Facilitating beginning sewers in making the clothes that truly fit them
L. Looijen (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Ingrid Mulder – Mentor (TU Delft - Codesigning Social Change)
Holly McQuillan – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Emerging Materials)
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Abstract
This IPD master thesis describes the process of developing the product-service of Maki. Maki is a startup with the focus of making the life of a beginning sewer easier. Currently, beginning sewers have a learning journey full of struggles.
In this project, a design process is described that attempts to design an online learning platform for these beginning sewers. Through extensive user research, prototyping and exploring the field of sewing, the final concept was presented.
Maki is a platform that provides sew-alongs where the user learns hands-on through making garments. The user first gets to design how they want the garment to be through varying modular elements, like sleeves, or collars. After this the sew-along guides them through a process where they learn to draw the pattern and sew it together. This is done with steps in text, illustration and video, so the beginning sewer is fully supported. Since Maki users have the desire to learn how to make and design the clothing that truly fit them, the sew-along teaches them how to draw their own patterns. This is done with the help of a set of printable rulers. The rulers and sew–along will help them build a skill-set that can serve as a stepping stone in making anything they want later in their learning journey.
On the platform some collaboration with other users can take place. Users get the chance to inspire others with their work through sharing pictures of end-results. The sew-along also allows users to comment, so they can help each other out and a community of beginning sewers can grow.