PDF:  letter jacket paper

Final Project- Letter Inspired Lined Jacket

            When I was little, I was known in my family as “kooky Katrina,” who always made up names for objects. Since I was about 2, I have been famous for the word “guquoi,” which is what I called water or liquids that I wanted to drink. Since I use to say lots of silly, made up words, I had a couple to choose from, but Guquoi has been the most memorable.

Guquoi was perfect for this project also because I love the organic, circular shape that the letter G makes. I had fun playing with how the letter can be written, like adding a long tail to it or making a big belly of the G, and cutting the letters out differently and playing with them and seeing how they work. After drawing many versions of a capital G onto muslin in all different sizes and shapes, I draped with these pieces. After many tries I finally came up with a design that was a complex, unrealistic, and confusing version of what I ended up making. On half scale, I morphed the drape many times, making it more wearable and ended up turning into what I have sewn today.

To this day, my family loves saying guquoi, At family dinners my sister will always ask me to pass the guquoi or ask me to get her a cup of guquoi when I’m in the kitchen. I chose this word because it’s silly and playful, which are two words that I love to have in mind when designing, and meaningful, reminding me of my family back in Boston that I do not get to see as much as I’d like to.