In Class 7, the children enter the artistic flourishing of the Renaissance and the rebellion of the Reformation in both the curriculum and their own development. They discover their incredibly diverse aesthetic capabilities as well as their own awakening powers of thinking and protesting. In their artwork they often become extremely creative and make elaborate designs, and they certainly are competent at working with colour.

This year they are ready to do projects that would not have been expected of them in the years before. This is a year when they are expected to hand sew very well and make a garment to wear. The whole idea of transferring an artistic hand drawn design onto a piece of cloth for something to wear is a new experience. First, they create a design and then carry out that design in all its details. They learn to use embroidery in many different ways. They study how embroidery designs can enhance clothing, if one is conscious of how and where they are placed, designs that go around the neck, the waist and the hem should not be the same but should metamorphose and change, so that the neck design points to what is below, the hem to what is above and the waist to both directions. One often sees good examples of this in Norwegian sweaters made by those artistic knitters from the past.

Patricia Livingston, ‘Will-Developed Intelligence’

The Class 7 students at PSC have students commenced the hand sewing of the basic design for their pyjama pants last term, with their personally selected fabrics. The project incorporates a number of elements including pattern reading and design, learning new stitches, problem solving, perseverance of will, and much, much more.

Once the practical, simple design of their pyjama shorts are completed, they are encouraged to add aesthetic beauty to their pyjamas such as embroidery, crochet, buttons or a pocket to individualise their creation, which can be an interesting challenge for some.

Alison Anthoni
Craft Teacher