Amy Ballew
Cutter/Draper
"Maureen" played by Shea Suffoletta
Rent
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Draper
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Designer: Victoria Mearini
First hand: Sophia Robson
Fabric Craft Head: Abbie Hagen
Kent State University
Spring 2024
For this production, I draped the custom printed knit-wear top for Maureen's "Over the Moon" scene and Angel's vinyl "Pussy Galore" trenchcoat.
"Angel" played by Felix Albino and "Tom Collins" played by Dante Murray.
Maureen’s bodice was my first use of stretch wear for a production. The body was drafted as a leotard to prevent the bodice from riding up during movement by the performer. The sleeves were patterned with extra fullness which was controlled above the elbow with elastic. This piece included pattern matching which was also a first in production for me. Due to an unexpected production timeline shift the completed garment needed to be done a few weeks prior to dress rehearsal and we successfully met that change with minimal stress.
Angel’s trench coat was built from a transparent vinyl, which I had never worked with before. Due to the nature of vinyl and this vinyl’s transparency there was no room for error during seaming. To avoid any errors at that stage I took additional time with my patterning, created clear communication about how this should be constructed, and did many test samples before starting on the coat. We used a clear vinyl for the mockup which we later discovered was difficult to see over the bright jumpsuit in fitting photos. One challenge to this process was that my first hand and I did not have adjoining work hours. I would leave typed instructions or notes about what I needed her to complete and she did a fantastic job at completing the work without me present.
