Project question:
“What does soft goods become when measurement, precision, and fit are intentionally removed from prototyping?”
Soft goods design usually centers precision, measurement, and correct fit, assuming objects must support and properly serve the body. My project challenges that logic by removing measurement and control and instead using blind patterning, guesswork, and intuition to treat misalignment and disproportion as valid design methods, especially in relation to the head, which typically demands exactness. Through weekly experiments and two final head oriented pieces, I will explore what happens when care and correctness give way to looseness, humor, misfit, and wonder.
guiding questions
What happens when precision is removed from soft goods design?
How does the object behave when accuracy isn’t the goal?
How can the head be approached with uncertainty instead of correctness?
soft goods vs. unfitted method
→ Measurements/fitting
→ Patternmaking
→ Construction details
→ Order of operations
→ Blind patterning (just draw… or sew…)
→ Cut however much fabric you want (guesswork)
→ Assemble however you want (intuition)
→ Make edits along the way! (have fun!)
testing processes
- Cutting without rulers
- Scaling pieces unpredictably
- Assembling scraps
- Creating forms with imagined, not measured, relationships to the head
- Documenting outcomes + patterns that recur
key findings
- repetition as a tool
Repeating simple shapes made blind patterning more manageable
→ let improvisation feel grounded
- experience in scale
Before: Scale is determined by measurement to ensure fit
After: Without measurement, scale became intuitive
→ Oversized pieces feel overwhelming or humorous
→ Tiny pieces feel fragile or awkward
the head as a site
usually...
→ requires a very precise fit
→ Demands accuracy
→ Follows strict pattern logic
In this project…
→ Relationship to the head is speculative
→ Fit is guessed, not measured
→ Opens space for the object to grow
potential for applying the method
→ Scale and misalignment can create intuitive, rather than functional, relationships to the body
→ Removing measurement opens new forms and new ways of thinking about care, support, and intimacy
final objects
head oriented object 1
head oriented object 2
