Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

How are you doing today? I hope you're doing good.

My name is Esther, some people call me Miss Esther, and I'm an artist and an art teacher, and I'll be working with you today on our lesson "Print a sea pattern on cloth: stories in indigo." I'm really excited about our lesson because it's about the clothes that we wear.

It's part of our unit "My world: art and nature." Let's get started.

Bye for now.

Welcome back.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to print on cloth using wax or paper shapes to tell a story.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'll say them first, you say them after me.

We have pattern.

And Adire cloth.

Brilliant, well done.

A pattern is something that repeats again and again and again and again and again.

Adire cloth is a very special kind of pattern fabric and it's made with natural dyes in Nigeria, in West Africa.

We have some more keywords for today.

I'll say them first, you say them after me.

We have wax resist.

And we have stencil.

Brilliant, well done.

A wax resist is a way to make patterns on fabric by using wax, and the wax stops some parts of the fabric from soaking up all of the dye or the paint.

A stencil can be made from shapes with cut-out parts and used to repeat the same design on cloth or on paper again and again and again.

For our lesson "Printing a sea pattern on cloth: stories in indigo," we have some learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is going to be exploring patterns in cloth that tell stories.

Secondly, we're going to be making a resist pattern using paper shapes.

And thirdly, we're going to be thinking about what our patterns mean.

What's our story? Let's start by exploring patterns in cloth that tell stories.

What kind of story might this cloth tell? You could have a look at the shapes in the cloth.

Name any shapes you can see, any patterns that feel recognizable to you.

Anything that looks like somewhere or something.

Pause the video and talk to someone nearby about what you see in this cloth.

You might have noticed waves, fish, or shells.

The shapes repeat again and again to tell a sea story.

I also noticed shapes that I feel look like birds in this picture.

I wonder if you can see them too.

Here we have another beautiful piece of fabric.

Oh, here's Sam.

Sam says, "I can spot shapes that remind me of sea creatures." Oh, I wonder which bits of the pattern Sam's looking at.

Izzy says, "To me, these stripes look like calm waves." Oh, I like that thought, Izzy.

This type of textile is called Adire cloth, and it's made by the Yoruba people in Nigeria.

It's dyed with a special plant.

The plant is called indigo.

I wonder if you've heard the word indigo before.

Indigo makes a deep ocean blue color.

We've got some pictures here and we're going to do a check for understanding.

Which of the following is an example of Adire cloth? Is it A? We've got some piles, kind of layers of colored cloth in A going up.

Is it B? We've got a criss kind of crossy pattern in B.

Or is it C? In C, we've got two colors and a repeating pattern.

Pause the video and have a talk to someone nearby about what you think.

Well done if you got C.

Adire cloth can have patterns, shapes or lines in white, and it's traditionally deep blue in color.

Wow, amazing picture of the sea here.

Very, very stormy seas.

There's many patterns that we can find in the sea, like the waves in the water.

And I can see here that somebody's drawn some lines and they look like they're following wavy lines to me of the sea.

I wonder if you can see any other patterns in this picture.

Ooh, what's this? There's also patterns that we can find in sea creatures or seaweed.

I feel like this picture of the seaweed looks like long, kind of seaweedy hair.

And I can see that the artist has drawn some long lines going downwards this time with some shorter lines coming off it, which kind of show the pattern.

So we've got some lines going down rather than across in this picture, which is interesting.

I wonder if you can think of any other patterns you might find in the sea or in natural things from the sea.

Pause the video and point to some shapes or patterns that you can see in this picture.

Share your ideas with a partner.

Brilliant looking and exploring patterns and shapes, everybody.

Well done.

Oh, here's Izzy.

You can use wax crayons to make patterns on your fabric.

Izzy's having a look at some wax crayons.

We've got some white and some blue wax crayons, we've got pastels in different colors, and we've also got some big pieces of candle.

Izzy says, "This will resist the dye I will put on later." Traditional Adire cloth can use rice paste as a resist, but this can take a long time to dry.

You can make patterns like waves on your fabric using a wax resist.

Let's hear from Izzy.

Izzy says, "I'm using masking tape to attach my cloth to newspaper." I wonder why? Let's find out a bit more.

