Amy Ballew
Cutter/Draper
The Wiz
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Draper
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Designer: Abbie Hagen
Belt Buckle Fabrication: Morgan Bedilion
Kent State University
Spring 2025
For this production of The Wiz, I draped the jumpsuit and cape worn by the Wiz, played by Savon Harris.
Designer Rendering
The construction inspiration for the jumpsuit came from my costume shop manager. She owned an Elvis jumpsuit worn in a contortionist act and allowed me to borrow it to understand its structure. After a conversation with the designer, we agreed to base the structure and stretch of The Wiz’s jumpsuit on the borrowed Elvis suit.
Mock Up Fitting
Mock Up Fitting with Cape - Front
Mock Up Fitting with Cape - Back
Both pieces were entirely flat patterned due to the nature of the style and the size of the performer. For the mock-up, I kept the top and bottom separate for fitting, which eventually caused some additional work in the final fabric. A successful part of the jumpsuit is that the main fabric had a fair amount of stretch to it, so I flatlined any pieces that did not need to stretch and had a perfect match for areas that I wanted to stretch. Examples of this include underarm gussets and a hidden stretch waistband under the attached belt. The belt buckle was fabricated by one of my students using 3D modeling and printing.
