Unfortunately it has been a while since I last blogged this is due to the students have been making their products but i am now pleased to show you all some of the fantastic work that the students have created. I hope you like them and see the amazing potential that these students show.

Today was the last day of turn and also the last day of enrichment week. Today as mentioned the children were making badges based upon their own rights and responsibilities for children under 18. Throughout the day we took 4 lessons of which the 4th lesson I took. It was fantastic to finally feel confident enough to want to teach a lesson, but admittedly I was feeling very nervous just before the students arrived. My nerves were calmed the moment they arrive as they seamed keen to get going. It was great to finally start gaining experience teaching young children. I look forward to gaining more experience teaching when the term starts again on the 31st.

This week has been by so quick due to having only two days of lessons and the rest of the week is something called enrichment week. This to me was a new thing as it had only started in 2009. It consisted of day events that focused on how the children feel and if they are enjoying school. This i feel is a fantastic thing to do within a school as a lot of elements can effect a child's potential in school. The children had to fill in 2 surveys about how they are feeing and how they work within the school and overall it worked well.

Here is one of the fabric samples I have created by using the computer and also another piece of equipment is the heat press.

Textiles department at placement.

Today at 3:30 I was invited to attend a pyramid meeting, with know understanding of what this was I agreed and it was worth it. We met at Corfe Hills upper school and i met the head of the technology department there as well as a textiles teacher from Broadstone middle school. With in the meeting we discussed the percentage of students that had progressed from our middles schools and had achieved there predicted grades in the pervious year and the students that had fallen short and why this had happened. Other areas that were discussed were gifted and talented, changes to key stages and the governments new policies for schools. Gifted and talented is a programme to inspire emerging talents and skilled students and this year the staff are planning to take the students to the V&A. I think this is a fantastic way of inspiring students to be creative in there work and to really explore the subject of textiles and all areas connected. The rest of the meeting was a bit long winded and once i have checked in with my mentor at school I will blog what it all meant.

With the Year six students we have started to look at designing for a set customer this at first was set be letting them access the computers and researching any famous person they liked, but this gave the students too much room to move and they struggled to understand just what it was they were meant to be researching. I suggested that we gave them a sheet with a basic customer profile on it I.e. Name, age, job, famous for, likes, dislikes ect. They were then told that they were designing for Lady Gaga and this helped them find out and understand the research process as well as the importance of designing the appropriate product for their customer. Overall the year six students listened well and completed there work well. I have found with in this week that by keeping the time allotted for the tasks short their concentration is better and by allowing them to chat quietly they respect the noise level and classroom rules more. Overall this week has been fantastic and i'm enjoying working with the school and all the staff.

In the last week we have covered many subjects with in the subject textiles. With the Year eight students we started the week off by looking at their year seven results, this is to give them an indication were their strong areas are and where they need to aim higher. Next was to give them their design brief and get them to read through it and highlight any information they felt was key to starting the research process. This is an excellent technique used to show there reading and processing levels, as well as showing they have full read and understood the brief. Once they have read and discussed the brief they are then asked to write a short sentence about what they have been asked to design and make. Overall the students listened well and understood mostly what they were being asked to create, any students that didn't understand were taken aside to discuss what they didn't understand and then explained in a simpler way. At times I get frustrated that they don't complete the tasks set and also That they don't understand a way in which to complete the tasks, but then when I see them on the playground and the way they talk to each other I am reminded of the fact they are only children and that I have been educated more than them.

2nd week at work experience

Throughout the week we have focused on introducing the year five students to health and safety within the textiles room and also starting teaching to years 6,7 and 8 designing. This involved looking first into what is designing and why this process takes place.

With the year fives we started to look at what in the textiles room is or could be dangerous. They were asked to go and walk to any object they thought could be dangerous and them explain why it was dangerous. This process worked well because it got the students up and out of their seats and got them involved with the lesson. By asking them why it could be dangerous this got them to think of the way in which they should behave in the classroom and also what could have happened previously before their lesson began. This exercise was extremely effective in capturing the students interest and also keeping them concentrated.

With the year six and sevens we have started to introduce them to the design process, by asking them to analyse to similar every day object i.e. a duck styled potato masher and a standard potato masher using FUMES.

F = function
U = user
M = materials
E = environment
S = safety

This is a simple and effective way of showing them how to analyse a product and also to show them how a designer would start to look at designing a product.

