DRAM 1342 Costuming

DRAM 1342 Costuming Course Synopsis

By the end of the semester you will be able to:

Hang up your clothes properly.
Wash your clothes properly.
Dye your clothes properly.
Use a Sewing Machine properly.
Repair your clothes.
Alter your clothes so that they fit better.
Make your own clothes.
Recognize and Identify different periods in Costume History.
Understand and Explain the importance of wearing the proper foundation garments.
See and Think like a designer.
No longer be able to watch a film without internally critiquing its costumes and irritating all your friends in the process.

Syllabus

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Sewing projects

Videos of Sewing Techniques

These are videos of me showing you how to do each technique just like we learn in class. These techniques were used to create the above projects.

Student Work

Everything you see below is student produced. Each show has some portion that is made entirely by students. I try to get photos of them working on their projects so you can see just how much work they do. Most of the students who take my class have never used a sewing machine before. We learn how to use the machines and how to do a few basic stitches and then the students are given projects to help them master those techniques. They work on their projects during class time. In the afternoon they come back for lab hours and use what they learned to build the costumes for the shows. Some shows are mostly pulled from stock and only require minor alterations to fit the actors while some shows we build almost everything from scratch. My goal is to design the shows in such a way that they students are capable of building all the costumes by themselves. For more photos of costumes built by students, head on over to the production archive to see 20 years worth of costumes made by students.

Student Projects, Fall 2022

Student Projects, Spring 2022: Freshman

Sophomores' projects

James is making another Renfaire/SciFi costume. He was inspired by a wedding dress he was gifted over the summer and has been planning this costume ever since. He wanted to make a cape out of it, so he cut it off at the waist and dyed it blue. He combined several different patterns to come up with pants, a shirt, a vest and a jacket to go with the cape. He used his employee discount to buy fabrics at Joanne's.

Danny is making two costumes for the GSA Drag Show. He modified an existing jacket pattern and then added a tutu like skirt to the hem. It has to come off during the song, so he bought magnets to make the change happen easily. He bought all the fabric at Joanne"s for the first costume. The jacket is made from a black flannel with a silver mesh overlay, and the collar, lapels, and side panels are made from a galaxy printed fabric. The skirt is made from a purple organza underlayer that is short in the front and becomes longer in the back. Strips of colorful metallic mesh fabric were added to the skirt at each seam line to represent a comet tail. The jacket was fully lined in a light blue color and hand sewn in so that it could be reversable. The sleeves were made from the same purple organza with a light pink organza sandwiched in between. More metallic silver mesh was gathered and sewn in the armseye like Elizabethan shoulder wings.

For the second costume he found a red velvet jacket at salvation army that he wanted to add a skirt to--Billy Porter style. He bought solid black velvet and cut 4 gored panels to form the basis of the skirt. Then he got another black velvet with a gold design painted on top and cut 5 more thinner gored panels. He sewed the gored panels together beginning with the gold and alternated them ending with the last gold panel and then attached it to the jacket. The jacket was missing all its buttons, so Danny bought new ones but because this costume was also to be removed during the song, he stitched the buttonholes closed, and then used snaps to actually close the jacket, and sewed the buttons on top of the buttonholes side.

Student Projects, Fall 2021

Halloween

Student Projects, Spring 2021

Iconic character project

Costume Design Project

Student Projects, Fall 2020

The Pandemic really curtailed what we were able to do in class this year. We got more projects done in the fall and more actual sewing done in the spring.

Iconic Character Project

Costume Design Projects

Student Projects, Spring 2020

Due to the pandemic, we didn't get to build costumes for the opera or the last show. They also didn't get to do their draping project. So here's their paper projects that we did instead.

Iconic Character Project

Student Projects, Fall 2019

This is the build for Truffaldino's costume from Servant of Two Masters. It was literally a group project.

Halloween in the Costume Shop

From left to right and top to bottom: Micah, DeAndre, Rebecca, Jessica, Rosie, Anna, Charlie, Jaden, Avery.

Here are the students working on their Midterm Projects: Draping a Bodice.

Pirates of Penzance Build, Spring 2019

draping Projects, Fall 2018

Halloween in the costume shop, 2018

Jessica D, Jay, Zack, Shi'nya, Kyndall, Nick, Trey, Kayla.

Jessica A.

Ethan

Blue Stockings, Fall 2018

Draping Projects, Spring 2018

Students Working on Daughter of the Regiment

Draping Projects, Fall 2017

Halloween 2017

Marques was dressed as himself, Chandler was Kelly Parker, Ashton was Yu Narukami, Russell was Lucas from Stranger Things Season 2, I was Edna Mode from The Incredibles, Kade was Edgar Allen Poe, and Mattie was Bob Ross.