Program Overview

Program Overview

The university program in question is the Soft Fabrication Skills course, specifically the Fall 2025 semester.

Course Details

• Course Dates: Saturdays, 10:30am-3:30 pm on Aug. 30, Sept. 6, Sept. 13.
• Location: Studio A, Hunt Library (the large room on the first floor with the windows overlooking Frew Street).
• Final Project due: October 4, noon.

Instructor and Teaching Assistant Information

• Instructor: Natalya Pinchuk.
• Teaching Assistant (TA): To Be Determined (TBD).
• Natalya’s Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1-1:50pm, 4-4:50pm, or by appointment (students will find her in studio A, sewing lab, or dye lab).
• TA Office Hours: TBD.
• Sewing Lab (A4) Assistant Hours: TBD (in Sewing Lab, A4).

Resources

• Sewing Machine Manuals:
  • Janome HD-3000 Manual.
  • Janome Mod-19 Manual.
  • Singer 44S Manual.
• Videos for Week 1:
  1. Hand Sewing Powerpoint.
  2. Cutting Fabric.
  3. Hand Sewing Stitches, Natalya’s video (basting stitch, tiny running stitch, backstitch, overcast, blanket, appliqué).
  4. Tying a Knot.
  5. Tying a Finishing Knot.
  6. Running Stitch.
  7. Backstitch.
  8. Overcast/Whip Stitch.
  9. Blanket Stitch.
  10. Applique with Whip Stitch.
  11. Applique with Blanket Stitch.
  12. Hem Stitch (slip) (NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE TO PASS CLASS).
  13. Hem Whip Stitch (NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE TO PASS CLASS).
  14. Machine Sewing Powerpoint.
  15. Understanding Sewing Machine in A4- Singer 44S Heavy Duty Sewing Machine.
  16. Sewing Machine Samples (tension setting sample, spiral, square labyrinth, letter).
  17. How to Use a Seam Ripper.
• Extras:
  • History of Sewing Machines.
  • Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo, 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.

Week 2 Videos

• Videos for Week 2:
  1. From 2-D to 3-D Powerpoint.
  2. Heart Sample, use the invisible stitch (ladder stitch) to close up the form once filled with poly fill.
  3. Flat Bottom Pouch.
  4. Dart Sample 1 & 2.
  5. Square Cushion.
• Extras:
  • How to Drape a Basic Bodice.
  • Creating Pattern from Muslin Drapes.
  • Dart Manipulation by Shingo Sato.
  • Sculptural Moulage by Shingo Sato.

Week 3 Videos

• Videos for Week 3:
  1. Weaving, Felt, Knit, Crochet Powerpoint Part 1.
  2. Weaving, Felt, Knit, Crochet Powerpoint Part 2.
  3. Felt Sheet Sample.
  4. Felt Hollow Sphere Sample.
  5. Washing and Dyeing Felt Samples.
  6. Smart Textiles Powerpoint.
  7. Soft Circuit Sample.
• Extras:
  • 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 (good video to watch for making complex dry felt forms).
  • 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 (not Natalya’s) for how to make the pouch.
  • Please be aware that if using the fleece (thicker than thin interfacing) interfacing:
    1. You may want to quilt the fleece to the outside fabric, as an additional step, in order to avoid unnecessary puckering between the outer fabric and the fleece after it has been fused.
    2. You may use thin interfacing instead of the fleece interfacing but your pouch will look saggy and will not maintain the form on its own.
    3. The thickness of all layers may be difficult for your machine to handle (mainly in the ends of the zipper areas), in which case, please use the hand sewn back stitch to sew just those sections by hand.
    4. You may put two zipper sliders on the zipper, rather than one.
    5. How to put a slider on a zipper track.
• Animal Heads (6-8 hours Undertaking):
  1. Print animal head template document and cut out (templates have already been sized to 200%); tape sections that were too big to fit on one page.
  2. Read general instructions.
  3. Read individual animal head construction instructions BEFORE BEGINNING, paying particular attention to CUTTING GUIDES and KEY.
  4. Follow along Natalya’s videos while working on animal heads (keep videos on mute because she did not edit sound).
  5. Use beeswax to strengthen the thread in your tool kits; this will also prevent it from twisting.
  6. Interfacing, batting, water-based markers, beeswax, carbon paper, foam board, and any specialty tool/material necessary to complete the animal heads will need to be picked up from Natalya during her office hours.
  7. Watch ladder stitch (2 min.) before beginning to work on BASE.
  • Work alongside Natalya:
    • Bear.
    • Unicorn/horse.
    • Piggie.
    • Giraffe.
  • Everyone MUST read these general instructions.
  • You will find construction instructions for each animal head in this folder.
  • You will find templates for each animal head in this folder (templates have already been sized to 200%).