Background and Motivation

This project focuses on the intersection of clothing and fabric with computation and engineering. During my time on campus, I worked as a costume shop assistant, sewing, measuring, and altering clothes for campus productions. During the past year in quarantine at home, I have continued this passion for craft and innovation via upcycling clothes -- for example, I turned a pair of my father's forgotten corduroys into a dress. As an Engineering student, I hope to combine this passion for innovation with my passion for technology and knowledge of computation.

Working alongside Professor Ganapati of the Engineering Department at Swarthmore College, we have discussed ways to bridge the gap between these two passions of mine, with ideas focused on using computation to take in measurements from an article of clothing and create sewing patterns to upcycle it. In 2017, nearly 17 million tonnes of textiles were thrown into landfills or burned. Combined with today's fast fashion, I believe this project serves an important purpose in creating accessible ways to upcycle clothes that would otherwise be thrown away or burned. Likewise, I plan to continue my work as a costume shop assistant when I return to campus, and I believe this would be helpful in repurposing the hundreds of costumes kept in storage.