For my Self Directed Project I wanted to take something
which really challenged me in skill and knowledge as well as professionalism
and time management. Throughout the Self Directed Project unit I have
constantly questioned myself. What is my path in costume? What are my skills?
But most importantly after my accident, how can I contribute to the team?
Originally I
started this project on the costume store where I was making a historic men’s
shirt. This garment really made me appreciate the time and effort which goes
into each stage of production. Once I studied the shirt I thought it would be
fairly simple like the one I worked on previously for Battle for the Winds
however I soon found this was not the case.
At every turn a new issue came to light, such as when making the placket
on the shirt I had to make sure I didn’t trim too far into the shirt otherwise
the placket would sit at an angle or that the pleats in the shoulders were in
the correct area. Dexter, our lecturer, was very strict on our timings, the
cleanliness of our fabric and the process we used to make the shirt. Two of these points were easy to work with as
I was always the first into the workroom each morning and three of us worked
together on the process of the shirt to complete the correct sequence. However
on the second day of making I turned up to class and found a pink mark on my white
fabric, as we were working in the old wet materials room this was not a
surprise and we ended up placing sheets of white paper over our desks to
prevent any more stains. It was decided that the spot on my shirt could be
ignored however I was very disheartened by this; I learnt that caring for your
garments is essential to maintain their condition and that they should not be
left unattended. I was also upset that I
was not able to complete the shirt however am planning on finishing the garment
once I can use a sewing machine again.
During the Easter holidays I broke my arm in two places
meaning sewing became an issue as well as many other tasks within costume
store. Once I spoke to our year tutor I
was accepted to work as a textiles assistant on the Breathe project. My tasks
would include making garments that did not require a sewing machine as well as
assisting on others garments which needed added textile work. As soon as I
arrived I was set to work on base costumes which each person would be wearing.
I had to dye each garment, paint into the fabric and then apply a mixture of
white acrylic paint, pva glue and sand into various patterns to give the
costumes the impression they had been on the beach for some time. After doing this for several days it became
quite tedious and I found the work rather repetitive, I felt a bit useless as
whilst everyone else could work on the machines or do the major dying I could
only do the smaller parts of the garments. From this I learnt patience as once
these were complete the work on the group outfits could begin. It was also during the group outfits I found
the area of the team I could work well in as well as be useful. During
Wednesday evenings the Breath Together club ran and I taught barnacle and base
costume workshops where groups of first years and volunteers worked together.
It was wonderful knowing others could learn something from me as well as I from
them. As well as this I found learning
new techniques worthwhile. I found I could use a crochet hook one handed and
that if I used various stitches with it I could make the beards for the elders.
This was quite an achievement for me as I was able to do this without help and
accomplish an actual garment which could be used within the performance. As
well as this I was able to help others by making ties for cloaks, bracelets for
the builders and textural pieces for other garments.
Though in the beginning I was quite sceptical working on
breathe, it has taught me that textile and fabric manipulation is something I would
like to continue with into the third year as well as looking into teaching as a
career. I feel I have learnt a valuable skill set from this project and working
as part of a team has taught me that everyone has their own areas of specialty,
if combined it can amount to an amazing project, maybe breaking my arm was one
of the best things that could have happened.
