Made in Bangladesh
This project was made for the second to last module of my BA (Hons) degree at Hereford College of Arts [2025].
Materials - White canvas, embroidery thread, acrylic, wool jacket.
Estimated production time - 56 hours
About this project.
Made in Bangladesh explores a commentary on modern day prejudice and the lack of awareness surrounding it. Made using thick canvas, hand embroidered with original illustrations. It consists of a collection of patches, each designed around a phrase or slur I have experienced in my life, being 1/4 Bangladeshi. The designs are presented in a black and white colour palette to depict the bleakness of the reality minority groups still face, with eye catching red details to draw the viewers attention. The development came from a question asked of me 'How have you ever been prejudiced against?'. With this in mind I set myself a goal to inform those who were unaware of how common racial prejudice still is.
Process
Here's some details about the production of this project to help you follow my train of thought over the 4 months of its production.
Click to see full images.
After researching for my context and idea I started drawing from a selection of phrases. This took a while to find the right design and each phrase went though multiple different stages. But I was finally happy with these designs and moved forward into testing their stitch widths and techniques.
After testing stitch widths and details separately I moved on to testing the designs in full. This was to make sure the details I had tested fit within their size parameters properly and matched with each other well. If anything clashed in thickness or size then I would need to retest until it fit seamlessly into one design.
This is a collection of the prototype run. This run was really important in getting my scaling right and ensuring all the details were as clear and easy to see as possible. Due to time constraints I only had time for one practice run. After this it was on to the final patches.
This is the production process of my Mongrel Mix beans from start to finish. In total this design took around 4.5 hours to complete. It starts with a tracing onto water soluble fabric which I use as a guide to stitch over. I build up the design in stages with constant references to my samples to compare thicknesses and detail placement.
These are some of the final patches before they are placed onto the jacket. Each one is given seam allowance for the stitches to cover, preventing them from intruding on the designs themselves.
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