Textiles workshop 1

Today we had the first workshop of textiles. It was a very interesting experience i had never worked with this material in this way.
We learned to work the wool and decorate it , something completely new.
We started by talking about from where the wool comes - sheep , goats, camels and llamas - and that only the sheep wool has a "hook" that are open when it's in contact with the warm and close when puted in contact with the cold , this process is similar to the pinecones, open at hot and close in the cold.

For working, wool is rolled on a big roll and binds / attaches to a camel that will pull by the uneven ground which will make the wool thinner and will help losing the water that is used for work . If you have printed in the wool, this process will set them.
The wool can be used in various ways such as clothing , blankets , carpets , decoration and even homes - in northern Sweden , near Kiruna wool is used to make houses / tents and the whole house is lined with wool, to the ground, and it has the name of Yurts .

In the first part of the lesson, the teacher Cathrine began by explaining what we should do and how we were going to work the wool :

• With an open plastic bag - black trash - half meter on the table and the other half to fall.
• Choose a wool bit - be careful to be a thin part because if it is not thin is more difficult to work - using one of the base colors white, brown or gray;

Base colors

• Cut the piece of desired wool by hand and see the direction of the fibers. Choose three pieces of similar size and place each layer with the fibers in different directions - first horizontal/vertical, second the opposite way vertical/horizontal and third like the first one;
• After the third layer close your eyes and feel the wool - when you close your eyes you are not using them so the other senses are more established. It is a very important job to be done with the children in order for them to experiment the most of every one of the senses and know how to use them in different ways;

              overlapping layers

• Put the wool on the floor. With warm water and a spoon of detergent ( diluted in this water ) splashed abundantly the wool;
• Cover the wool with the plastic bag left over and stomps it well so that the three layers look good together , air out and to become one;

• After being trampled again put on the table and a plastic bubble covering the wool on both sides;
• The wool will drop so much water so when we curl the wool it should have a towel to absorb water as much as possible;
• With a roller wound the wool and roll with the legs or arms about 4 min. - With the children after wound should hold the tips to make it easy to roll;
• Unroll carefully and join the colors and shapes you want . Make the same wool joining processes as previously done but rolling over 5 min;

• If necessary at the end with a special needle grasp better the pieces that were not well fixed.

Our creation 

For this work with children, can be suggested a topic for them to decide easier or simply let creativity and imagination work . The teacher proposed us to use the theme of fairy tales but left open if we wanted to choose another theme.

In the second part of the class , we continue to work with wool but in a different way . We saw some dolls that the teacher asked us what were the fillers they had .

Dolls

Some were with stones , others with plastic bags , others with their own wool and others with sponge.

The following proposal was that , or with stones or sponge as filling, we try to make our own doll.

My attempt was a white owl.

My withe owl with Marianas penguin

In preparing these two distinct activities , the main elements that were worked were:

• Mathematics - both in the preparation of the small rug as the doll the notion of space and grandeur , geometric shapes , colors, logical- mathematical thinking;
• The technique - fundamental element for the development of both parts;
• Know how, terapy work and harmony;
• Language - by learning terms and names of materials , through stories that can be told with the wool from how to arrange the wool to work with that, the story that can be created through the rugs or the created dolls;
• The sense - touch is the main sense due to change of the wool from the beginning to the end , when it is soft and smooth , natural , until thin and rougher after soap and water. The vision is always worked with the mixture of colors, knowledge of materials and the effect created in wool. Also the smell is an important element in the knowledge of materials and when working using detergent, and when the wool is wet the smell also changes;
• The nature - wool comes from the animals so any animal environment and the surrounding nature can be worked, as the process used for working the wool and back to the environment.

If we put the work of children on the wall after they are ready this can provide new insights for other activities, can lead to discussion of what were doing, which helps them remember what they have learned and remember and think better of it. It shows that what they do is important to us and help in self-esteem . Wool has other particular point , if placed on the wall is a great insulating for the sound.

Every child should have the opportunity to try the two ways to work wool because is a very rewarding job and it helps in the development and learning at different levels .

Wednesday, January 27, 2016