Lesson video

Hi there, everyone.

My name is Mr. Booth and welcome to your designer technology lesson for today.

Thank you very much for joining me.

Today, we are gonna be looking at upcycling fashion design.

Now you might have upcycled some products before in your life.

Upcycling is of course where we take unused or unwanted products and we give them a new lease of life.

And we're gonna look at that today and how we can apply that to textiles and fashion design.

This lesson is part of our products and people inspirational design.

Today's outcome, I want you to be able to adapt existing textiles designs to create a new product using Vivienne Westwood as inspiration.

Two key words for you today.

The first one is upcycling, turned old or unwanted materials or products into something new and useful.

And that really leads in to sustainable, using what we need, whilst protecting the environment so there is enough for future generations, something that is very important that we all think about in design and technology.

We have two learning cycles today.

The first one is upcycling fashion.

So let's get going.

Now fashion is a huge interest industry, but the demand for cheap fast fashion has a massive environmental impact.

Globally, the fashion industry produces millions of tons of clothing waste each year, and most of that ends up in landfill or being incinerated, being burned, which obviously gives off nasty gases.

And only a small fraction of this is recycled.

When we talk about fast fashion, we're of course talking about cheap clothing that isn't that well-made and often doesn't last very long, so we have to replace it regularly.

Synthetic, which means manmade fabrics, such as polyester, can take up to 200 years to break down in the environment.

And they also release toxic dyes and plastics into the route surrounding soil and water where they are often buried or discarded.

Not great for the environment that we live in.

Now clothing companies, scientists and even fashion designers are working on ways to recycle and reuse textiles and to create more sustainable, biodegradable fabrics for use in the future.

We really need to do this if we're gonna look after the world that we live in.

In the meantime, we can help minimize fashion waste by reusing and upcycling our old clothes and textiles.

Isn't that great? And the role of designers in this.

So when we think about Vivienne Westwood, she was passionate about climate change and designed her clothing to be sustainable and long-lasting.

She really thought about those materials that she wanted to use and she made high-quality clothing that would last longer than fast fashion clothing.

She also encouraged people to buy less.

Don't buy as many clothes, do you need to have that many clothes, but also to buy better quality when possible so they last longer.

And she also, people wanting people not to throw away clothes, but to rewear and adapt them, to upcycle them.

And we can do this in loads of fun and exciting ways.

So a quick check for understanding.

Upcycling is an example of sustainable fashion.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

That is of course true.

And I wanna know why.

Can you give me a definition as to why that is true? Pause the video now, come back to me when you've got that.

Well, the reason, of course, is upcycling, means we are using the item of clothing again, rather than throwing it away where it will likely end up in a landfill or be incinerated and possibly pollute the environment.

Well done.

Now there are lots of ways to upcycle clothing.

Can you think of any? I'm gonna give you my list in a moment, but this is a great opportunity to think about how you could upcycle clothing.

So I want you to pause the video now.

Maybe have a chat with a person next to you or think about this on your own.

How could we upcycle our clothing? Pause the video now, come back to me when you've got some answers.

So did you think of any? I'm sure you did.

Well, here's my list.

You could turn jeans into shorts.

You could make a patchwork memory blanket or cushion from old T-shirts and baby clothes.

Making hair scrunchies or headbands from old T-shirts is a great way with a bit of elastic in there.

Using fabric scraps to patch holes and add decorative designs to clothing is also another way that you could upcycle clothing.

And then can you think of any others now I've given you some clues? I'm sure you can.

There is a lot we can do to reduce the impact of our fashion choices.

Top tips for reducing clothing waste.

Here we go.

Buy less, Vivienne Westwood said that.

Do you need to have 10 jumpers or actually are 2 enough? Buy a higher quality where possible.

It usually means it's gonna be more expensive, but it does usually mean it will last longer.

So actually in the long run, you might find it's cheaper to buy higher quality.

If you can, use natural fabrics.

Again, more expensive, but they tend to be better for the environment.

Can you buy from charity shops? People often get rid of clothes that have hardly been worn.

And you can find some real gems in charity shops.

Buy and sell online using second-hand clothing sites.

Some of you might already do this, but that's a great way of reducing your environmental impact of your clothes.

Repair and upcycle existing clothes, we do very little of this.

