Program Overview

Program Overview

The Soft Fabrication Skills program is offered in the Spring 2025 semester. The course dates are Saturdays, from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm, on January 18, January 25, and February 1. The location of the course is Studio A, Hunt Library, which is the large room on the first floor with windows overlooking Frew Street.

Course Details

• Final Project Due Date: February 15, noon
• Instructor: Natalya Pinchuk
• Teaching Assistant (TA): To Be Determined (TBD)
• Instructor's Office Hours: TBD or by appointment (Studio A, sewing lab, or dye lab)
• TA Office Hours: TBD
• Sewing Lab (A4) Assistant Hours: TBD (in Sewing Lab, A4)

Resources

• Syllabus: Available
• Sewing Machine Manuals:
  • Janome HD-3000 Manual
  • Janome Mod-19 Manual
  • Singer 44S Manual
• Videos:
  • Week 1:
    1. Hand Sewing Powerpoint
    2. Cutting Fabric
    3. Hand Sewing Stitches (basting stitch, tiny running stitch, backstitch, overcast, blanket, appliqué)
    • Tying a Knot
    • Tying a Finishing Knot
    • Running Stitch
    • Backstitch
    • Overcast/Whip Stitch
    • Blanket Stitch
    • Applique with Whip Stitch
    • Applique with Blanket Stitch
    4. Hem Stitch (slip)
    5. Hem Whip Stitch
    6. Machine Sewing Powerpoint
    7. Understanding Sewing Machine in A4 - Singer 44S Heavy Duty Sewing Machine
    8. Sewing Machine Samples (tension setting sample, spiral, square labyrinth, letter)
    9. How to Use a Seam Ripper
  • Week 2:
    1. From 2-D to 3-D Powerpoint
    2. Heart Sample (use the invisible stitch to close up the form once filled with poly fill)
    3. Flat Bottom Pouch
    4. Dart Sample 1 & 2
    5. Square Cushion
  • Week 3:
    1. Weaving, Felt, Knit, Crochet Powerpoint Part 1
    2. Weaving, Felt, Knit, Crochet Powerpoint Part 2
    3. Felt Sphere Sample
    4. Felt Sheet Sample
    5. Felt Hollow Sphere Sample
    6. Washing and Dyeing Felt Samples
    7. Needle Felting Sample
    8. Smart Textiles Powerpoint
    9. Soft Circuit Sample (one LED circuit, four LED circuit)

Extras

• History of Sewing Machines
• Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo by Nicholas de Monchaux
• Working With Embroidery Floss
• 10 Fun Embroidery Stitches
• Three Historical Stitches
• Basic Stitches for Historical Sewing
• Invisible Stitch
• List of Great Books to Get Into Sewing
• How to Drape a Basic Bodice
• Creating Pattern from Muslin Drapes
• Dart Manipulation by Shingo Sato
• Sculptural Moulage by Shingo Sato
• Olson Mask Pattern
• Olson Mask Instructions
• How to make a needle felted puppet for stop motion animation
• Stop motion animation with felt
• Rug making in Iran
• Needle felting a teddy bear skull
• Needle felting a cat
• Felt Makers-Terelj, Mongolia
• Felt slippers part 1, felt slippers part 2, felt slippers part 3
• Felt boots
• Beaver wool hat making
• Dry felting doll faces
• Batting versus roving
• The Life-Saving Weaving of Bolivia’s Indigenous Women
• Lia Cook and Her Jacquard Loom
• Outdoor Felting in Mongolia
• Industrial Manufacturing of Felt
• Cat Cave
• Understanding Knit Fabrics
• Learning About Fabrics 4: Knit Basics
• Kobakant: How to Get What You Want
• Shape Memory Alloys For Controllable Compression Textiles and Garments
• Building the Future SpaceSuit
• LED Matrix Shirt
• Unfolding Fashion Tech (book)
• Infinity Burial Suit FAQs
• Lining Yao
• Adafruit
• Make: Wearable Electronics (book)

Final Project Options

• Box Zipper Pouch (Easy-Medium Difficulty): Step-by-step video available. Considerations for using fleece interfacing include quilting the fleece to the outside fabric to avoid puckering, using thin interfacing for a less structured pouch, or hand-sewing sections that are difficult for the machine to handle.
• Animal Heads (6-8 hours undertaking): Requires printing and cutting out animal head templates, following general and individual construction instructions, and using specific materials and tools. Templates and instructions are provided for bear, unicorn/horse, piggie, and giraffe. General instructions and construction guides are mandatory reading before starting the project.