This was a small sketch made with the help of my professor Wennie. This was made to figure out the different sections of the kite.
This is a snapshot of my process. I’m planing out how to build my membrane.
This was an image of where I needed to insert my cross bars. At first I had not inserted them into the kite’s membrane the way the shows they should be.
I transformed my shoe pattern and inserted it on the top of the kite. The shoe pattern is on both sides of the kite.
Close up of my cross bars
Reflection:
I struggled a lot with the construction of the kite. Mostly because I fell behind with the beginning of the process. We commend with the nine step drawing and went on from there. I was having trouble deciding what I wanted my kite to look like. On top of that I drew in inaccurately and it was not draw as a design drawing should be. Once I settled for the kite that I wanted to make. I transformed my kite’s shoe pattern by scaling it and making it bigger. This change the shape of the shoe pattern and morphed it too. I did not mind that and decided I wanted it to be on the side of my membrane. I had a lot of fun learning the different hems and stitches but the sewing machines made the sewing aspect of the project extremely difficult. I also had a hard time figuring out the tension that I wanted for my kite. I had to go back and insert more spares into my kite than i thought I would need and remove the unnecessary spares.
1. The polyhedron helped a lot with the co structuring of the kite. I was able to figure out what I needed for the membrane and figure out how to cut my panels and such. This also include where to sew and where to insert the spares in order for it to have its intended shape.
2. The drawing allowed me to visualize my kite. With out the drawing I think it would’ve been more difficult to plan out the kite and know the places that I needed to sew together.
3.My design changed when I realized I needed more material for my side triangles that I originally thought. Therefore my measuremesnrs changed not really my design.
4. My project didn’t come out the way I hoped that it would. I didn’t finish it on time and overall the tension was not right. The pockets kept on breaking and I was unhappy with the result of the kite. If I could do it again I would by managing my time better. Also I would focus on the tension more.
5.I enjoyed working with the materials that I had. It was different from sewing clothe. The carbon fiber roses were also a whole other material that I was not familiar with.
6.I basically learned that the smaller the rode the harder to bend and the longer the easier it is to bend. In order to make sure the kite was not being knocked down by the wind you need to make sure it sturdy yet flexible enough for the kite to fly.
7. I think the most enjoyable part of my project was being able to sew without any complications. That was pretty much rare but when it was working and when I made a hem correctly I felt good.
8.I learned that i don’t like building kites that much. I also learned that i don’t manage my time well and it’s something that I want to improve on.