If we get a hole in a jumper, we tend to throw it away and buy a new one rather than repairing it.

And of course, another great way is to donate to charity shops and textile recycling points, because that means other people are gonna use your clothing and your materials to upcycle.

Quick check for understanding.

How do you upcycle an item of clothing? Is it A, throw it away, B, change or add to it, C, donate it to a charity, or D, sell it? How do you upcycle an item of clothing? Pause the video now, have a go at this.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

Well, the answer to this is of course B, if you are gonna upcycle an item of clothing, you need to change it or add to it.

Well done.

So let's look at Alex and Izzy now.

Now they've been thinking of ways to upcycle worn items of school uniform in the style of Vivienne Westwood.

And you can see they've done a couple of quick sketches here to try and get some ideas down on paper.

Now they've used traditional fabrics such as tartan to add a little bit more color.

Isn't that interesting? And also, Vivienne Westwood used extra details such as pins and zips.

So they've added these to their designs.

You've gotta remember, Vivienne Westwood, she started out by dressing a lot of the punk scene.

She brought that to the mainstream when she was doing fashion design.

And Izzy and Alex have done that in a brilliant way.

They've also decided to combine their ideas and follow these steps to complete their design.

First, they cropped the bottom section off of an old sweatshirt.

Now it's really important throughout these tasks that you're using unwanted clothing.

That's to upcycle.

What I don't want is lots of angry emails from parents and carers telling me that school uniforms have been cut up, because Mr. Booth told you to do so.

So just make sure it's unwanted.

It's not used anymore so it can be upcycled, okay? They then cut a section of scrap tartan fabric into a fringe, pin it in place and then sew it using a back stitch.

And we can see Alex here is saying he measured around the bottom edge of the sweatshirt to see how long the fringe section would need to be.

So using measuring skills to make sure you're making a quality item of clothing.

Well done, Alex.

They're now gonna complete the design.

So they cut a V-shape in the neck and used another length of tartan fabric to make a loose tie.

Isn't that brilliant? For this project, we used a back stitch to sew the sections together, 'cause it is stronger than what you will probably have already done, which is a running stitch.

So what we're gonna do now is we're just gonna watch a very quick demonstration video where I will talk you through how to do a back stitch.

You're probably familiar with a running stitch.

That's the kind of normal stitch that you've probably done in your design and technology lives.

But here what we're gonna see is a back stitch, which is just slightly stronger and also gives, I think, a better appearance.

So you can see, we have started with the needle on the front of the material.

We've passed it through and then we bought it back through from the back.

Obviously, the end of the thread is knotted to make sure it doesn't go all the way through.

Or as you can see in this case, you can actually hold the thread to stop it from passing all the way through the material.

What we've then done is we've then repeated the same stitch again, the stitch we did on the back, on the front as well.

We're then onto our second stitch now, and we've moved the same distance from the previous stitch to make sure it's nice and neat, and once again, come through from the back and gone back through the front.

Let's repeat that again.

So we're coming through from the back.

We're making sure we are the same distance each time.

And again, push it through from the front, the needle through from the front through to the back.

The other thing you wanna look out for is that you are staying in line.

So just make sure that each of your stitches is on the same line that you started on, unless, of course, you're going around a corner.

And then you can curve it slightly.

But once again, passing the needle through from the front, moving along the same distance, passing it from the back to the front, and then again from the front back through to the back of the material.

And you can keep doing this as long as you want.

And then also remember at the end to lock your stitch to make sure it doesn't come undone.

Well, now onto your first task.

What I would like to do is use Vivienne Westwood as design inspiration to upcycle a piece of old or worn uniform.

A few things you need to consider while completing this task.

How will you change the item? Think about the cut, the shape, add extra pieces.

How will you join any additional fabric pieces? Are you gonna stitch, staple, pin, add fasteners? That's up to you.

Have fun doing this task.

Come back to me when you've completed it.

Pause the video now.

So how did you get on? I'm sure you've done absolutely fantastic.

So Izzy and Alex were inspired by Vivienne Westwood's use of traditional fabrics, such as tartan and tweed, as well as her pirate collection, if you remember that, to change the look of this school sweatshirt.

We combined our ideas for a fringe and a loose tie to make this upcycle piece.

