Theater 397T - ST-Topics/Costume Technology

This class is designed for students with some stitching experience who are interested in exploring the various skills that make up the world of costume technology for theater. Repeatable for credit, this is primarily a hands-on technical class, alternately focusing on construction methods, textile identification, fabric dyeing and painting techniques, pattern-making through draping on a dress form and flat-patterning, tailoring, fitting and pattern alteration, and other costuming craft work, such as millinery and mask-making. Which of these areas are focused on will be determined by the needs and level of the students involved. Projects are geared to familiarize students with techniques commonly used in all theatrical Costume Shops and are approached as if an apprenticeship, culminating in a portfolio of both projects and process. Production expectations of accuracy and efficiency are emphasized. If enrolled in a subsequent semester, the level of difficulty of the various repeated topics will increase, as well as the expectations of the skillfulness of the completed project.