final evaluation

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.