SDP Final Evaluation

This project has been a huge learning curve for me. Throughout the unit I have felt extremely privileged to be making this costume for the Wimborne Town Crier. Looking back to November 2009 when Chris Brown came to the studios to show off his 18th Century costume, I knew immediately that I would really enjoy producing a brand new one for him as my Self Directed Project. I thoroughly enjoyed our tailoring unit at that time and decided it was definitely a skill I wanted to carry on practicing in the new future. And so when this opportunity was offered to a second year costume student I thought it was my full responsibility to apply for the job.
When the project started I was very enthusiastic and extremely excited to get the ball rolling. I started doing some general 18th Century research very early on in order to prepare myself for the upcoming months. I was in regular contact with Chris Brown via phone and e-mail and his enthusiasm really encouraged me to make a flying start with the project.
The first week of the project was when I had my first tutorial with Graham and we discussed exactly what I should do to get me started efficiently. To begin with I had happily taken on the task of making a costume for Chris and replica costume for his 11 year old son Eddie. However after a lot of researching, it became quite apparent to me that it really was too much work for me to take on board and accomplish successfully in the nine weeks available. This was when I decided to ask a course mate if they would like to work alongside me and produce the smaller costume. My course mate Kelly had decided to change from design to making for this unit, and so when I suggested it to her, we both believed it would be the perfect challenge for her to find her feet in making again.

Kelly and myself had a meeting with Chris and his son Eddie in the first week of the project. We had both collected a sufficient amount of research to show to the both of them and the four of us felt very confident about the entire unit by the time the meeting had finished. I asked Chris exactly what it was he was expecting from a brand new costume and made a list of requirements and specific features that Chris really wanted. This allowed the project to have a flying start and we began pattern drafting straight away.
I have drafted patterns for all the making units over the past two years now and I really was feeling more and more confident about it this time round. The biggest learning curve this time was working alongside Kelly who had to produce patterns on a much smaller scale. We had to work very closely so that the patterns were identical but on two completely different scales. I think we learned a lot from one another and it was obvious that the team work really contributed to getting the patterns drafted in good time.
I was well on my way with producing the toile and creating my own time schedule really helped me to keep up to date with everything I was doing. This was also something that has benefited me throughout the project. Time management has always been a slight flaw of mine and so I set myself the challenge to follow my own strict timetable. I didn’t feel too confident about achieving this but I’m really pleased to say that I seem to have overcome this challenge and not failed once with this task.
As always I did encounter some problems along the way, the biggest one being the most inconvenient; falling ill. This really did throw a spanner in the works so to speak and unfortunately I fell behind pretty fast. However as soon as recovery was present I wasted no time and got myself straight back into it. By this time the toile fitting had taken place and I had a very successful result and felt confident once again about producing a really good quality costume.
Other lessons learned came from further practicing. Dyeing fabric was another big accomplishment, I’ve felt for a long time that this was something I needed to practice more often, and so when it came to dyeing some expensive Moleskin I believed this to be the perfect opportunity to perfect my skills and now it’s done, I’m feeling confident that I did.
What really helped me with this project was the fact I had made something quite similar to this for Concepts In Context unit. The coat was of a similar cut so I began to understand the period more and more and how features such as pleats should be constructed professionally. However, the processes I used for that unit were nowhere near as complex and precise as what I’ve had to do this time round. When it came to things like linings, I found myself quite frustrated with being able to accomplish it to the best of my abilities. I appreciated Graham’s methods and was eager to learn and practice them the correct way. However this meant yet another learning curve and so the actual process was very time consuming for me and I found myself behind schedule again. Now the lining is fitted and finished I am really pleased with the precision and care I have taken over it, the one thing I have had to keep telling myself is that this isn’t ‘Panto’ and in no respects can be rushed. Never before have I individually made for a client and so I found myself constantly reminding myself just how important it is to use my time effectively and produce work of a very high standard.
Chris would like to think that he will be wearing this costume for the next 5-10 years and so it is vital that every stitch I make is precise, accurate, and strong.
Working for a client is undoubtedly the biggest learning curve for me. Looking at the work and knowing I’m not creating it for myself was hard, very hard, and so I wasn’t able to meet just my own expectations but also those of Chris, my coursemate Kelly and my unit leaders. I have felt incredibly under pressure with this costume. People have recognised me as the maker for the town crier and so this is hugely important to Chris and the community and the university as they have funded the entire project.
This added pressure did unfortunately result in time loss and lack of confidence, but visualising the end result in my mind has always picked me up again and encouraged me to do my upmost best.
Working with my chosen fabrics has been really interesting and again I have learned a lot. My one flaw with this project is that I completely underestimated exactly what was being asked of me and I genuinely believe I still encountered too much work for the timeframe I had. I’m still learning important processes and this meant I found myself struggling with areas I wasn’t too experienced with. However I feel I have really overcome this and believe the work so far is at a standard to be proud of.
If this project is something I’m likely to re-experience in the near future I would most certainly know that learning and producing something like this is time consuming and often tedious and so allowing myself more time would be highly necessary.
I also feel confident with working for a client now. This was all new to me and I really didn’t know what to expect, but Chris’s character and enthusiasm has meant that I have thoroughly enjoyed working for him and still feel immensely honoured to have produced this brand new 18th Century costume for him.
It’s really unfortunate that I’m having to submit this work as a working progress. I really hoped that it would be finished for the proposed deadline, however it has been vital that I don’t rush this and technically Chris doesn’t need it until the end of June so I still have a good month to get everything finished to perfection. I believe I have submitted an efficient amount of work when considering problems I have encountered and I only have last minute things to finish and decoration to apply and I am more than happy to spend the next month doing it if it is necessary.
Over all a thoroughly enjoyed project which has experienced ‘ups’ and ‘downs’, taught me an awful lot, and left both myself and the client happy with the result.