For my Educational Technology course at the University of Akron our final project is to teach ourselves something new. This project will span about a third of the semester and is estimated to take about 50 hours. I love to cosplay and sew, so I thought I would try and tackle a project that I have wanted to do for a long time now.
Goals
Over the course of my major project my goal is to teach
myself how to make a pattern from scratch. I have basic sewing experience, but
I am not very good at reading or altering patterns. I hope to learn how to
better read patterns, take proper body measurements, and craft an original
pattern by altering existing patterns and taking apart prefabricated clothes. I
also hope to learn more about how to label pattern pieces in such a way that
they are applied to the fabric to receive maximum stretch. To complete my
project I hope to make a direction sheet to be used when putting the pattern
together.
Resources and Learning Materials
The resources I plan on referencing to complete my project
are videos, reference images, chat threads on public forms from other costume
designers, craft store employees, blog posts, friends who sew, and existing
patterns. I have already found some of these resources, and will make note of them in future blog posts.
The materials I will be using consist of, but are not
limited to, sketch paper, pencils, pens, sharpies, fabric markers, straight
edges, duck tape, tissue paper, scissors, scrap fabric, existing clothes, iron, ironing
board, measuring tape, and sewing notions.
Documentation of Progress
I will try and make my learning transparent to others by
posting a lot of images of my progress, posting my thought processes, and
posting all of my references. I will post my progress along the way on my
Blogger, and possibly compile all of my knowledge at the end into a wikiHow
article. I will not tweet each interesting thing I find until I have compiled
it neatly on a blog post, then I will tweet my blog posts under the hashtags
#UAEdTech, #DCcomics, #Flash, and #Cosplay. My blog posts will be tagged under
the major project tag.
Planned Timeline
Wednesday I have designated as my major project day, there
is nothing else scheduled for me on that day so I am free to spend as much time
as I can on my project. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I will also work on my
major project, but only after the homework for my other classes is finished. If everything goes
smoothly I hope it will take close to 100 hours to complete my project.
My work weeks will begin on each Wednesday and go until Tuesday.
- Week 1- Research, take measurements, design, and gather supplies.
- Week 2- Cut pieces, add to paper, and add seam allowances.
- Week 3- Test pattern and make changes.
- Week 4- Test pattern, make changes, and complete pattern.
- Week 5- Start direction sheet.
- Week 6- Finalize direction sheet and pattern.
- Week 7- Summary and Pre/Post assessment.
Possible Challenges
Possible challenges I may face during this project are
designing a piece and having it not fit when I try and sew it back together,
making my pattern pieces too small or too large, and possibly running out of
time to complete this project if I run into any major unforeseen issues.
Critical Friend
The critical friend I have chosen is my boyfriend Adam. He
currently lives with me and he is the one I am designing the pattern for. Not
only his extensive knowledge of the super hero universe and artistic critical
thinking skills, but also his emotional support, will be valuable tools for me
as I attempt to complete my major project.
Conclusion
The above is the break down for hopefully Part 1 of this project, this is for school so I had to be realistic about what I could get done before the end of the semester. The next possible parts of this project to get the costume finished could be:
Part 2- Using the Pattern
Part 3- Making the Helmet
Part 4- EL Wire and EL Tape
Part 5- Chest and Shoulder Armor
Part 6- Gauntlets
Part 7- Schynbald and Sabaton
Part 8- Putting It All Together
Part 9- Showing It Off
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