# Erika Van Horsten Krause

Cutter/Draper · Costume Technician · Instructor

Boston, MA · krauseen@gmail.com · https://erikakrausecostumes.com

I'm a Boston-based draper, costume technician and instructor. My passion is pattern creation and achieving the perfect fit.

## Experience

### Cutter/Draper and Part-Time Faculty, Emerson College, Department of Performing Arts
Current · Boston, MA

Pattern and build costumes for Emerson Stage productions, lead students through fitting notes, and teach Digital Draping (CLO3D) alongside traditional technique.

Productions: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Julius Caesar, The Great God Pan, Sweet Charity, Barbecue, Starting Here, Starting Now

### Draper, Arena Stage
Nov 2022–2025 · Washington, D.C.

Patterned every garment assigned to my team and led my first hand and stitchers through each build, working in fittings to keep actors comfortable while protecting the designer's vision.

Productions: Ride the Cyclone, The High Ground, Exclusion, POTUS, Swept Away, Mindplay, Tempestuous Elements, Unknown Soldier, The Migration, Jaja's African Hair Braiding

### Cutter/Draper, Olney Theatre Center
Sep 2021–Nov 2022 · Olney, MD

Sole draper: patterned and cut every build and guided apprentices through construction, flexing plans to have garments ready for fittings and tech.

Productions: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Beauty and the Beast

### First Hand, Washington National Opera
Jul 2018–Aug 2020 · Washington, D.C.

Cut the draper's patterns, stitched, relayed notes to stitchers and attended fittings and dress rehearsals across multiple operas on tight deadlines. Draper for Faust (2019), leading my own team.

Productions: Faust (draper, 2019), Tosca, Samson and Delilah

### Assistant Costume Shop Manager, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Aug 2017–Jul 2018 · Catonsville, MD

### Draper, Stonehill College
Mar 2017–Apr 2017 · Easton, MA

Productions: As You Like It

### Intern, then Junior Stitcher, Boston Ballet
Sep 2016–Dec 2016 · Boston, MA

Productions: The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty

### Costume Design Assistant, American Shakespeare Center
Aug 2016–Sep 2016 · Staunton, VA

Two Gentlemen of Verona, designer Tricia Emlet.

Productions: Two Gentlemen of Verona

### Draper, First Hand, Stitcher, Zeno Entertainment (Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire)
2014–2016 · Manheim, PA

Three summer seasons of 16th-century menswear for the faire's acting company: stitcher (2014), first hand (2015), draper (2016).

### First Hand, Barter Theatre
Apr 2013–May 2014 · Abingdon, VA

Productions: Kiss Me, Kate!, Les Misérables, A Streetcar Named Desire

### Wardrobe Supervisor, Northern Stage
Sep 2012–Mar 2013 · White River Junction, VT

Productions: Sleuth, Peter Pan, Born Yesterday

### Stitcher, Dresser, TriArts Sharon Playhouse
May 2012–Aug 2012 · Sharon, CT

### Costume Intern, Wolf Trap Opera
May 2011–Aug 2011 · Vienna, VA

Productions: Le Donne Curiose, The Tales of Hoffmann, Sweeney Todd

### Costume Shop Assistant, James Madison University, School of Theatre and Dance
Sep 2009–May 2012 · Harrisonburg, VA

## Education

- MFA, Costume Production, Boston University, 2017
- BA, Theatre, James Madison University, 2012 (Minor in Women's and Gender Studies)

## Special skills

- Draping and flat patterning
- Digital pattern drafting (CLO3D)
- Historic and modern tailoring
- 16th-century menswear
- Bridal
- Fabric manipulation
- Millinery
- Wig styling and maintenance
- Prosthetic application
- Casting and mold making
- Body padding and modification
- Shoe painting
- Wardrobe and dressing
- Industrial and domestic sewing and overlock machines
- Papier-mache and props
- Teaching

References available on request.