Creating and making with textiles

This term, we have been looking at using textiles as a medium for creativity. Using wool or natural fibres to create something wearable is an ancient art. Some of the best memories that I have, when growing up was of creating felt and dyeing fabrics. This was the inspiration for the project for my Creativity project.

After approaching our agricultural department for some raw alpaca fleece, the first step was to was this very dirty fleece. This was dirty, but a lot of fun!

After it had dried, we dyed the wool and then felted it. The felting process takes a lot of work, hot water and soap. It requires the wool to be placed into a tea towel after it was carded to get rid of the rest of the dirt. There was a lot of enthusiasm to have a go. Rubber gloves were essential to protect little hands! This took much longer than anticipated so we have used purchased felt to make our creations

The next step was to learn to sew using a needle and thread. To help this process in a safe way, we used a material that is called netting and plastic thread. This helped the students to understand how to sew, without using needles. It worked well and the students picked the ideas up quickly. 

The students then created their own designs for toys or arm bracelets. The students designed these themselves, and they had some very good ideas that were simple. The students drew these on paper and thought about how they might construct their design.

We then started to sew them together and decorate each of their designs. It has been a journey to see them coming together. The students have developed in their designs and have had some great ideas to incorporate into their designs.

The next step will be to incorporate lights into their designs so that they light up. We need to look at how circuits work and then use conductive thread to sew into their project. They will then attach lights to the conductive thread so that it lights up when needed. 

What have you learned or enjoyed the most about innovation and creativity groups?