Clothing Without Barriers: Integrating Accessibility into Apparel Recommender Systems

This design reaffirms the role of community in quiltmaking and brings a physical dimension to its influence on creativity and learning. The quilt is unique to its maker and shares an intrinsic connection with the collective creativity of the quilt along. Insights from this experience reveal new avenues for collaborative creativity and the need to study the design process within communal contexts. The experience of participating in the quilt along introduced me to foundation paper piecing, a technique that has since become a staple in my quilting process. The use of techniques and materials from previous workshops and quilt alongs underscores the cumulative impact of communal activities on skill development and creative exploration. This quilt embodies over a decade of personal learning and communal interaction. It reflects my continual learning to create a distinct creative voice “inside the block.”

For my design, I wanted to create a wearable piece of art. In class, we had learned about hempfabrics, but had not used it for any projects. Therefore, I felt this project was a perfect opportunity to gain a better understanding of hemp. I patterned these pants on my own, using my skill set from school and practical experience. Using junk mail, I taped everything down and started patterning. With the rough idea of a pant pattern, I drew the pants and then created the patches down the leg as a tribute to my love for abstract art. I let my pencil guide me around the paper to create my pattern. Creating a muslin prototype to start off, I learned how hard this patched look was going to be. Sewing some of the tighter curves was a struggle due to the number of times the fabric caught under the needle, and I had to rip it out and redo it. The prototype pants fit, and I was confident that I had the look I desired, so I cut the final fabric. For the final design, I used a 50% hemp, 50% cotton blend fabric. I prewashed the fabric to minimize shrinkage and for better movement when sewing. From there, the process should have beensimple. I’ve made pants in the past, but due to a severe storm, I lost power. To finish the process, I had to hand crank most of the top stitching and waist band. This process taught me that clothing be more than function; it can be a fun way explore creativity.