Contents
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Part 01– Design
Design process
Factors affecting design
The work of designers
Designer profile
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2
8
9
10
Part 02– Projects
The built environment: Interior design
Design situation: Soft furnishing for your home
Products: Industrial design
Design situation: A child’s toy
Information and communications: Promotional design
Design situation: Leisurewear logo
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Introduction
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28
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Part 04– Tools
Tools for textiles
The functions of textiles tools
Case study: Collette Dinnigan
Summary and Review
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Part 05– Techniques
Techniques for textiles
Textiles care and maintenance
Summary and Review
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Part 06– Evaluation
Textiles technology quiz
Project evaluation
Evaluation form: Soft furnishing for your home
Evaluation form: A child’s toy
Evaluation form: Leisurewear logo
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Glossary
Index
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Part 03– Materials
Fabric: Characteristics and properties
Fibres
Innovation profile: Sailmaking
Summary and Review
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The built environment:
Interior design
Design situation: Soft furnishing for your home
mass-produced: goods
made in large
quantities, usually on
an assembly line
Your family has decided to redecorate one room of your home, and has asked
for your expertise in designing and making a distinctive, hand-crafted item for this
room. The item must be made from textile materials.
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individually crafted:
items made on a very
small scale; they are
often only one of a kind
Many soft-furnishing items for the home are mass-produced. However, the trend
today is to seek home furnishings that are more individual and that reflect
something about the person or people who live in the home. Individually crafted
items are made for this purpose.
Soft furnishings often reflect the personality of the person who selected them.
Specifications
• Design an individually crafted soft-furnishing article for use in your home.
• Produce the article you have designed, using textile materials.
• The article must incorporate the use of at least one method of fabric
decoration, such as patchwork; appliqué; quilting; hand and machine
embroidery; fabric paints, pens and crayons; trims such as buttons, trinkets,
tassels, braid, ribbon, lace, frills, ruffles, beads and sequins. More than one
method may be used, including methods other than those listed above.
• Complete a folio showing all aspects of the design process, including regular
evaluation during the design and production, as well as an in-depth final
evaluation of your product.
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Presentation
• Present your article as if it is to be sold to the general public, either at a local
craft market or in an interior-design store. Label it with fibre content, washing
instructions, manufacturer’s name and content details.
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• Choose how to present your folio: it may be completely or partially computergenerated, or presented with more emphasis on design, using other mediums.
Home-furnishing stores cater for people to select individually crafted soft furnishings for their
homes, as well as items that are mass-produced.
Criteria for success
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The aims of the project are to explore the many different forms of textile products,
how they can be used in combinations with non-textile products, and how they
can be used to make items, such as soft-furnishing articles for the home. See
Part 6, ‘Evaluation’, page 61 for further information on evaluation.
If you have some experience in working with textiles, you might be a little
adventurous. Try to design an article that uses some techniques you are
competent in as well as allowing you to try new techniques and learn new skills.
folio tip
To consider: List
examples of different
soft-furnishing items.
What soft-furnishing
items could I use in my
home? Which room do
I want the item to go in?
Inspirational research:
Look at magazines,
books and brochures
displaying pictures
of modern soft
furnishings. Is there
something that inspires
you?
Technical research:
Look in books and on
the Internet to discover
a fabric decoration that
you like, and are able
to do.
project tip
Design an item that
takes into consideration
your own skill level. If
you have basic skills in
handling textile
materials, select a
simple project; if your
experience with textile
materials is more
advanced, choose a
larger, more challenging
project.
Don’t forget your time
constraints for the
project. Make sure you
know exactly when the
design task is due and
how much time you have
to work on it.
Remember to think
about your budget for
the project. Consider
using recyclable or
reusable materials.
Projects
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Innovation
profile
Sailmaking
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In the very early days of sailmaking, sail cloth was constructed from
woven flax. Then, during the 1800s, cotton became the preferred fibre.
In the mid-1950s, polyester fibres started replacing cotton fibres in
sailmaking. These days, most sails are constructed using woven fabric
made from polyester fibres. Polyester has excellent resiliency, high
abrasion resistance, high UV-ray resistance, high flex strength, as well
as being relatively inexpensive. The fibre also has a low absorbency
rate, meaning it will not absorb a lot of water and it will dry very quickly.
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During the 1970s, a new innovation, laminated sail cloth, was
introduced in yachting. It was first used in only high-performance yacht
racing, such as for the America’s Cup race, but has gradually been
introduced into local yacht and sailing clubs.
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The laminating material used for laminated sail cloth is often made
from a modified polyester fibre. When the polyester fibre has been
modified, the properties of the resulting laminate are also modified.
A great benefit, therefore, of using laminated sail cloth is that different
types of laminating materials can be used to produce sails with a
specifically required property: some polyester fibres are changed to
make them particularly strong, others are made to be stretchy. These
fibres can then be used to make laminates, and then sails, with extra
strength or stretch, depending what property is required.