Izzy says, "This stops the dye from coming through the cloth onto the table." Brilliant idea, Izzy.

Here's our second check for understanding.

What material is used to create a resist on the fabric? We've got A, we've got some masking tape here, a roll of masking tape.

B, we've got crayons and pastels and some candles.

Or we've got C, some fabric.

Pause the video and talk to someone nearby about what you think.

Well done.

If you said B, you were right.

Wax resist is a method of making designs on cloth by putting wax on parts of the fabric so that these parts don't take up any dye or paint.

We're ready now for task A.

We're going to use wax crayons to draw sea patterns on plain fabric.

We'll use masking tape to attach the fabric to newspaper, that's our first thing to do.

You can see a picture there of how the fabric's laid out nice and flat.

And then we'll use wax crayons to draw sea patterns on the plain fabric.

Here's our picture of our wax crayons and some candles, and the pictures we looked at earlier with some patterns in of seaweed and the stormy sea.

I hope you enjoy making some patterns on your fabric.

Pause the video and have fun exploring some patterns in nature.

Wow, amazing.

Brilliant pattern-making.

You might have used wax crayons to create a resist.

I can see the artist in the picture's done that.

And made some patterns inspired by the sea.

It's time to explore our second piece of work today, make a resist pattern using paper shapes.

Let's find out some more about that.

Hmm.

What do you think a stencil is? And what might it help an artist to do? Pause the video and have a chat with someone nearby and think about the shapes that you can see and what they might help you to do.

Stencils are shapes with cut-out patterns and they can be used to make the same design again and again and again and again.

We're back to our beautiful picture of Adire cloth.

In Adire making, stencils can help create repeated patterns on the cloth.

Once you've created your wax resist, you can add some paper stencils to your artwork.

You might find that you get some interesting extra bits that you don't want, but they might also make some good patterns.

And I can see that the artist here has thought about the sea again.

I can see a fish.

You might cut out some extra details or patterns within your stencils.

Here's Izzy.

Izzy says, "I used a hole punch to create circle patterns on this stencil." That's a brilliant idea, Izzy.

It works really well.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? You need special or expensive things to make fabric patterns.

Is it true? Is it false? Have a conversation with someone nearby and pause the video.

Well done if you said it was false.

Let's have a look at why it's false.

You can use natural objects, paper, and wax to make patterns on fabric.

You can use really simple, safe materials to tell powerful stories through cloth.

Traditionally, Adire cloth was made using blue indigo dye.

We can see some different colors of blue in the picture.

You might want to use different blues to create your design.

Here's Izzy again.

You can attach your stencils to your cloth using masking tape.

Izzy explains a bit more.

"This will help hold the shapes in place." This artist is painting over their stencils.

What do you notice about how they're painting over their stencils? Pause the video and have a think about it.

They are holding their stencil in place to stop the dye from creeping underneath, and using their brush in one direction.

I always feel that painting and using your brush is a bit like stroking your cat.

You go one direction.

They don't like it if you go both ways.

And the artist is only using a small amount of dye on their brush and really spreading it out.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What should not do while painting over your stencils? A, hold the stencil in place to stop the dye from creeping underneath.

B, move the brush in several directions.

C, only use a small amount of dye on your brush.

So we're looking for what do you not do while painting over your stencils.

Pause the video, have a conversation with someone nearby about what you think.

Well done if you said B, move the brush in several directions.

Remember, we are stroking a cat.

We're ready for Task B, making a resist pattern using paper shapes.

First, add some sea-inspired stencil designs to your cloth.

You can draw your stencils onto paper, then cut them out, and then add some extra patterns to your stencils, a bit like Izzy did with the hole punch.

Pause the video and have fun cutting out your fishy, sea-inspired templates.

Excellent work.

You've worked really hard to cut out some tricky paper shapes.

Now it's time for part two of Task B.

Secondly, we're going to dye the cloth using blue ink or paint or natural dyes like indigo.

First of all, choose your dyes or paints.

Attach your stencils, remember, with the masking tape, to your cloth.

And then carefully paint dye over your paper stencils and over your wax resist pattern.

