Amy Ballew
Cutter/Draper
Passage
Draper
Designer: Keely Rutledge
First hands: Suzanne Janes & Becca Tocchi
Kent State University
Fall 2023
For this production, I draped the wrap tops for M and B as well as the dress for Q. This was my first time draping for multiple characters and performers.
"M" played by Adam Newborn
"B" played by Becca Bailey; "Q" played by Ariel Brinker
"M"
"B"
"Q"
The wrap top for M was a challenging puzzle to solve. It needed to look like it had been wrapped around the body but have the structure of a pieced garment. I tried draping in scale but the fullness was a lot to deal with so for efficiency of time and materials I switched to draping in half scale to figure out how to achieve the draped but structured look. This allowed me to solve the puzzle quickly and resulted in a good first mock up later. There were only minor adjustments after the mock up such as back length and adjusting the shoulder line. The final fitting only required finishings.
The kimono wrap top for B was relatively simple. This piece was the easiest to create and required no major adjustments after the mock up fitting. We cut openings in the sides and finished the edges like buttonholes to allow the belt to cinch the waist without interrupting the fullness of the sleeves.
The dress for Q underwent the most amount of alterations during the creation process. The asymmetrical skirt line had to be flipped to accommodate the need for a large hidden pocket on the performer's right side. The skirt started out with Worbla's KobraCast as a stiffener to allow the skirt to sit away from the body per the design but this interfered with the performer's movements and was redone with a medium-weight interfacing. The absence of the KobraCast created too much fullness at the front and under the designer's direction we changed the shape with pleating. A gold belt was added to help break up the top and bottom of the dress.
