For my final project in my Textiles class, we were asked to create a garment, sculpture or installation with our created textile. I chose to make a hospital gown, and even though this was a difficult process it was very rewarding and I learned different art techniques; such as sewing.
Here is my artist statement.
HP
Hospital Gown
Textile Fabric
32 in x 30
My final project for Textile Cultures this term was to create a hospital gown out of my already created textile. My pattern on the textile directly relates to why I chose to make a hospital gown. The pattern symbolizes the hospital I was born in, being taken down, from a full structure to nearly nothing. The gown is a tribute to that hospital, in that it can contribute to a different hospital while carrying on the memory of the old one. My piece can be worn by putting it on like a normal hospital gown.
To create this gown, it took many different steps in order to accomplish it. First, I had to measure my body in order to find a good size to create the garment. Next, I had to sketch out a rough version of my gown as a blueprint, so that I could visualize my next steps. After that was created, I drew a life size version of the gown on a huge piece of paper. After some tweaking, I realized it could not just be a one piece, sleeveless gown. The concept was the same but I made it skinnier, and created a back and sleeves. Once the paper version of my gown was complete, I measured to see if I had enough fabric to create my gown on my fabric. Once that was sorted out, I pinned down my paper gown to the fabric, and began cutting out my piece. Once the front, back, and sleeves were cut out, I finally stitched them together to finish my gown.
Overall this process made me appreciate garment making a lot more than I used to, seeing the kind of work necessary to create a meaningful piece of clothing. Learning how to stitch was the most difficult part of the process, but I enjoyed the end result and am proud that I could make it.
