November 2020
Dance piece: Games Played While Lying Down: Mother's Love
Design direction from Sarah Mauney
I started by drafting a pattern for an oversize jumpsuit, and making a mockup.
I revised my original pattern, and sliced it into asymmetric pieces. The front and back of the jumpsuit were identical.
I sewed channels for elastic, using the seam allowance. I used cord locks to make the size adjustable. Because of pandemic restrictions, fittings were done with the dancer over Zoom, so the elastic was a nice way to make the jumpsuit adjustable.
Neckline detail, showing how elastic channels were use to create the ruching on the neckline and sleeves
Spring Awakening
CU Boulder Theatre, 2020
Costume construction
Costume Designer: Elise Rosado
Director: Cecelia Pang
Draping, patterning, and construction of 1890s bustle dress for Spring Awakening.
Draping, patterning, and construction of 1890s bustle dress for Spring Awakening.
Draping, patterning & construction, 2018
Student work while at University of Colorado, Boulder
1840s style dress with bodice cut on the bias, and bertha detail.
I draped, patterned, and constructed this dress based on a historical example.
Draping, patterning & construction, 2018
Student work while at University of Colorado, Boulder
Bodice with Peter Pan collar and matching cuffs, and peplum with a split at the back. Completed with a tea length circle skirt.
I draped, patterned, and constructed this dress based on a historical example.
This was started as a student project, and finished at home.
Costume construction
University of Colorado Dance, 2021
Design direction by Megan Madorin
The choreographer wanted to dance in a jumpsuit with two strongly contrasting styles. We found an extant 1970s jumpsuit in costume stock, and I patterned a more modern silhouette for the other side. I carefully traced the pattern from the 1970s jumpsuit, and then changed the neckline, added fullness, a sleeve, and bloussant at the waistline. The new half silhouette was then slip stitched over top of the original garment, so it was easy to restore it back to its original style once we were done with it.
I discovered that I needed remove a little circumference at the CF chest, and add a lot of circumference at CB.
Some small changes were made to the neckline and armhol after this fitting.
This shows the dyed ombre color of the dress better than the final stage images. I learned a little bit about lighting design on this show. The hem was set in this fitting.
Costume construction, September 2021
University of Colorado, Boulder
This was a for a silly song about reducing food waste, and the director wanted the leading lady to be in a ridiculous food costume. I came up with the idea of a head of lettuce, with a belt that mimicked a twist tie with the PLU number on it.
I imagined three dimensional unitard that looked like a head of romaine lettuce.
The initial plan was to build the costume, but I stumbled upon the perfect dress at a thrift store, so a new plan was made.
This was the revised version of my sketch, that used the thrift store dress to create the concept.
I sculpted a sleeve using Foss Shape, and added power mesh on the other side that I dyed to match the performer’s skin tone. The sleeve functioned well in rehearsal like this, but once it was covered with fabric and trim, it started to droop. I had to re-engineer the mesh panel to cover the whole décolltage and upper back, and then it worked beautifully.
The dress was shortened, and the final touch was to hand-paint the PLU numbers on the “twist tie” belt, and attach it to the dress.
Company, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2023
This was an ‘off-the-rack’ piece, that needed to be altered to fit a performer that was 5’ tall.
The designer pinned out excess fabric at the waist, and on vertical seams.
I disassembled the jumpsuit top from bottom. Then I took in the vertical seams, including princess, side seam, and leg outseam. There was boning at the princess and side seams that had to be restitched into the lining seam allowance. After those were done, I redefined the waistline. There was a lot more excess at center back, than anywhere else, so I had to draw in a gentle S curve to swallow up that excess. Then I reattached the top to bottom, reattached the zipper, and slipstitched the lining back in.
