The School of the Arts · visual, musical & performing arts
Fashion & Textiles
From fiber to finished garment: how cloth is made, cut, sewn, and read as culture.
Plant, animal, synthetic; plain, twill, satin: what cloth is and how it comes to be.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~20 hours
Unit I — Fiber
Plant, animal, synthetic: what each does well · Staple and filament · From fiber to yarn: spinning basics
Unit II — Cloth Structures
Plain, twill, and satin weaves · Knit versus woven: stretch and drape · Reading cloth: burn tests and hand
Unit III — Weaving Practice
A frame loom, warped · Weft patterns and color-and-weave effects · Finishing a small woven piece
Machine, pattern, seam, and fit: sewing a wearable garment from the first stitch.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~28 hours
Unit I — Machine and Hand
Threading and tension · The seams you will use forever · Hand stitches worth knowing
Unit II — Reading Patterns
Sizes, ease, and measurements · Layout, grainline, cutting · Marking and interfacing
Unit III — Construction
Darts, gathers, pleats · Zippers and buttonholes without fear · Sleeves, set in cleanly
Unit IV — Fit and Finish
Fitting on a body, not a hanger · Hems and edge finishes · A finished garment, worn
Research, croquis, flats, and specs: a six-look collection carried from mood board to costing.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~30 hours
Unit I — Research and Concept
Mood and market research · A concept board that commits · Silhouette families
Unit II — The Fashion Drawing
The croquis and honest proportion · Rendering fabric: drape, shine, weight · Flats: the technical drawing
Unit III — The Small Collection
Line planning: six looks that cohere · Fabric and trim selection · A color story across looks
Unit IV — Spec and Presentation
Spec sheets and measurements · Costing a garment · Presenting the collection
Sumptuary law to fast fashion: what clothes have said about status, gender, and change.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — Dress Before Fashion
Draped and cut traditions · Sumptuary laws: clothing as regulation · Court dress and status
Unit II — The Fashion System Arrives
Tailors, dressmakers, and the couture house · The sewing machine and ready-to-wear · Department stores and magazines
Unit III — The Twentieth Century, Decade by Decade
Liberation and the dropped waist · The New Look to youth style · Streetwear and the designer decades
Unit IV — Reading What We Wear
Subcultures and dress codes · Fast fashion and its costs · Archives: how dress is preserved and studied
Shibori, batik, block, and screen: putting color and pattern on cloth by hand.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~18 hours
Unit I — Color on Fiber
Natural and synthetic dyes · Mordants and fastness · Safety in the dye kitchen
Unit II — Resist Techniques
Shibori: bind, stitch, clamp · Batik and wax resist · Ice and low-water immersion
Unit III — Printing
Block printing: carve and register · Screen printing on fabric · Repeat patterns: designing the tile