Evaluation Of EMP
The Mad Hatters Charity Tea Party
During this EMP unit my skills and
abilities as a costume maker and workshop coordinator have been pushed to new
boundaries where my social, ethical and cultural skills along with my
construction skills have been heavily challenged. Taking on board the pointers
from my last assessment, I decided to work with The Mad Hatters Charity Tea
Party, which is a large event held in Portsmouth that raises money for Cystic
Fibrosis Kids. Realising Elizabeth Cooke’s designs, this project has allowed me
to combine textural methods throughout both costumes and tea party set up, as
well as teach some of the textural methods to others through workshops.
From a technical perspective with
both of the costumes, I faced the challenges of creating an animal outfit for
the March Hare that wouldn’t overheat the actor. For the White Queen, a dress
which had a full skirt that could support a crinoline, bodice which allowed the
actress to move freely and rich fabrics which looked regal but fitted within
the charities budget. This meant choosing materials and fastenings, which would
help with these issues.
For the March Hares shirt I
originally looked at digitally printing fur onto a specially coated cotton
fabric. However after several attempts of trying to tile the fur so that it
became a continuous pattern it was found that trying to take a 3D effect and transferring
it to 2D print only gave a flat colour image and wouldn’t pick up any of the
desired texture. Once discussed with the director and designer it was decided
to change the shirt to a gingham pattern. This was in keeping with the events
theme and character as well as remaining a light fabric choice that wouldn’t
hinder the actor.
The boater hat also required scaling
and experimentation. The original design shows one crochet teacup on a hat with
a green ribbon and ears. However after creating various size cups and pinning
them together and testing this on the hat it was decided to add another two
cups scaling to a smaller size each time, a crochet doily and various cakes.
I also experimented with pleating for
the White Queens dress to make the skirt more full and accommodate the
additional understructure. Before this project I found pleats a nightmare, as I
could never make them even. However after the first calico sample I found a way
that worked and allowed me to improve on the technique. During fittings it was
decided to combine the front and side panels of the skirt meaning my original
pleating was doubled and a box pleat had to be added to the sides of the skirt
to increase the amount of fabric in the skirt and hide the side seams. I
struggled to get my head around this initially as I had to double the fabric
behind each pleat and layer these. As I was used to pleating in neat lines with
each one being exactly matching it took time to adapt.
The workshops are my greatest
achievement within this project. I have been teaching 10 different groups, both
able and disabled, various knitting and crochet techniques that could later be
turned into assorted tea party items such as cakes and savories. An issue I ran
into was that I had to change my teaching techniques in accordance to the age/
ability of the group, everybody has a preferred learning technique and
combining all these into a singular lesson sparked some concern amongst the
parents of some of the children I was teaching. I decided the best thing to do
was to place the children into groups of 7-10 and then focus on the best way of
learning for them. I found that making up examples of finished products became
a positive motivator for the younger children as they had a visual and tactile
image of what they could make. The adult groups were much easier to teach and
more responsive to changes in patterns.
To prepare for each session I had to
make sure I had a learning plan in place and examples of what was being
constructed that session. For the younger students I also had a star chart
system to monitor behavior and a star of the lesson award, which were a set of
coloured knitting needles and a ball of wool for the student who tried the
hardest. Something I emphasized throughout was that it didn’t matter what the
outcome of the session was for each student so long they tried there hardest
and felt that they achieved something.
One specific case is Stephan. He is a
special needs child who has severe ADHD and found it hard to concentrate on the
smallest of tasks. However since taking the workshops he has been more aware of
his actions and his behavior has improved both at home and within school. At
the beginning he found the sessions pointless and a task that he didn’t want to
do. However after speaking to him and trying to understand thing from his point
of view, we created a five step achievement plan showing what he wanted to come
out of the lessons with his reward being a day trip to Monkey Land and Hobby
Craft so he may buy his own set of hooks and his favorite ball of wool. His
fifth goal was to come out of his spelling test with a C or higher as he had
never got a higher grade than an E and was failing most of his homework tasks. He
has achieved all five of his goals and has scored a B- in his latest spelling
test. Whenever he started to get frustrated he took out his hook and ball of
wool and focused on that until he found he was happy again. This shows that
through crochet and knitting a kind of therapy has formed which he is
responsive to. It brings about the question of whether this can help others in
similar situations
Overall I am pleased with how I have
developed under this project and the final garments and tea party set. As a
result of this I have grown in confidence and feel I am more competent within
the construction of garments and teaching. I would like the opportunity within the future to advance my skills and
try different techniques and resources, enabling the ability to pass these onto
others and become a professional workshop coordinator.
