Polar Fleece Hat
Gabrielle Mudford
Bush Primary School's Technology Centre
Year 8 Soft Materials Technology, one-day project
Teacher: Jacquey Neilson
Gabrielle and the 26 other students at Papatawa School, Woodville, travel to Pahiatua every 12 days for their Technology lesson at the Bush Primary School's Technology Centre. Soft Materials Technology is taught over four one-day lessons in one term. Gabrielle developed her hat during the first Year 8 unit – Winter Warmers.
After investigating the properties of natural and artificial fibres, Gabrielle considered the given brief - to develop a design for a warm winter hat made in polar fleece. As winter weather in the Tararua district is often very wet and cold, she decided to make a hat for wearing on the farm.
Gabrielle spent some time looking at why this fabric is suitable for such a project and then sketched some possible designs. She had to create a reasonably simple design due to the time limit on the construction stage.
After deciding to develop a hat with tassels, Gabrielle drafted the pattern pieces using basic rectangular shapes. She made the hat one colour, stitched on a contrasting band, and then added a third colour for the tassles.
She is pleased with her hat, especially that it fits comfortably, "it stays on my head and doesn't cover my eyes", and that the colours all go well together.
Teacher comment
Gabrielle made a very pleasing effort in both her written and practical brief work. She followed and met the Constraints and Performance Specifications well so that her hat was "fit for purpose". Her personal goals were well met as a result of careful planning, measuring and stitching. Her hat was original in terms of design and colour combinations.