However, sometimes in modifying the fibres, other properties of the
resulting laminate are also affected. For example, a laminated fabric
made from modified polyester may be very strong, but it may not be very
resistant to UV-ray damage. This is one negative aspect of sails produced
using laminated fabrics. One of the other more serious problems occurs
when sails are made in layers. All sails develop mildew, but when they
are made in layers, such as laminated sails, there is a higher chance that
mildew will form between the layers and be very difficult to remove. So,
not every aspect of the innovation is positive, which means people are
continually pushed to come up with new ways of getting around the
problems.
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An important property of most sail cloth is strength to withstand big winds.
Further research
1 Suggest why flax was a fibre used in the early days of sailmaking.
2 Discuss why cotton may have been the preferred fibre used for sailmaking in the 1800s.
3 Discuss the reasons behind the implementation of laminates as a way of producing sail
fabric.
4 Explain how the specific end use of the sail may determine exactly how the sail will be
produced.
5 Complete an Internet search to determine the latest types of sails available.
Materials
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Case study
Collette Dinnigan
Collette Dinnigan worked hard for her success. In her late teens, she attended
Wellington Polytechnic in New Zealand. On graduation, she moved to Australia
and began her career in fashion, working for the Costume Department of the
Australian Broadcasting Commission in Sydney. She took from this experience
a passion for attention to detail, and an appreciation of the importance of history
to both fabrics and design.
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Collette Dinnigan’s designs are sexy, feminine and glamorous. Every garment
is hand-made in Sydney, and sold in stores here and around the world. Her tops
and evening clothes give special emphasis to old and luxury fabrics, especially
lace, and intricate beading.
Collette Dinnigan
In 1990 the Collette Dinnigan label was born. Her designs were soon sold in
boutiques and department stores in Australia and New Zealand, and soon after
in New York and Hong Kong. In 1995, Collette became the first Australian-based
designer invited to mount a full-scale ready-to-wear parade in Paris.
Collette was chosen as Australian ‘Designer of the Year’ in 1996. In 1997 she
was an adviser to the South Australian Wool Board, and won the Louis Vuitton
Business Award. In 1998 she received an Award for Excellence by Fashion Group
International, was inducted into the Businesswoman’s Hall of Fame and became
Chairperson of the New South Wales Small Business Development Corporation.
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In Paris she won the 2002 Leading Women Entrepreneurs
of the World Award. In July 2000, a selection of Collette’s
collection was honoured by London’s Victoria and Albert
Museum at one of their ‘Fashion in Motion’ events. The
selection of her designs featured the exquisite hand-made
beaded and embroidered evening wear for which Collette is
internationally famed.
In April 2004 Collette Dinnigan was Celebrity Designer of
the Year, and received a Hall of Fame Award for outstanding
achievement. This was voted for by a panel of her peers.
‘Collette Dinnigan has a talent for making lingerie-inspired
evening wear sure to please starlets looking to make a red
carpet statement, and she delivered, with lacy mini-dresses
straight from the boudoir.’
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The Australian
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Naomi Watts, Sarah O’Hare, Halle Berry and Charlize
Theron have one thing in common ... they all wear the
Collette Dinnigan label. Madonna wore Collette Dinnigan
in her music video ‘Love Profusion’. Her label is also worn
by Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Kelly
Rowland.
Megan Gale wearing an example of Collette’s work.
questions
1 Do a web search for last year’s Collette Dinnigan designs and compile a list
of the different fabrics she designs with.
2 What might be the challenges in designing a typical beaded evening dress?
3 What does the list of awards tell you about Collette Dinnigan as a fashion
designer?
4 Research two other Australian fashion designers who have had international
success, and prepare an electronic presentation, showing examples of their
garments.
5 How do you think the use of vintage fabrics inspired Collette’s fashion range?
Tools
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Textiles technology quiz
Complete the following questions to evaluate your knowledge on the materials
used in textiles technology.
questions
Materials
1 Explain the differences between fibres, yarn and fabric.
2 Give four examples of natural fibres and four examples of synthetic fibres.
3 Lycra is a fabric with many uses made from synthetic fibre. Research lycra’s
history, and find out its properties and how it is made.
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4 Suggest a weave suitable for fabrics to make the following articles:
a) a school shirt
d) jeans
b) a beach towel
e) an evening dress.
c) bed sheets
5 Using long strips of paper and experimenting with different coloured paper
strips, complete samples of three different types of weaves. Label and
present the samples in your design folio.
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6 Suggest an appropriate fibre or fibre blend for fabrics to make the following
textile articles, and give reasons for your choices.
a) a lounge cushion
d) an apron for a chef
b) a swimming costume
e) a teddy bear for a baby.
c) overalls for a builder
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The following questions will help you evaluate what you have learnt about textiles
tools and how to use them.
questions
Tools
1 List ten tools used specifically for working with textile materials.
2 Suggest the best tool or tools for the following tasks:
a) trimming embroidery threads
d) taking a waist measurement
b) unpicking incorrect stitching
e) making a pattern.
c) constructing a clothing item
3 Compile a list of safety rules for your class to follow when working with
textiles tools.
4 Name three textiles tools that may be used with other materials (for example,
food, wood, plastic, metal, paper). State the material the tools may be used
with, as well as how they would be used.
5 List five tools you regard as essential to have when working with textiles.
Give reasons for your answer.
6 Many people think they can sew accurately without the use of pins.
Do you agree? Argue your case.
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