Fantastic work, Izzy and Alex, and also fantastic work to you.

So the next learning cycle is textile techniques.

So you can use lots of different techniques to add details or decoration to an item of clothing.

We're gonna have a look at some of these.

Special techniques such as oblique and embroidery can add extra designs.

It's a great way of really showcasing your designs.

Fabric, ribbon or fasteners can also be sewn into place.

You could also use glue or staples to secure these extra details of fabric if you wanted to.

Applique is a technique used by designers for gluing and sewing fabric shapes or designs onto other fabric surfaces.

You can see here this brilliant flower has been put onto another piece of fabric.

So we have the base fabric, we have the fabric shape, and then we have the sewn edge.

And that's how this one has been attached.

Using stitches to make patterns or designs in fabric is called embroidery.

And you can see some really nice examples here.

Different stitches and threads are used to create design.

So you can really think about colors here as well.

We're also gonna learn how to do the cross-stitch.

So I'm gonna show you a very quick demonstration video and I'll talk through how to create a cross-stitch, which is a really nice way of adding a decorative stitch to your designs.

In this demonstration, we're looking at a cross-stitch.

We're gonna start from the back this time.

Again, make sure you hold your thread.

Don't pull it all the way through or put a knot on the end of it.

But this time, we're gonna go diagonally down.

We're gonna create a cross.

So we go back from the front to the back of the material, and then we're gonna go to the top right of our cross, bring them the needle from the back to the front, and then again, go from the front of the back material down through the material to create our first cross.

And then we're gonna move along.

Now you need to decide how far along you want to move.

And once again, we're now gonna start under the cross.

And this is really easy, 'cause now what you need to do is just repeat the same action again.

What's really important is to try and make all your crosses exactly the same size.

So think carefully about where your needle is going through your material.

And if you get all of your crosses the same size, this can be a fantastic decorative technique to use.

Quick check for understanding.

Which textile technique involves gluing or stitching fabric shapes onto a fabric base? Is it A, embroidery, B, printing, C, dyeing, or D, applique? Pause the video now.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

It is, of course, D, applique, well done.

Now Izzy and Alex used some of the fabric leftover from the clothes they upcycled to make an extra bow detail.

They wanted to add to their design.

They crossed the length of fabric to make a bow shape.

They wrapped another piece of fabric around the center to hold everything in place, and then they pinned, sewed or stapled it into place to make it look absolutely fantastic on the front of their design.

Doesn't that look great? Stapling, gluing can be a quick and easy way to attach extra elements to your design, especially if you're short of time.

They can also secure the edges of fabric if you want to.

However, they're probably not gonna be as secure and as long-lasting as sewing techniques, especially if you're gonna wash the item of clothing.

Is that true or false? Additional details added to clothing must be stitched or sewn.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now and come back to me when you've got your answer.

It is, of course, false.

And why is that? Well, there are lots of other ways to attach or add details of clothing, for example, they could be glued, stapled, or pinned.

Well done.

Now when the pupils finished their designs, when they've completed them, they shared the ideas with the rest of the class by modeling them in a brilliant fashion show.

Wouldn't Vivienne Westwood be proud? So onto your final task, task B for today.

First of all, I want you to add design details to your upcycled uniform using different textile techniques.

Which fabric or material will you need? Which method will you use to attach it? Are you gonna sew, glue, staple, or pin? Then I want you to share your designs with your group class or whole school by putting on a fantastic fashion show.

I really hope you enjoy this task.

Pause the video now and come back to me when you've completed.

So how did you get on? I'm sure your designs look absolutely fantastic, and I really hope you enjoyed your fashion show.

As we can see, Alex and Izzy used pieces of scrap fabric and a large safety pin, inspired by Vivienne Westwood of course, to decorate their designs before sharing it with the class in an upcycling-themed fashion show.

And we can see Alex says here, it was great to see the different techniques other pupils had used to upcycle their uniform pieces.

Well done, everyone.

And that brings us to the end of this lesson.

Let's have a quick summary.

A piece of school uniform can be upcycled and turned into something new.

Upcycling is an example of sustainable fashion, very important in today's day and age where we have fast fashion.

Textile techniques can include applique, sewing, gluing, and stapling.

Well done today, you've all been absolutely fantastic.

I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye-bye.