NCEA Fashion with Pippa Lawlor at SEWTEC

Rebecca Smye-Rumsby
Apr 20, 2017
2 min read

This was a three day course consisting of:

-Garment ideation

-Pattern making and adaptation

-Using industrial sewing machines and sewing conventions

Day 1: Garment ideation

One strategy shared with us around ideation, was gathering photos and resources from the era (Art Deco within New Zealand) then selecting aspects from the images. I took an aspect on Hastings architecture, drew a simple symbol, which I then transformed using key words (duplicate, reflect, invert etc). My next steps were to apply my aspect to a shirt design. This was done experimenting with an existing shirt from an Op Shop.

In terms on teaching, I am really keen on developing creativity. In the past, I have found that students can get stuck on one idea, as they don't have strategies to move forward or away from their first concept. I like that the students don't feel like there's a commitment to one idea and also have a toolbox for exploration.

Day 2: Pattern making and adaptation

This was our focus on pattern making and adaptation. I've done pattern making independently, but this was a long process. The staff recommend that with a class, it's best to take pattern measurements from industrial patterns. We then learned how to add pleats and panels to our block, considering our seams. It was also really useful learning terminology and pattern making conventions (grain line, fold line etc). In the industry, they work with a 10mm seam compared to the domestic patterns (15mm).

Day 3: Using industrial sewing machines and sewing conventions

On the final day, we focused on the use of the industrial sewing machine, and learnt sewing conventions and 'tricks' in order to make a boys shirt. I was particularly interested in this as, I am wondering whether our school is ready for an industrial sewing machine and the logistics of owning one. The use the industrial machine makes sewing faster, and certain functions such as cutting thread speeds up the process further. It is however, a larger piece of equipment, that would require special storage and careful supervision.