Textiles

‘The principle of the design – the harmony, rhythm and balance are all the same with interior and fashion design’ – Venus Williams

PHILOSOPHY AND VISION

How do we bring out the creative spark to develop the artists and designers of the future? Colour and design are all around us, from our clothing and accessories, to our everyday surroundings. To have a creative vision to challenge and pursue can generate designs that withstand the test of time. Designers such as Lucienne Day, Cath Kidston and William Morris continue to influence modern textile designs with their iconic concepts. Developing and nurturing ideas, encouraging experimentation with materials and pushing the design boundaries, creating aesthetically beautiful work, Textiles Art and Design will inspire and grow the designers of the future.

Textile Art and Design is a great companion to all other subjects as creativity, imagination and problem-solving skills can give you great ideas. The Textiles Art and Design course offers the opportunity to develop skills over a broad range of textile and fashion techniques and applications, such as printing, weaving, mixed media, surface design and embroidery. Researching and developing ideas, encouraging creativity and independent working allows students to produce practical work for a number of projects, gaining important transferable skills. The GCSE course leads to further study in Fashion, Graphics, Art, Photography, and other practical applications.

Sew creative, sew original, sew inspirational!

Year 7

Learning the functions and how to use the sewing machine, Construction of fabric (woven and knitted fabrics) Hand stitching skills. Applique as a method of decoration using the sewing machine. Improving cutting skills and accuracy. Transfer printing as a method of decoration, how quilting is used to develop fabric. Importance of recycling in Textiles through creating a crazy patchwork sample. Developing an understanding into job roles and future careers.

Year 8

Mendhi (cultural decoration). Recapping on sewing machine knowledge. Methods of decorating fabric – Batik (cultural technique) using a batik stamp and learning how to use traditional tools, tie-dye and block printing. Suitability of fabrics for dye and paint (natural v manmade). Stencil printing, using skills to design and create a cushion cover. Stitching seams and hems to create a product.

Year 9

After honing our skills, we begin project style learning starting with a project inspired by Graffiti Art. Students research the artists Banksy and Karen Grenfell, creating samples that explore printing techniques such as stencilling, screen-printing and dyeing. Students also have the opportunity to further develop their hand stitching and sewing machine skills by creating samples of applique and reverse applique.

Year 10

Project focus - Pattern and Decoration: Exploring fabric and textiles of different cultures, festivals , and architecture. Creating a final outcome based on the cultural themed research and learning.

Independent researching into themes and developing choice and selection skills. Students select their own theme to create a project. Mock exam to create a final outcome.

Year 11

Developing and completing a sketchbook, designing and creating final outcomes. Based on students’ prior work, research and skills that they have developed over the time studying textiles.

Externally set assignment - students will select a theme set by the exam board and create a sketchbook of research and observations to inform the textile outcome that they make during the 10-hour practical exam.

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