Observations & Interviews
Person A:
Wanted to make cosplay outfit.
Choose which patterns were ones desired and that fit silhouette from pattern book.
Calculated pattern.
A is a recently-graduated female who makes costumes for cosplay. She has some previous non-sewing costume-making experience (duct tape costumes) but very little actual sewing experience. Sewing experience is limited to making small alterations to existing clothing that is similar to the desired look but must be additionally altered or trimmed.
She self-describes her sewing as terrible-- "You should just look at my stitches"-- and makes up for it by finding clever ways to hide her poor stitching. She also is unfamiliar with how to handle various kinds of fabric, having at one point actually broken a needle while trying to stitch fur to faux snakeskin. In addition, because she did not know how to use a thimble, she found herself pricking her hands very frequently why trying to stitch these materials togetherDescribed difficulty of adjusting patterns without mathematical knowledge of patterns.
Person B:
B is a young college female with minimal previous sewing experience (knew only the back stitch). B was making a plushie dog from a DIY kit purchased in Chinatown. The kit came with paper patterns, pieces of felt, stuffing thread and needle, no instructions, and labels written in Korean that she couldn't read.
...