Upcycled Restyle
Level: Year 11
School: Wellington High School
Teacher: Kylie Merrick
Category: Teaching strategy
A shopping expedition doesn't sound much like school work, but when Wellington High School students rummaged through op shop clothing they were considering the quality of the fabrics and contemplating how they could make them into something new. The Year 11 Fashion Textile Design students had been asked to create garments made from recycled materials for a two-term Upcycled Restyle unit.
Teacher Kylie Merrick planned the recycling unit to focus students on the environmental aspects they need to consider in Technology and to encourage their creativity in a different context. It was also another way to help students reduce the cost of purchasing materials for their work. During the unit students would focus on the Brief Development, Planning for Practice and Outcome Development and Evaluation components of the Technological Practice strand and the Characteristics of Technological Outcomes component from the Nature of Technology strand.
A brainstorming session on why and what people recycle started the unit then students considered their brief which asked them to – 'Design and make a garment for a specific client that is inspired by an influential designer'. Kylie was thinking about how she could use Achievement Standard AS 91067 (1.34) in a fashion context, which led to the 'influential designer' theme. Although they had to have a client, the students could choose to act as their own client and most did this. Wellington High is a non-uniform school and many students identified a need for school clothing and an opportunity to make something creative that would reflect their personality rather than just follow fashion trends.
The students were told to scour local op shops (some of which were quite close to school) to find clothing they could use as fabric. Kylie facilitated this through a session in the computer lab where they could locate shops in their neighbourhoods and further afield through using Google maps. The students were expected to go op-shopping in their own time and some car-pooled during the holidays to go to other suburbs. Designing and shopping went hand-in-hand – students had some ideas in mind when they went shopping and sometimes the clothing they saw influenced their design ideas.
There was no price limit but students were expected to make their garment as cheaply as possible, and could recycle clothing from their own or others' wardrobes if they wished. Kylie discussed with the class what they should be aware of when selecting clothing to recycle:
- Consider quality, colours, pattern and textures of fabrics
- Remember that larger items provide more fabric
- Study care labels – some fabric can't be dyed or bleached
- Don't get anything that will be too difficult or time-consuming to repair
- Don't buy anything that isn't really needed
Kylie admits that when the students came in with their op shop garments she did think 'what have I left myself in for'. "It got a bit crazy but was a great problem-solving and thinking exercise on how to see something of value in something that had been discarded. Some students initially found it hard getting their heads around this as they were so used to just having flat fabric, but they overcame it."
The Key Competency 'Managing self' was emphasised in the unit as students needed to organise their trips to the op shops and plan time for research, design and construction, along with all their other school, community and family commitments. They were given a two-term calendar and filled in the interim deadlines so that they could clearly see when each stage needed to be completed. "Year 11-13 students often have time-management problems and you see it at university level too, so you have to break it down so it isn't too overwhelming," Kylie says.
She talked to individual students about what they were doing, what they should do next and technical aspects they needed to consider, and at other times demonstrated techniques to the whole class. Kylie notes that there was also some peer teaching – she hadn't done a lot of shredding but one of the students had and taught others, while a technique for making binding, used by one student in her first project due to time constraints, was copied by some classmates during this unit as a way of saving money. Students used a range of techniques, for example, screen printing, bleaching and tie-dyeing, and added decorative elements such as lace.
Kylie trialled a different approach to research – instead of doing it all at the beginning, the students researched eco fashion and materials and upcycling as an ongoing task, so that they could relate it to different stages of their design work. There was a diverse range of students in the class and some coped well with this approach while others wanted to do all the research first and get it out of the way. However, for a project of this nature, research needs to be ongoing.
Kylie directed the class to Techlink to see if anything similar had been done in the past, "because you've got to know your past to know your future" and gave them newspaper articles about New Zealand designers and their take on recycling materials. They analysed the work of Wellington designer Janet Dunn, who recycles vintage clothes to reflect her 'environmental' philosophy, although, due to the timetabling difficulty involved in visiting her studio, the students used her website. The students looked at the work of other designers and thought about whose work could inspire their own, then studied one designer's style in more depth and reflected it in their design ideas.
The class also watched an episode of reality-television programme The Cut in which contestants, vying for a job with designer Tommy Hilfiger, had to find everyday clothing, take it apart and restyle it. The students did a critical analysis of their designs, looking at how the fabric was used, what worked well and what didn't. Teenagers respond well to these modern styles of learning so Kylie also used video clips from Threadbanger so that her students could see examples of modifying and transforming fabric from op shop garments and the construction techniques used. [See Techlink Resource Review Threadbanger.com.]
Having decided on a client, the students consulted (their client or themselves) on their needs, interests, inspiration and preferences in clothing then started writing their draft brief with details about the client and possible outcomes. They practised fashion drawing and made concept sketches to show their clients, then sketched their development ideas and considered how these would work with their fabric selections.
After drawing their final design, students moved on to making working drawings. Kylie taught them pattern-making and some students drafted their own patterns while others adapted standard patterns from the classroom collection. The students were expected to show their production sequence in their workbooks and any changes to their final design, and at set points during the term reflected on their practice and progress.
As the students worked through each stage of their project they trialled techniques and made samples to decide which methods, such as sewing seams, inserting zippers, making darts or creating special effects, were best for their purposes. They also investigated their fabrics in terms of care and qualities, testing samples for flexibility and comfort, strength and durability, colour fastness and chemical tolerance, resistance to water and burning, and also provided information on how to care for their product.
Students handed their work in for one formative assessment, something most found a positive experience – seeing the ticks and brief notes next to their list of tasks reinforced a feeling of ongoing accomplishment. When they handed in their workbooks for a summative assessment, students received written feedback on the work and how they could get to Achieved level, and how to extend it to a Merit or Excellence grade next time.
The students concluded the unit with writing an evaluation of their work and getting feedback from other people, such as peers or family, who had seen the original materials and could give informed comments on their work. Everyone enjoyed this unit, says Kylie, and came away with something they were happy with and proud of. "They all fitted within the brief and could justify that their design was going to work and was feasible for that need."
"Upcycling has been around since the 1980s (Madonna did it, and it was seen in the movie Pretty in Pink) but it wasn't called that and we were not as eco-conscious as we are today. Teenagers love op shops and customising, so this was a perfect mix of everything for today's society. The project was a great success and no two end-solutions used the same materials. It was great fun and we had great laughs with 'fashion-era flashbacks', good and bad, and a 'walk off parade' (inspired by the movie Zoolander) of the garments being worn before they were cut up and transformed."
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