Tag: Specialisms

Miniature Model

Markus has been making a model farmyard for an external film project. The plan is to show the landscape now as a pig farm then 400 years prior as a lush and biodiverse forest.


It’s interesting talking with him, I assumed miniature makers were very specialist but he said he’s not necessarily had any training or done this extensively before. He’s worked with the theatre and Oliver a lot before and has learnt as he’s done various projects with them.

Me and some other interns who were on a production course were asking how Oliver got into puppet making and this work of theatre making. He said he slowly fell into it and developed his skills. He recommended if we want to get more into puppet and theatre making that we should just do what we can in our own time and offer our skills to friends or local projects, talk to others about it, post about our work online and generally let it be known that we do this kind on work.

Pattern cutting for puppets

I was asked to help out Markus making the bodies for the mother and librarian puppets as he was having trouble figuring out how to pattern an hourglass form. I used my costume cutting knowlege to sketch a basic bodice bloack for the pattern, as if making a mannequin. I adjusted the shapes to match the design and proprtions compared to the father.

Mother pattern ver1; darts at the shoulder and waist to create the hourglass form.
Darts taped closed to create shape
Pattern ver 1 compared to fathers body – its too narrow as the father has side pannels meanwhile mother is based on a bodice black made of just a front and back
Pattern version 2 ; still needs to be a little wider and slightly less sloped shoulders
Final pattern for the mother.
Final puppet body
Body with costume – i draped the fabric over and sewed on the turtle neck collar

For the librarian character, they wanted a similar shape to the mother, but a little fuller and with a slight hunch back. I remebered on of the tailoring books i used at kingsleys had an extemsive section on pattern adjustments for different body types so referenced that to create the hunchback pattern.

ROH Journal 21/2/25 – Last day

Today was my last day in the menswear department of the Royal Opera House costume production department. I wanted to use the day to answer any last burning questions about the work they do and part of that was asking for a tour of some of the other departments.

During my internship I’ve used my lunch breaks to explore the building. Throughout the FRO and BOH there are lots of costumes, hats and props from past production on display so it was a great insight into the variety of work done at the ROH. Ballet and Opera are very new to me, I’ve never seen an opera and only 2 ballet, but I’m slowly building a repertoire. I love how decorative the productions can be, previously I thought opera to be stuffy and old fashioned but the productions at the ROH shoes how dynamic it can be.

The Cinderella mouse costume and head in particular is so inspirational. I love his fancy little tailored historical jacket + silly mouse head 🙂

Costume designs for Into the Woods
Final costume for Into the Woods
Hat on display in Foyer, from Alices Adventures Underground 2020
Don Quixote designs and fabric swatches on display outside the womenswear workroom
Military style embellishments on display outside the menswear workroom
Tutu construction and embellishment samples on display outside the womenswear workroom
Cinderella Mouse costume on display in foyer

At lunch I also tried to peak into some of the other departments (often they were busy and I got too nervous about disturbing work/ the team on their break so I didn’t go into any). Lucy was very kind to introduce me to some of the people working in the Dye/print shop, Hats & Jewelry, Props and Revivals departments.

After seeing it’s behind the scenes in the props department, I’d really like to see Die Walküre but sadly cant afford the tickets. 🙁 Fingers crossed it will be available for streaming on Young RBO

Lecture: Project Mangaement, IP, My Career Journey

This lecture was interesting though felt a little fragmented

I particularly enjoyedthe personal skills map, its made me consider all the things ive done before uni and the skills i learnt. Ive realised the different avenues i pursued before changing paths have given me a variety of valuable skills and a clear story to my creative perspective. However they also highlight gaps in skills such as communication, networking, writing.

Laying out my past in this way also hIghlight how interconnected my personal life/ mental health is with my career. Growing up i was taught prioritising personal life/mental health comes at the expense of your career but the times when ive faltered professionaly have been due to poor choices that ignore my wellbeing.

Planning Moving Forwards – January 2025

Currently im still a Kingsleys. My technical sewing have improved a lot but its limited by how fragmented the work is; I’ve done no pattern cutting, design breakdown, collars, pockets ect.

  • Its difficult to get a proper understanding how a jacket is made & why that method is used when only working on small parts of it.
  • Tailoring has been my main specinlison within costume for about abot I year but I’ve decided I dont want to only specialise in it. – its a great skill to have but I’m starting to find it a little boreing:
  • I miss decorative work, womens wear, textile work, crafting work
  • For placements after ROH I want to get experience in sonething new, and non tailoring: