Technical Portfolio
While taking classes in my undergraduate at University of California, Irvine, I learned technical skills to inform my Costume Design. I created pieces for several class projects and learned valuable techniques in creating, altering, and assembling costumes.
While taking my Costume Crafts class, we had the opportunity to create an item of our choosing out of leather. I chose to make this gothic purse out of leather.
I started by first designing the bag and creating the pattern I would use to cut my panels out of leather. I then attached the silver hardware to each side of the bag. After, I used Barge to glue a stabilizer to each face of the bag. I then sewed each piece of leather except for the zipper piece.
I put a red silk lining inside the bag and sewed it in with the zipper piece. I then created the strap of the bag and attached them with o-rings on either side of the bag.
Another project we worked on for that class was making a mask with thermo-plastics. I started the project by sketching my design for the mask based on a vampire bat.
After creating the design, we created a mold of our faces, using an alginate (Alga-Safe) and plaster bandages.
After creating the mold, we let it sit and poured more plaster into the mold in order to create the cast.
We then sanded our casts to get rid of bumps, bubbles, and imperfections to make the face easier to work with.
Then, we started forming the mask on the cast with clay. Using sculpting tools, I made my design on my cast and prepared it for the thermal plastics. I did not put aluminum foil on it, and instead used clear shoe glaze to separate the thermal plastic from the sculpt. Next time, I will use aluminum foil to cover the sculpt to preserve it better and prevent the thermal plastics and clay from melting together.
Afterwards, I laid layers of thermal plastics (Wonderflex) on the mold. I first heated them up in a hot pot of water and carefully placed each sheet onto my sculpt. I built up the sheets of Wonderflex on the sculpt, creating texture with different pieces and sculpting tools. Then, after the mask was created, I hand-painted it with acrylic paint to further emphasize the dark and fantastical aesthetic I was going for with the mask.
For our last project in the Costume Crafts class, we were tasked with using foam to create a piece of armor. I decided to create a gothic bracer. I started by sketching my design and wrapping my arm in plastic wrap. I created the shape of the bracer using painters tape on top of the plastic wrap. I then cut out the shape and trimmed til the size was to my liking.
I then cut out the piece of foam, using a heat gun to form it to my arm. I then sketched out my design with silver sharpie and built up texture with foam clay. I then used sculpting tools to give texture to the clay. I then used silver and black paint to paint the foam and create an aged look to the armor. After, I created the arm bands to secure the bracer to my arm, using buckles, leather scraps, and velcro to secure.
In a project for my Textiles and Dyeing class, we were asked to practice repainting leather shoes, I chose this worn red boot as my canvas. I started by removing the finish on the shoe using acetone and an old t-shirt. After removing the finish all over the shoe, I went in with Angelus leather paint to cover panels of the shoe in black, mapping out the sections I wanted to keep red with painters tape.
I then painted over the red aspects of the shoe that I kept from the original boot, in order to give more vibrancy and to cover up some of the scuffs. I then painted over the edges of red in a lace-like detailing to bring a more seamless edge as well as adding my gothic flair to the boot design.
I then finished the shoe with a clear shoe polish to set my paint and to protect it from scuffs.
Finished product!
I dipped this tank top in a bath of Ritz Dye to create a weathered and distressed look, following with a piece of sandpaper to distress. I painted distressed spots with watered down acrylic to create a worn, burned shirt.
I dipped these shorts first in the dye bath to give a ombré stain. Then I used sandpaper to create holes like a zombie had been crawling on the ground. I then painted these holes using watered down acrylic.
Using a stencil and an airbrush, I practiced airbrushing with this shirt.
Utilizing silk pulled taught with my embroidery hoop, I painted this moth’s outline with gold gutta. I then utilized Jacqard Textile Paint on Silk in a watercolor technique to paint the various colors in the moth.
We also learned how to wrap and dye muslin using a shibori technique. I wrapped the muslin around the pole, then wrapped nylon rope around the pole. I scrunched the muslin bit by bit to give texture as I wrapped.
I then dipped my pole into a dye bath and heat set it to keep the color. This is the finished piece unraveled.
I drew these bats onto a piece of cotton fabric using a white pencil. I then used Decolorant to give it this white look.