Have you ever tried distressing denim yourself? Last week, we got given a new 'summative' brief, where we have to choose a trend and write a report on a 16 page - In Design document. In other words, create a simple magazine like document with analytical referencing about a chosen trend. I decided to continue with my previous trend, denim. This project, I will mainly focus on distressed denim as a whole. Now that we are on Christmas break, I have travelled back to India. I have spent all the spare time during my first week here, collecting pictures and researching for this brief. I find it a lot easier to process my thoughts through tangibility and hence wanted to maintain a sketchbook along side having digital copies of my research. To start with, I went on a hunt for the perfect sketchbook. I then decided that It would be a good idea to cover the sketchbook with denim. The hunt then began for denim material but unfortunately, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for in Indian shops. It then hit me that I could buy something denim e.g bag, cushion cover, anything that was made using denim. I found the perfect bag that was big enough to cover my sketchbook. I cut the bag into pieces to fit my book.
My next idea was to d.i.y this piece of fabric to anchor the 'distressed denim' trend. This led me to look into how I can go about distressing it myself. I watched a few youtube vides, read a few 'how-to' articles and gathered all my tools. I didn't mind having different types of distressing, may it be holes, rips, raw hems etc. I tired all the techniques I had found, on this fabric. At first I found it really hard to actually rip the material. It was quite stiff and definitely not as easy as it looked on the videos. Never the less, I continued trying different methods until I found something comfortable.
The easiest way for me was to cut straight lines through the fabric horizontally and then use a twizer to pull all the entwined threads. 
After an hour of struggling to get the look I wanted, I am really pleased with the result. It looks so worn out and ragged, which is exactly what I was going for. It also fits right in with the trend and signifies the topic without even looking inside the sketchbook.
Love,
Sanjana
Sanjana
