RESOURCES

General
- Dress Form Size 6 (Order ASAP)
- Muslin (30 Yards)
Look 1 (Skeletal)
- Nude Lining
- Boning
- Bone Colored Cotton
- Bone Colored Mesh
- Nude Zipper (Match Lining)
- Bone Colored Thread (Matched)
- Nude Colored Thread (Matched)
Look 2 (Respiratory System, Specifically Alveoli and Bronchiole)
- Pink Tweed
- Darker Pink Tweed/Silk (TBD)
- Pink Thread (Matched)
- Darker Pink Thread (Matched)
- Styrofoam Balls
- Filling
- Royal Blue Piping (Or Abstract Mesh)
- Red Piping (Or Abstract Mesh)
Look 3 (Nervous System)
- Light Blue Cotton Based _____ (Stiff)
- Red Silk Bridal Buttons
- Red Silk Piping
- Red Ostrich Feathers
- Red Ostrich Feather Trim
- Large Brimmed Hat
- Filling
- Red Velvet/Suede
- Lining for Gown (TBD)
Look 4 (Muscle System, Specifically Muscle Body and Tendon)
- Nude Lining
- Nude Zipper (Matched)
- Filling
- Lighter Red Silk
- Light Blue/Gray Tulle
Look 5 (Skin)
- Nude Silk
- Nude Zipper (Matched)
- Lining (TBD)
- Nude Piping (Matched)
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
- Potential to Print Muscle Fiber Pattern onto Fabric
- Hoop Skirts for Pieces When Standing Alone
 Summer Checklist
MUST COMPLETE:
- Research
- What will I research? I will research the structure and function of each system I will be
representing through fashion: the skeletal, respiratory, nervous, muscular, and skin systems. With
background in each of these systems, I will then more specifically research the parts of each
system I am displaying through fashion. For example, the look representative of the respiratory
system displays an alveoli attached to a bronchiole; therefore, this will be coupled with
information about the structure and function of the alveoli and bronchiole.
- How do I plan to present this research? I plan to make five digital, individual drawings of each
piece (skeletal, respiratory, nervous, muscular, and skin systems) and use text boxes and
magnification boxes to thoroughly describe the structure and function of what individual parts of
each piece represent. Multiple pieces in the collection are representative of larger systems; the
digital component of this project will allow me to present my research findings and show the
design process for each piece.
- Digital Sketches
- The five digital sketches will be made on Procreate: a drawing program for iPad. I plan to
complete each of the five drawings over the summer. I do expect that as I create the pieces, I will
have more information to add throughout the course of the fellows program. By the end of the
summer, these sketches will be thorough and able to explain the anatomical properties of what
each design represents.
- Setting Up Workspace
- This project will take a significant amount of space to complete, therefore I will be using a section
of my family’s basement to set up my sewing machine, serger, dress form, cutting mats, material
storage, and completed piece storage. I anticipate that this component of my summer checklist will
take 5 days.
- Gathering Materials
- Gathering materials will be a large component of my summer work due to our location. In order to
obtain such materials, I plan to travel to either Philadelphia or New York to determine which type
of fabric (silk, nylon, tulle, etc.) I will use to make each piece. I hope that one trip is necessary and
I will have gained the knowledge necessary to order additional textiles online if need be.
- Patternmaking
- For each piece, there will be a patternmaking phase: using muslin to create the piece before using
the actual materials. I believe that each patternmaking phase will take approximately 20 hours to
complete. This phase will help ensure that no costly material is wasted and that each piece is
carefully constructed. The muslin pieces will then be completely sewn, trimmed, and seam-ripped.
The seam-ripped pieces will then be templates for the piece-specific fabrics.
- Dressmaking (+/- 2 Weeks per Piece, Will Varying by Piece)
- After the patterns have been made, each piece will go through a cutting phase using the muslin
pieces. From here, the dress will be sewn using the cut pieces and tailored to ensure that each
piece can lay appropriately under and/or above other pieces. Throughout the dressmaking process,
I will add to each digital sketch with new findings.
- What works and doesn’t work in workspace…
- Run into any difficulties in making pieces to determine what parts of the process could be made
easier…
- Blog Posts
- Each blog post I make will consist of either research findings, intermediate digital sketches,
pictures of my workspace, pieces in progress, and more. I plan to post beyond the first and
fifteenth of each month.