Threading the Needle by: Natalie Perez
An Introduction
During high school, I was an active member of my school’s theater department, which organized a play, a musical, and a “one-act play” festival every school year. As taught by my theater instructor, Hope Hynes Love, every theater production has seven key parts that aid in telling a story: the production’s set, the lighting on stage, aspects of sound (microphone, sound cues, etc.), the props on set, the actors’ performances, the actors’ costumes, and the actors’ hair/makeup.
My book nook depicts a "costume shop," a space where costumes for theatrical productions are designed, built, and stored for the production(s). Therefore, I am highlighting theater technicians (also known as “techies”) as "makers," since their efforts make up six out of seven parts of a production's storytelling; this book nook will focus on costuming, but it is only a fraction of the "making" that occurs throughout the course of a theater production.
Maker Technologies
Laser cutting, paper arts, and textiles were utilized during the course of this project.
With the Glowforge 3D Laser Printer available within the EITM Lab, I laser cut a miniature dress form, various clothing hangers, and storage crates--to store buttons and safety pins--for the costume shop. Considering that I wanted to both assemble and paint these items, laser cutting was the best option, especially since all of these items were cut from wood.
Paper arts make up most of the items within the costume shop! I built a desk and chair, so the costumer would have a set space to "make"; both pieces are folded from origami paper decorated to resemble wood. Furthermore, three dresses, one shirt, one pair of pants, one jacket, and one skirt hanging from the costume shop's walls are folded from origami paper. Paper arts were favorable to me during the process of designing and building these items, specifically due to their flexibility; I could easily make prototypes of the clothing and diversify the sizes, which allowed me to create outfits for differing heights and body shapes.
Textiles played a small, yet rigorous, role within my costume shop. Two of the dresses hanging from the walls were designed, cut, and sewn together by yours truly! I chose to utilize sewing during the course of this project to connect back to the technologies costumers would be most likely to use during their "making" processes.
Making Process
Throughout my own "making" process, I had both breakthroughs and setbacks. Therefore, there are things I'm proud of, but there are also things I would do differently.
In terms of breakthroughs, I believe the pieces of paper art were the most successful components of the project. Although I used various sets of origami instructions to construct the furniture and clothing, I modified many folds to customize some aspects of the pieces. I would not have strayed from such instructions in the past, so overall, I feel like I have grown way more confident with paper arts than I had been when initially working with Flash Project #5! As a result of my customizations, each outfit tells its own story; all of the dresses have different styles, and each article of clothing is constructed from a unique piece of origami paper. Overall, I am proud of the paper arts included within the project, especially since they provided me with a chance to be more creative.
In terms of setbacks, I believe designing, cutting, and sewing the two dresses was the most troublesome component of the project. Although I had made several prototypes, the two dresses did turn out a bit smaller than I anticipated they'd be before sewing everything together; I should have designed dress patterns that were a bit larger in size. Furthermore, I used a sewing machine during the process of creating the dresses; I initially thought it would make the process more efficient, but that proved to be incorrect! I had not used my sewing machine in a long time, so I spent a lot of time reacquainting myself with it. Overall, in the future, I would design the dresses differently and either 1) give myself extra time to build trust with my sewing machine again or 2) hand sew the dresses together.
A Conclusion
Once you flip the switch at the topmost left corner of the book nook, a light will flicker on, revealing the costume shop!
By utilizing the technologies of laser cutting, paper arts, and textiles, I hope that my book nook captures the space in which theater technicians, specifically costumers, design, build, and store costumes for productions. Although the "making" processes of theater technicians differ from conceptualizations rooted within the “maker movement” phenomenon, theater technicians, nonetheless, are "makers."
Credits:
Created with an image by White bear studio - "different sewing accessories on the table. Threads, needles, pins, fabric and sewing scissors close up "