Taking a trip to the local Spirit Halloween or ordering a package on Amazon may be the norm for Campustown Halloween, but some students and community members took to the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab on Friday for a more creative approach.
Funded by research grants and the University, C-U Community Fab Lab is the only makerspace on campus that is open to everyone — not just students — according to graduate assistant Zadia Valenze.
For $5, DIY Halloween costume workshop attendees had access to C-U Community Fab Lab’s wide array of materials such as fabric, glue, printers, sewing supplies and more. They also had staff members to guide them through their projects.
Samantha Jones, event organizer and graduate student studying design for responsible innovation, said she grew up in a family that loved Halloween and would always make their own costumes.
“I see so many people every year who are like, ‘I’m a minion and I wore a yellow shirt,’ and I’m like, ‘We gotta do better than that, kids,’” Jones said. “This is kind of an opportunity for people who maybe don’t have a costume or don’t have a ton of money, i.e. college students, to use some of our free supplies.”
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She recommended people start at places like Goodwill or craft stores, such as Hobby Lobby or The Idea Store in Lincoln Square Mall, to find supplies and knick-knacks great for costumes and other projects.
Jones was also designing a costume of her own: Cowboy Curtis from “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” She dyed a white button-down shirt pink, added trim and a bandana and paired it with a vest and cowboy hat. She coordinated costumes with her partner, Nick Getz, who was also there working on a costume for Cowboy Curtis’ partner, Miss Yvonne.
Getz bought a brand new pink dress from the thrift store and used materials at C-U Community Fab Lab to reimagine the piece.
“We met each other in costume, so there’s not a better day to celebrate,” Jones said.
Mengmeng Li, graduate student studying advertising, said her friend saw a poster advertising the event at the University YMCA, and they decided to go together. Li said she showed up not knowing what she wanted to dress up as.
Jones suggested she look online for inspiration, and after looking on social media, Li decided she would dress up as a toilet paper roll. She used cardboard and white felt to bring the idea to life.
Valenze said C-U Community Fab Lab offers a variety of events throughout the semester. Last week, there was an event to teach people a Japanese water marbling technique for binding books. They also hosted a poster and sticker creation workshop earlier in the semester.
“They could bring in their own artwork to make stickers, or they could bring in artwork they wanted to make a larger poster out of,” Valenze said. “There was a band that came in that wanted to make a poster for themselves to hang in their rooms … It was really cool.”
According to Valenze, C-U Community Fab Lab plans to host an ornament design event using laser cutters later this semester.
For the DIY costume workshop, Valenze said six people signed up ahead of time, but anyone was free to come from 12-3 p.m.
C-U Community Fab Lab has drop-in hours Monday through Thursday from 5-9 p.m. and Sunday from 1-6 p.m. for students and community members interested in creating art projects. Students can also take classes through the School of Information Sciences, taught in the C-U Community Fab Lab.
