29 Aug 2017
On Friday, the 11th August Year 11 textiles students Kayleigh Sandow, Hannah Whyte, Paige Amarant and Bella Reid along with Mrs Barnes travelled to Canberra for the Craft and Quilt Exhibition.
The girls spent 3 hours walking around the exhibit room where they viewed a variety of quilts that were intricately detailed and showcased many amazing designer's talents. They were all amazed by the amount of work and dedication that would've been put into the quilts.
After viewing the main exhibition, they moved onto the marketing style area. The girls got to see and use lots of new and innovative textile based technologies which was very exciting. Being surrounded by so many new technologies opened our eyes to the potential the textile industry holds. The students all had a go at using a free-hand embroidery machine, which showed them how the new technologies can simplify and speed up the entire production process. They also observed a computer aided design machine that embroidered computer generated images right in front of them. In the back of this exhibition were some more contemporary and modern designs. Some of which incorporated recycled materials, which was extremely interesting to see. While wandering around the second room they came across a lot of new simple things that make a big difference to producing textiles products, such as seam measurers that stick to scissors that simplify the entire process of cutting out pattern pieces.
The students all got a bit crafty and learnt new dying techniques with some very enthusiastic store holders showing us their skills.
They spoke to a textiles designer, Dijanne Cevaal, who specialised in lino-printing, fabric dying and printing, hand and machine embroidery. She was able to take her work around the world, and derived her inspiration from the various landscapes and cultures that she was exposed to. She has written a book and now teaches people her techniques, especially in developing countries to expand their textiles industry through increasing people's capabilities.
The girls were very grateful to Mrs Barnes for organising and taking them on this very exciting and informative trip.