Pause the video and enjoy painting over your wax resist pattern and over your paper stencils.

I'll see you shortly.

Well done.

Brilliant painting, everybody.

You might have made extra patterns in your stencils.

Used some masking tape to hold your stencil to the cloth.

You might have used your hand as well, a bit like the artist in the video.

You also might have held your stencils in place with both your hand and masking tape.

Used a blue dye to paint over your stencils.

I don't know if you've noticed that in the picture here there's been an extra shape that's been added in.

There's a circle shape there.

It's really magical when you take the stencils off the paint and have a look which of your resist patterns, your wax resist patterns have stayed and how your stencils shape look when they're removed from the cloth.

Now we're just going to have a think about what our patterns mean.

Designers often choose patterns and colors for their fabric to express an idea or a feeling.

Paul Smith is a British designer who creates his own patterns and prints.

He designs original stripes, spots, florals, and abstract patterns.

Some of these are hand-painted or made using dyeing and printing techniques.

You can see a spot and stripey pattern in the picture there.

Abiola Onabule is a clothes designer.

She uses special cloth from her Yoruba culture called Adire to make clothes that tell stories.

Her clothes mix old traditions with new ideas and help people feel proud of who they are.

Abiola Onabule makes special clothes for people to wear on important occasions.

She uses textile traditions from the African continent such as Adire, which have patterns made with dye.

Her designs are special because they mix Nigerian culture and new modern styles that many people love.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What career does Abiola Onabule have? Is she A, a games designer, B, a graphic designer, or C, a fashion designer? Pause the video and have a think about how you'd answer.

If you said C, a fashion designer, you are correct.

Abiola Onabule designs clothes for special occasions, mixing modern and traditional styles.

Let's think about what our patterns mean.

What kind of sea does your color remind you of? Is it stormy, is it calm, or is it deep? Here's Izzy.

Izzy says, "The color of my sea reminds me of a bright, warm summer's day." Thanks, Izzy.

What do your patterns tell you? Izzy says, "The calm waves gently rock me and I feel safe near to my home." Well, that's a lovely thought.

Thank you, Izzy.

What do your stencil shapes tell you? Izzy says about her pattern, "My fish stencils are swimming in the deep, warm sea.

They are small, taking on big adventures." I love that idea, Izzy, of a very small fish taking on the big adventure of being in the sea, being in the ocean.

What stories do you think the patterns in Abiola Onabule's work tell us? Lucas says, "These stripes look like calm waves.

Perhaps the maker of the cloth was trying to help us share a calm and peaceful feeling." Fantastic, thanks, Lucas.

Aisha says, "I can spot tiny fish shapes.

Perhaps this cloth tells us a story about the ocean and adventures on the sea." Exciting, Aisha, thank you.

Here's Task C, tell the sea story of your fabric.

You might think about the color that you've used, the patterns in your design, the stories your stencils might tell.

Exciting.

Pause the video and have a think, have a look at your cloth and see what you think.

Fantastic, well done, great thinking.

You might have said, "My pattern has shells and water drops because it reminds me of playing at the beach with my family." You might have said, "My stencils show a big fish and bubbles because I dream of swimming deep in the ocean." That sounds very exciting, swimming deep in the ocean.

Oh, you could have said, "My cloth is the color of a stormy day." I like that idea of wearing cloth that's like a stormy day, actually has a feeling to it.

Wow, well done, that's such a busy lesson we've just had.

Let's have a look at what we've explored and thought about and experimented with.

We've looked at Adire cloth.

Adire cloth uses shapes made with stencils and pattern to communicate stories, identity, and heritage.

We looked at Abiola Onabule's work and learnt about how she uses some of her West African heritage to make her clothes' designs.

We've explored resist techniques like wax or stencils and how they block areas from absorbing color.

You might have found some wavy patterns in the sea or some bubbly patterns from seaweed for your design, and cut out some fish or wavy shapes to paint over.

And then finally, we thought about storytelling through fabric and how this links personal expression to wider cultural traditions.

We thought about what our fabric might mean.

Thank you so much for making with me today.

I've loved working with you.

Enjoy looking at your fabric cloth, and I'll see you next time for some more art making.

Bye for now.