Liz Hodgson
August 2007

Three months doesn’t seem to be a long time to acquire knowledge on such a vast subject, and as I have been told and have realised since, it is a life-long learning experience. The intensity of the course allowed me to focus solely on costume making; something that until then I had to fit in around my other obligations. The course built on my basic skills that I had acquired at university and through many hobbies, allowing me to develop these in a constructive environment.

Over the three months we made three costumes alongside which we created a portfolio of sewing skills, with samples, looking at the detail that can be created through seams, pockets (I love doing pockets!) and decoration. This structure to the course broke up the intensity of working solely on one project and allowed us to develop broader skills. The teaching was fantastic and as we progressed through the course the support was gradually pulled back to allow us to think for ourselves in the making of the garments.

I love all of the costumes I made for different reasons and there are also elements of them that I now know I could have done better but this is the way I learnt so much on all of them. I especially liked making the corsets, something that I have done before but have developed on the course, as it allowed us all to go out for tea and cake but still look slim in our costumes.

York was a great place to learn, especially in the summer and allowed us to visit its museums and art galleries for inspiration. The course location is right by the river on the edge of the city centre with a beautiful park just down the road.

Since finishing the course I have worked in various workrooms and on a variety of shows as Maker, Wardrobe Mistress and Dresser. I have met a lot of people and been shown a variety of skills allowing me develop further the skills I learnt on the course. My first job out of the course was a bit daunting but everyone was lovely and although I was a bit uncertain of how that particular workroom did things I soon learnt.

Places worked:

• Glyndebourne Opera House (work placement)
• Manchester Royal Exchange (work placement)
• York Theatre Royal
• Derby Playhouse
• Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
• Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield/ Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
• Angels Costumiers, London. (from April ’07)

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