Camp Week 6 2022

Week 6: Soft Engineering: Sewing & Plush Design
July 25 - July 29
Instructor: Amy Brown

There’s something you touch every day that is an engineering marvel: fabric! Sewing and pattern design is as common as the shirt on your back and the sheets you sleep on. How are these things made? We will learn the basic skills to sew fabric and experiment in turning 2D drawings into 3D fabric objects. If it exists, we can make a stuffed version of it! Skills to look forward to include sewing, embroidery, pattern design, mending and more.

Monday (July 25th)
9:00am   Housekeeping and intros - Hi, I’m Amy!

9:10am   Ice Breaker activity: Sewing tools memory game
●      Take a few minutes for the group to inspect a tray of objects. Touch, but no talking.
●      In pairs, campers write down from memory all the objects they can remember. Quiet voices!
●      Hold up each object and explain what it’s used for. Each team gets a point for every correct memory.

9:30am   Activity/Lesson: Let’s make a ball (pre-cut cotton circles, pre-cut felt circles, stuffing, thread, needles)
●      Turn a 2D circle of fabric into a 3D sphere (ball)
●      Learn to make a running stitch and tie a knot

10:00am BREAK

10:15am   Activity/Lesson: Patching and Appliqué (fabric markers)
●      Cover opening on ball with a patch
●      Learn the whip stitch
●      Decorate pincushion with fabric marker

10:30am   Activity/Lesson: What in the world is fabric?
●      Types of fabric
●      How many different sewn objects can we find on ourselves?
●      What else do you see in the room?
●      wovens, knits, felt, leather, ???

10:40am   Activity/Lesson: Sewing with knits (pre-cut fleece rectangles)
●      Different from woven fabrics - it’s stretchy!
●      Sew rectangle and stuff
●      How are the finished shapes different from each other?

11:00am   Discussion:  Stuffed ANYTHING
●      If you could make a stuffie of anything in the world, what would it be?
●      What about this object drives your curiosity?
●      What are some challenges you might face in making it?

11:30am    LUNCH

12:15pm   Continue morning activity

12:45pm   TINKER TIME          Intro to Tinker Journal
Activity option of CHICKEN PILLOW (pre-cut cotton rectangles, felt, stuffing)

2:15pm Snack
2:30pm   Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm   Clean Up
3:00pm   Camper Pick Up

Tuesday (July 26th)
9:00am   Warm Up:  Sew what?! (paper, pencil, markers)
●      Now that we have learned some stitches, what do you want to make?
●      Spend time sketching in journals and asking questions

9:15am   Activity/Lesson: Magic Knot (needle, thread)
●      Learn how to tie a perfect knot
●      Threading basics
●      Tool safety basics

9:30am   Activity/Lesson: 3D shapes in fabric (stuffed animal, pre-cut felt rectangles, stuffing, thread, needle)
●      Examine a toy and sketch the different parts using only basic shapes
●      Legs and arms: Make a simple felt cylinder using the whip stitch
●      Add cylinder to bottom of the pincushion: a mushroom!
●      How to cut the right circle for a cylinder

10:15am BREAK

10:30am   Activity/Lesson:  How will we make it? (paper, pencils, rulers)
●      brainstorm what shapes we’ll need to make our sketches into 3D objects
●      Transform our earlier sketches into a sewing pattern
●      Learn to add width to narrow parts of your pattern
●      Add complexity with gussets and darts as needed

11:00am   Activity/Lesson:  Cut it out! Try out our new patterns (scissors, various fabrics, pins, needle/thread)
●      Cut out pattern and pin to double fabric
●      Trace and cut out- keep fabric pinned together
●      Begin sewing
11:30am    LUNCH

12:15pm   Continue morning activity

12:45pm   TINKER TIME
  Activity option: Needle-felted wool shapes (felting pads, needles, wool, cookie cutters)

2:15pm Snack
2:30pm   Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm   Clean Up
3:00pm   Camper Pick Up

Wednesday (July 27th)
9:00am            Activity/Lesson: Repeating surface patterns (square paper tiles, scissors, pencils, markers, clear tape)
●      Create a pattern that can be repeated or tiled, such as on fabric
●      Sketch on paper, cut and reassemble
●      Add color to design (will revisit on Thursday)

9:45am   Activity/Lesson:  Continue sewing patterns from Tuesday (needle, thread, scissors, pins)
● Seams on outside or inside? When to flip
● How to add in a gusset

10:15am         BREAK

10:30am          Guest Speaker: Stephanie Metz, sculptor and pattern-maker

11:30am    LUNCH

12:15pm   Continue morning activity

12:45pm TINKER TIME
  Activity option: more ways to make a ball. And beanbags! (cotton fabric, beans, stuffing)

2:15pm Snack
2:30pm   Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm   Clean Up
3:00pm   Camper Pick Up

Thursday (July 28th)
9:00am   Warm Up: Fashion in the future (recycled materials, pencils, journal)
●      What will people wear in the future? Write/sketch in journal.
●      What enhancements would make clothing more helpful?
●      Turn a waste product (plastic bottles, old tires) into clothing- what would it look like?

9:30am   Activity/Lesson: Stuffed Animal Dissection (stuffed animals, seam ripper, paper, pencil, scissors)
●      How to use a seam ripper
●      Remove one piece: head, arm, leg
●      How is a stuffie made? What is the inside like?
●      What kinds of stitches go into a factory-made product?

10:15am       BREAK

10:30am   Activity/Lesson: Continue dissection (paper, scissors, pencils)
●      Focus on one piece and take it apart completely
●      Take notes on all steps
●      Trace pieces on paper- take care to label each step
●      Cut pattern out of fabric and sew a new part
●      Individual instruction on sewing machine

11:30am    LUNCH

12:15pm   Continue morning activity

12:45pm   TINKER TIME
  Activity option: embroidery samplers (hoops, floss, needles, cotton fabric)

2:15pm Snack
2:30pm   Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm   Clean Up
3:00pm   Camper Pick Up

Friday (July 29th)
9:00am   Warm Up: Challenges in Stuffie Dissection
●      Which part was fun, which was frustrating?
●      Have you had a stuffie break? What did you do?

9:15am   Activity/Lesson: Mix and Match!
●      Trade with other campers for new parts for your deconstructed stuffie
●      Use a whipstitch to sew the new part onto your stuffie.

10:15am       BREAK

10:30am   Activity/Lesson: Travel-size stuffies (felt, scissors, pencil, paper, stuffing, pinbacks, magnets)
●      Draw an animal shape less than 6” with at least 2 appendages
●      Cut out of felt and sew
●      add embellishments
●      Attach to pin or magnet (optional)

11:30am    LUNCH

12:15pm   Continue morning activity

12:45pm TINKER TIME

2:30pm   Daily Camper Assessment
Weekly Camper Survey
2:45pm Snack
3:00pm   Clean Up and Prep for Showcase

3:30pm   Student Showcase

4:30pm   Camper Pick Up