A group of Year 9 pupils at Burgess Hill School for Girls took part in an intensive textiles workshop in which their embroidery and design skills were put to the test.

The course was provided by Project Textiles, an organisation based in Lancashire, which runs workshops for schools to promote Computer Aided Design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM) in textiles.

The girls’ brief was to design and create an embroidered amulet, with the theme ‘Spirit of Africa’. They learned to convert their designs into appropriate embroidery stitches using a specialist computer programme, provided by Project Textiles.

The afternoon was spent setting up the five state-of-the-art electronic embroidery machines, also provided by Project Textiles. The girls were amazed to see their own designs being sewn automatically onto their fabric to a highly professional standard and the finished results were a credit to the hard work and effort of the girls.

Pupils at Burgess Hill School for Girls have regular lessons in Textiles which are taught by Barbara Bradley, Head of Design and Technology. The theme ‘Spirit of Africa’ was the same theme the School used for their impressive work displayed as part of the Creative Stitches Fair at the Brighton Centre in February.

Programming a modern sewing machine

25/02/10