Description: This project consisted of a set of requirements such as: a cantilever, a fibonacci sequence, zipper, and shared space. My project is an umbrella raincoat that can fit an adult/guardian and a child while holding things or doing things under the rain with a heavy duty raincoat covering both of them. The cantilever mechanism is incorporated in a way when this umbrella part of the raincoat expands and compresses while moving the waistband up and down the waist. Here is a video of how the mechanism works (sadly it did not work as well as I thought even though it worked perfectly on paper): Mechanism (trial)
Project title The Pink! Umbraincoat
1. What is the wearable form? (garment – torso-oriented) and what does this transform into? (bag/table/etc.) An umbrella/raincoat.
2. What is the intended function of this SHARED SPACE? Mother or Father/Child
4. Where is the Fibonacci sequence in the design and how did using the forms change your project? Hood/it made the design look more technical and cool to wear, almost like a crocodile.
5. Where is the zipper? To unzip the front of the bottom veil for more room and space for the child to run around if it is only light rain and you don’t want to encage him/her in for too long.
6. Where is the cantilever, and explain what it does and which type you used (tension or compression)? The cantilever is within the umbrella part of the raincoat where you can pull up or push down the waist band for the umbrella to expand or compress. I used compression for my cantilever.
7. What materials were used and what was repurposed? Unfortunately, I did not repurpose a lot of things for this project, other than my carbon fiber rods that were used to create the cantilever part of the umbrella system in the design plan (which was usually made for kites) because I wanted it to be water proof and in a larger scale. Thus, I used vinyl fabric (pink and transparent) and hand/machine-sewing (20% and 80% of my project respectively) to put everything together. I also used zipper and velcro for closing the bottom veil and velcro for the waistband.
8. How much did your project cost and how many hours did you spend making it? ~$70 (exactly my budget)/32+ hours spanning from three days sewing and putting it together, and another two days planning.
9. What was your original garment or object /inspiration and how did drawing and pattern-making help with the process? My inspiration came from the fact that the cantilever had to be in the project, and I thought of an umbrella. I knew I wanted to make something of a raincoat because I find umbrellas quite a hassle when having to hold things and holding an umbrella (sometimes it breaks when the wind or rain is too hard) and especially if a mother or father has a child they want to take care of but aren’t able to with so many things around, I wanted to make it easier by having the raincoat be encased around both the adult and the child while it being heavy duty and with other stuff involved. / Planning and pattern making are the most important steps of making, especially since my had and my measurements were quite accurate in the most case, because they make it a lost easier and solid when working on the final project. Though I went through countless mistakes but going back to base one was always a better idea than trying to figure things out on the spot within a limited amount of time.
10. What changed about your design? At first, I wanted it to be an umbrella skirt that can be pulled up and transformed into an umbrella raincoat; however, that would not work because of the amount of sewing and attaching and the cantilever mechanism will not work since the waist band would’ve have to adjust to the whole body which was hard since materials were limited. Also, I wanted a zipper going all the way around the veil so that you can take it on and off whenever; however, I found that there were no possible zippers that long and it was very hard sewing it together, especially when my vinyl was thicker than usual, so I had to change my plan by the limit of supplies and revamp the project.
11. What did you learn about materials and how they can be used, or how they connect to each other? I learned that vinyl is definitely not the most easy material to work with but it is fun especially when you have a clear idea of what to do and how. The edges to not fray so its a cleaner cut and its simpler to sew (there’s no hemming involved). The carbon fiber rods are useful when you don’t have anything else to connect things and thus my cantilever mechanism was used with these rods because they are bendable too.
12. What was the most enjoyable part of the project? I loved the fabric I chose (especially the fluorescent pink vinyl) and picking it out was definitely the most fun part of this project.
13. What was the most challenging part? The most challenging part was making everything work out and sewing through all the things because it was a thicker material and a less flexible one so many things had to be hand-sewn which hurt my fingers but made them stronger.
14. What are you most satisfied with? Though I didn’t quite succeed in the cantilever mechanism, it was exactly how I imagined it to look, with the hood, the umbrella and veil, therefore I am most satisfied with how much effort I put in making it look like it is for heavy duty reign as someone is doing things under rain.
15. What did you learn about yourself through this project? I learned that through all the frustration of whining, fake crying, and pouting, I have a strong passion and am able to pull through. I am so proud of myself persevering and I hope I will continue to have this strong heart and mindset throughout my life.