Pattern Magic: 3D Rendering of Archival Sewing Patterns

Clothing is a complex and sensitive record of history—evincing the interplay of culture, technology, and artistry. At the same time, textile goods are notoriously difficult to conserve and display; in this context, paper sewing patterns provide a valuable record of historical clothing and methods of clothing manufacture. Our project, “Pattern Magic,” aims to dramatically improve the quantity and quality of historical garments available for research and creative use by (1) creating a database of 3D garments reconstructed from 60K historical patterns (earliest from the 1850s) available in the Commercial Pattern Archive (held at the University of Rhode Island) and (2) developing user-friendly tools which allow individuals and libraries to use our methods to contribute to this or other databases.

About the Speakers

Noah Toyonaga is a physicist and artist. They earned their PhD in physics from Harvard University in May 2025. They are drawn to the mysteries and delights of the everyday, which they explore, and try to explain, through theory, computation, and experiment—driven by geometric intuition.  As a Stanford Science Fellow (2025-2028), Noah studies the geometry and mechanics of soft membranes decorated by seams, a geometric motif that underlies the patterns drafted by a tailor and the microscale mechanisms evolved by single-celled organisms alike.

Conlan Olson is a PhD student in computer science at Columbia University advised by Professors Toni Pitassi and Rich Zemel. They study social aspects of computation, focusing on algorithmic fairness, privacy, and applications of computational methods to the humanities. Their background is in math, theoretical computer science, and education.

Lunch at 11:45 a.m. for in-person attendees

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