The year eights begin to look at designing by using ACCESS FM

A = appearance
C = cost
C = customer
E = environment
S = safety
S = size

F = fiction
M = materials

This process is an excellent way in which to engage the students into looking more in depth at the processes used to design, craft and create a product.

Another method used to start the year eights designing was to give them a card with an image on it and a card with the word of an object on it. They then had to design the object written inspired by the image they had been given. This was a very successful way in getting the students to start pushing their creativity.

Overall this week has been very insiteful and exciting, I look forward to the next 4 months.

Year 3 Fda Fashion and Design Technology

With in the first term students are given the option to either complete a three month work placement or a entrepreneur project. Currently the term has yet to commence but I have started my work placement at Allenbourne Middle School In Wimborne. I wish to be a textile teacher so I work in the the DT department and work with students ranging from year 5 to year 8. So far I have completed the first week and I have enjoyed every second of it. I will update more when i have observed more.

Final year Collection

Fashion issue

Fashion designers latest muse.


Every fashion designer has a muse in which they envision their cloths on the “perfect figure”. Andrej Pejic has been described as the latest muse due to “having the perfect female body”, but Andrej Pejic is in fact a male model. Pejic is part of fashion’s mew “femiman” trend, the latest in a new crop of gender-bending models that have risen to fame in the past few seasons. It has been said that Andrej is the leader of new gender fluidity in fashion, in which traditional male and female attitudes are starting to matter less. It’s a message that is being slowly adapted industry-wide.

Throughout fashion history there has always been the perfect female size debate, but this delicate issues has always had a devastating impact on society. With the size zero issue was debated and publicized in the media it sparked a huge debate on the effects of runway models and eating disorders.

Recently the focus on the runway was showing a shift towards natural size models i.e. Beth Ditto lead singer from The Gossip rocked the runway at Jean Paul Gaultier spring/summer 2011 in Paris. Though this was a shock move by Gaultier it was thought that this would spark media frenzy into the runway size debate yet again, but much like fashion itself the trend came and went. It seams bizarre that it was at Jean Paul Gaultier’s autumn/winter 2011 collection in Paris that he would make such a shift on the type of modals used to promote his designs.

I find it hard to believe that Andrej Pejic is considered the perfect female figure as in my eye’s it is a complete contradiction of what a female figure actually is. The natural female form consists of breasts and curves and only through surgery and extreme diets could any truly natural female figure modify their body to have this “perfect female figure”. I feel that this will spark the size zero, extreme diet fads again and could damage the future of fashion considering the average size now becoming size 12-14.

Fashion Issues

Kate Moss smoking on the catwalk.

Marc Jacob design this years Louis Vuitton autumn/winter 2011 collection in Paris where among the 67 modals was Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. His collection was inspired by Claridges hotel in London and Le Bristol in Paris and the type of people that came out of the elevators. These could have been anyone ranging from wives to maids and hookers. He represented this by using the two poles fashion and fetishisms with bags. The modals would arrive in elevators opened by the bellboys and walk the square runway before exiting on the stairs to the side of the elevators.


Naomi Campbell was styled in a sweater and skirt combo with a hotel doorman style cap. Kate Moss closed the show in typical rebellious fashion wearing a skimpy black short body suit with textured arms, smoking on a cigarette.

Although the fashion shows was a huge success there was a lot of controversy over Kate’s smoking. The date of the show 09/03/11 is also this year National non -smoking day. The first non-smoking day was held on Ash Wednesday in 1984 and now takes place on the second Wednesday of March. It is publicized as an annual health awareness day that is intended to help smokers that want to quit. Each year the campaign promotes a slogan and in 2010 it was “Break Free” but this years was a simple “Time To Quit”. With this and the new actions that the government is setting out to put into place, banning the display of tobacco for this stunt to be so public many people were outraged. Kate has taken a lot of criticism for smoking on the runway but I do not believe that is entirely her fault. The theatrics of the show are devised by a show producer and finalized with the designer. If Kate was told to smoke then the blame is not entirely hers.

I also found an amazing vintage shop, as well as the best views of Prague and a beautiful jazz club.

The university recently went on a trip to Prague to see the culture and fashion in other countries. These are just some of the pictures I have taken.

Currently my project brief is to investigate REVOLUTION with in the fashion industry. With in this I have chosen to look at the ever euchring size matters issue.

Below are some of the pages from my draping project. This project has been challenging in many ways as draping is an unknown area of fashion, but overall this project was an enjoyment to learn something new, not only draping itself but also to create a design manual using the software InDesign by Adobe.