My name is Amy Cross, I studied Textile Design, specialising in structured knitted textiles.

The inspiration behind the majority of my work including this final collection was the building within Leeds city centre. Having a particular focus on the window formation and the ratio of dense solid colour to distorted broken colour. The dense colour being the building itself and the windows representing the distorted colour. An analysis of the repeat pattern within the window layout or the irregular pattern was transferred into designs that would be suitable for a knitted garment, for example a check pattern.

The colours chosen for this final project were a complete contrast to any other project I have created during my time at Leeds University. I progressed from the classic primary colour pallete that I was constantly drawn towards to create a new mature colour collection. This involved an array of pastel shades that were balanced with contrasting bright tones.

The collection is designed for a spring summer knitwear collection focusing on layering of knitwear and co-ord pieces. The idea was to create versatile designs that were able to be placed onto multiple garments causing them to be layered upon each other. This was primarily for knitted pieces but was able to cross over into the woven category. There are elements within the collection that are bespoke and unique in the sense that two pieces may not be exactly the same, increasing the emotional connection to the buyer and lengthening its life span, creating a more sustainable garment. Sustainability has also been an element to my design projects. For my dissertation I studied the sustainability of different knitting processes and the design and production methods of specific garments. This looked at how knitwear production contributed to waste within the fashion industry.

During this degree I have used the Dubied knitting machine and digital Shima Seiki machine to develop knitted samples and create final pieces. As there has always been an interest to see how different a design may look using the two different machines and how a range of techniques can be used.  Sadly, due to completing my degree from home neither of these two methods were fully investigated for my final collection. However, this led me to further my skills in hand knitting, strengthen digital skills and reconnect with the collage technique to present my ideas. As challenging and enjoyable as this was, I do feel my skills have been broadened but it hasn’t taken away the sadness of not being able to physically knit the collection in real life.

I am currently taking some time out to reflect on my design work and to decide where I would like to go next. I have gained many different skills whilst studying at Leeds, not only in knitwear design, but also in eco design, digital CAD design and technical knitwear.

I can be contacted through my Instagram page (@amycross_textiles) where there are also more images and information regarding my work.