DMU then it gets you used to the campus and etc and you will be able to interact with current students on the contour course cause i think - but dont quote me, the foundation at dmu is in the same building.. if it isnt then im pretty sure it is close by..
http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/art-and-design-foundation-btec/art-and-design-(foundation-studies)-btec-diploma.aspx

it is tempting to do just a fashion course but i feel the mixture of techniques and skills you learn in just a foundation course would be just as beneficial ! we do a lot of drawing and the course has a strong fine art aspect about it with the development of sketchbooks and the illustration side - abstract drawings, use of different materials etc.. so definitely look around at foundation courses as well as fashion based ones ! 
also foundation courses are free if you start them when you are 18/ straight after a-levels !!! :)
 

Anonymous asked: would you recommend doing a foundation course before doing contour fashion?

hey, so this is a tricky question for me because i came in straight from a-levels - if i wasn’t accepted i would have done the foundation course. 
a few students this year are straight from a-levels but i think the majority are foundation or above students. I think if you apply to DMU straight from A-Levels or BTEC’s and get accepted, DEFINITELY accept the place! well thats what i think anyway - they wouldn’t accept you if they didn’t think you had potential ! However, if you don’t think you’re ready to apply just yet because you feel as though you might be lacking in some areas, feel like you want explore and develop more or that you want a stronger portfolio - then i’d do foundation. i did feel (as it came closer to the end of my year at college ) that i maybe should go for foundation first because i wouldn’t be as good as other students, but my college lecturer said no go for it cause it was just last minute nerves. so apply when you feel confident enough i would say - if you feel a foundation year would be beneficial then yeah why not, but if you think you’re ready then apply asap ! :)  

Anonymous asked: Hey! I am applying for De Montfort for 2013 and was wondering if i could seek some advice :) When did you start your portfolio? I haven't started mine yet and i'm getting a bit worried haha. I was also wondering what the interview was like, what questions were you asked and did you speak about designers that inspired you? Thank you!

heeeelllllooooo there ! ooooh !!! are you excited!? okay so basically i got my interview date and it was i think the 12th of January. i was having a massive massive panic attack because it got to early December and i hadn’t done anything other than my sketchbook work for college. So i did a months work on my portfolio. I kind of neglected my college work - they( the college)  understood and were fine with it - and I concentrated on developing an idea ( that did link with my current work but was very contour based). I did work a hell of a lot though,  i worked through christmas, new years eve/day, every given hour and it was very very stressful. i was working up until the night before the interview at midnight, just finishing off, it was so unorganised and just a big NO. So i really would recommend you get started now - so you can have a good pace at doing it !! i did take the best of my a-level work with me as well ! because it was relevant and showed a mix of skills and development. my interview was a little different to other peoples because i had an individual one due to some mix ups - you will most likely have a group one. you choose one piece of your work to talk about to the group and lecturer. i babbled on for ages and ages about the development, idea generation, samples, inspiration, all that kind of thing! they asked me questions such as;
what do you do in your spare time ? ( hobbies/interests)
what inspired you ?
what is your favourite designer?
who influenced your work ?
why did you choose contour ?
that kind of thing. some people i have spoken too said that it was hard to say a designer when having a group interview because they didnt want it to seem as though they copied other peoples answers - so make sure you do some wider research and have about 3 possible designers ! 
if you have any more questions or want anymore help - please don’t hesitate to ask on here again or e-mail me on ebalwako@gmail.com
good luck!! :) xx 

Anonymous asked: hey, I love your blog btw! I am applying for the contour course at dmu this year. I don't see any other alternative in my life than doing this so I need to get onto it! What things specifically did you put in your portfolio? And are there any portfolio tips? Thank you :)

i was in the exact same position - contour and only contour so i understand the pressure  and stress you’re experiencing ! my portfolio was a collection of work i had done through my a-levels in fine art and textiles - so a lot of drawing, sketchbook development, experimenting and then final outcomes - garments and art pieces. What they want to see is your creativity - drawings are a must have - lots of them in different mediums if you can so; watercolours, charcoals, inks, pencils, pastels- any type! They also want to see how you develop ideas throughout your work - where you take inspiration from and how you get from that to a final idea, this is really important because it is the basis for collections and designs you will do on the course. As i was applying for contour the work i was doing for A-level textiles was based around intimate apparel - so i constructed several bras and a few ‘leisurewear’ pieces to take with me ( these were not amazing pieces- they are on my blog so you’ve probably seen them) if you don’t have any garments made or garments made specifically to lingerie i would just have a go at doing one - it doesn’t matter if its not brilliant - its the attempt that would be important ! but don’t take just this piece with you, take other good work too. Try it as a ‘autumn/winter project’ that’s what i did - take an inspiration point/ brief , begin to develop ideas within a sketchbook, really push the ideas as much as you can then draw up some fashion illustrations and make the garment relating to the starting point or where you’ve ended up with your development.
  You need to pick and choose what you think is your BEST work, being able to do this shows you are conscious and critical of your own work and that is important. We were asked for a written piece to add to our portfolio too. Also you may be asked to choose one thing to talk about in the interview - select something you can really talk about and show off with!
If you have any problems or further questions or just need some help with simple construction, please please PLEASE e-mail me on ebalwako@gmail.com or ask me on here! good luck ! xxx

Anonymous asked: Hi! I really love the look of Contour at DMU, its just amazing!! I was just wandering, when you did your personal statement did you tailor it to doing contour fashion or did you apply for other courses so it covered a lot more areas? How are you finding the course, are the teachers really helpful? And also what sort of equipment did you buy before starting the course? Sorry for the questions! :-) btw love your blog!

hey ! thanks for the questions! yeah, I completely understand what you mean - the work is incredible! 
basically, i only applied to DMU to study contour fashion because it was the only course i could see myself doing ( LFC have the course too but they didn’t have any graduates when i was applying and DMU has had the course for 60 years so i went with just DMU cause i wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else ) so my personal statement was specifically tailored for dmu contour. However, a lot of girls in my year who i have spoken too applied at various other uni’s to study different courses from fine art to costume design  and they got interviews and got places - just make sure you show how passionate you are in your future and in fashion/the arts and they will pick up on that 100%. the course so far is amazing - the lecturers are the BEST of the BEST and i’m not just saying that they seriously are insane and have accomplished A LOT and still are. they don’t waste time and get straight into the work which is really good and it keeps you focused. They’re all really nice as well and you can see they have a lot of respect from students in 2nd and 3rd years. They send you an equipment list out during the summer. Its basically - french curves, pattern master, pattern notcher, machine tweezer, 1metre ruler, fabric sheers, paper sheers, fashion tape, tape measure, flexicurve… then all art supplies for sketchbook work. It is a hefty one off price but it does last you the 3 years and you will definitely need it all. also there are a couple of books they suggest to get - ‘pattern cutting for lingerie, beachwear and leisurewear’ Ann Haggar, ‘metric pattern cutting for womens wear ’ - Winfred Alfrich and they also recommend ’ 9 heads’ - Nancy Riegelman ( fashion illustration) 
if you have any other questions or want any help with your personal statement please don’t hesitate to email me or ask on here ! ebalwako@gmail.com
also i will be posting uni work on here so people can get a feel for the course! thank you so much for the compliment and the question !! x