ASSIGNMENT 02 - INITIATING FINAL PRODUCT LINE

In this assignment, I am translating my earlier research findings into functional, adaptive garments. The goal is to experiment with various functional design elements while addressing consumer pain points and filling market gaps. Working independently, I will focus on creating innovative design solutions tailored to the needs I identified.

On the 23rd of October, we made a visit to NASOM center in Batu Caves. The National autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) is a society formed in 1986 by a group of parents and professionals with the aim to deliver lifespan services to the community of persons suffering from autism.

We spent 3 hours on our visit where they had given us a tour around the place.

There were many interactive elements around the rooms to keep the kids engaged. Some include rooms with different functions. One of it that caught my attention was this light tube that you had to pump for the bubbles to rise up the liquid.

We had also carried out a game session with the kids to observe their behavior, movement and characteristics that may help in the design making process.

At the end of the session, we had a Q&A session with the caretakers at NASOM about the kids preference in clothes to help in designing adaptive clothing.

After the visit, I decided to list down the main pain points that I had observed from the children at the NASOM centre.

I concluded to 4 main pain points that I had observed during the visitation which include:

1. Seamless Clothings

Some of the kids have really sensitive skin that they find discomfort of the seams of clothes touching their skin. Although most of the kids in the center have learned to live with it, there are still a number that’s not too comfortable.

2. Fidgeting

Autistic kids often fidget as a way to self-regulate sensory input, manage anxiety, or focus their attention. The caregivers mentioned that it would be good to add that onto our designs but not to make it too obvious as they would like clothes that looked normal.

3. Weigthed Clothing

Although weighted clothing isn’t exactly suitable for Malaysia’s weather, some kids have it in the form of blanket (safety blanket). They feel secure and like a warm hug with weighted clothings.

4. Material

Preferably lightweight materials such as cotton and their jersey material. Their uniform at the NASOM center was also from jersey material as it was easy to put on and also airy.

During my ideation stage, I came up with simple solutions that could tackle the needs of the children at the centre.

For my first solution, I really wanted to add a fidgeting element to the design because I felt that not only people with ASD would love this but others too that suffer from similar circumstances.

Fidgeting would help an individual to distract themselves from a stressful situation.

For this design, I decided to add the fidgeting element (stress ball) to the cuff sleeves of the design.

For my second idea initiation, I wanted to create a simple day to day outfit that was fun and functional. I decided to design a pair of loose fitted pants with a ton of pockets. The idea of the pockets is because some ASD kids love to bring an item with them all around and tend to lose it from time to time as there is nowhere to place the item for them.

For the third solution, I wanted to create an oversized hoodie. This is because some kids don't like flashing lights around them or even get overstimulated by their surroundings so the hoodie would help to block out the stimulation.

Besides that, the addition of a single box pleat at the back of the design to not restrict their movement as they're unable to sit still.

That's all of my ideation for the time being but I was only able to test 2 of my designs as there was a time crunch to the visitation stage.

Without further delay, I decided to start my pattern drafting for my first idea which was the fidget element in the cuff sleeves.

For the measurements, I followed the measurement of a 9-year-old. Firstly, I drafted the bodice of LOOK 1.

Bodice pattern: Basic bodice with facing for detachable zip & long sleeves with cuffs for insertion of stress ball.

Pattern pieces:

Front basic bodice with facing.

Back basic bodice (denim yoke cut) + facing

Sleeves and cuff sleeves.

Fabric used for trial: stretchy jersey material from Mayamode (red)

Firstly, I overlocked the back pattern pieces (yoke) together creating a box pleate then overlocket the front and back pieces together. After that, I attached the sleeves of the pattern and proceeded to sew the facing together with the detachable zip of the garment using a normal straight stitch. After attaching the zip pieces, I wasn't sure about how to install the cuffs together to the sleeves.

For the cuffs, I had to cut 2 cuff sleeve patterns for each side to be able to insert the foam (as a fidget element) - squishy. I had placed the foams in the cuffs first before sewing the edges of the foam so that it doesn't move around the fabric.

Lastly, I had overlocked the cuffs to the sleeves.

Front

Back

The cuff of the sleeves that I had attached the fidgeting element. (Had to sew at the sides of the foam for it to stay in place.

Attached the facing and zip using normal straight stitch.

LOOK 2 (TRIAL)

Pants pattern: Straight-cut trousers, with half elastic waistband, cargo pockets (2 different sizes), back pocket and side pocket.

Pattern drafting:

I had followed the pattern measurements from the same as above.

Front and back of trousers pattern

Waistband and zip pattern pieces.

Cargo pocket (small & big), side pockets and back pocket patterns.

I had then cut out the pattern pieces of the pants using the fabric that was provided in mayamode library (cotton blend - purple)

I had sewn the cargo pockets using the pattern that I had drafted

Cargo pockets

After that I had attached the side pockets to the front panel of the pants and back pockets to the back panel of the pants.

After having both panels ready, I proceeded to sew the zip onto the pants front panels.

Zips attachment

The final panel was sewn (back panel) to the front panel and then I had attached the bigger cargo pockets at the center of the side seamline of the pants.