The design brief for this project was to take inspiration from nature, create surfaces using various textile techniques and taking one of the exploration further develop a product. Since the theme was bio-mimicry which is nature-inspired solutions for human problems, I chose walnut fruit as my inspiration.
There is a beauty in how the walnut moves from a hard shell to a nutty, organic interior and then crumbles into a fragile paper-like layer. From a tough, textured outer surface to delicate, dry layers inside, walnut is a fascinating fruit.
After researching and observing walnut and its kernel, I started out with paper concepts. Mostly I tried to get the outer texture of the cover.
Initially, I made fabric explorations by taking reference from paper explorations. I tried to create texture and form of outer shell and kernel respectively, using different techniques like stitching, quilting, crochet, embroidery and more.
Quilting gave interesting results resembling the kernel, so continuing with the technique I further simplified its form.
The form on simplification was a strip with varying thickness. Using which I decided to make a travel neck pillow which could also be used as a scarf.
Besides exploring different stitching patterns, I also tried different fillings like cotton and poly-fills.
Guide: Sucharita Beniwal, Medha Bhatt
Model: Talita Rebello
