Stitch In Time Project Overview

Stitch In Time is a collaborative project between WMG and primary schools. Taking inspiration from Coventry’s textiles history, children in years 5 and 6 learn to create embroidery designs by writing computer programs. The project is supported by HVM Catapult.

Objectives

• Children learn about the role of textiles in Coventry’s history and design patterns inspired by the city.
• Children learn about the role of software and control in industry, business and the arts.
• Children apply programming skills and mathematics in a new context.
• Teachers learn the above skills and knowledge, and are able to teach them to current and future pupils.

Description

A collection of decorative woven silk ribbons in a display case at The Herbert Art Gallery.

The learners’ project begins with an exploration of textiles in Coventry. For example, we look at the names of guild chapels in the Cathedral ruins (cappers, drapers, girdlers and mercers), which suggest to us the success and influence of the textiles trades in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They learn about Coventry’s tradition of ribbon manufacturing which continues today. Then we look at photos of artefacts held in the Herbert Museum, including samplers and embroidered clothing from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The children learn about the different purposes of embroidery and how it can be used as a historical source.

The baptistry window at Coventry Cathedral. In the centre there is a lot of white and yellow stained glass, round the outside are blue red and green stained glass.

Then the project transitions to automated pattern making. The children learn that the programming skills they are learning in school have applications in industry, leisure and the arts. They learn that computer programs can control physical machinery, such as assembly lines, rollercoasters, art installations and digital embroidery machines. Watching an embroidery machine in action, they consider how their hand-printed design could be stitched onto fabric.

An example of what turtlestitch code looks like. Its a block based programming language.

In order to write a program which instructs a digital embroidery machine to stitch their design, the children learn to use Turtlestitch, a free programming platform created by Andrea Mayr-Stalder and Michael Aschauer. This learning is explicitly linked to the year 5 and 6 maths and computing programmes of study in the national curriculum for England. Through a series of exercises, the children learn to write computer programs to draw out shapes, applying their knowledge of geometry and measurement. Then they create a pattern based on their own design inspired by Coventry, adapting it to take advantage of the greater intricacy which can be achieved by the embroidery machine.

Finally, the children’s programs are used to create digital images, videos and embroidered fabric pieces for display. A selection of work done during the first year of the project can be seen in the online gallery.

An example of a primary school childs work. Its their pattern designed using turtlestitch, stitched onto brown felt with red thread. Its a series of circular patterns

Delivery

The project is delivered by teachers in schools. It can be taught on one day or spread out over five to six weeks. Teachers are given training in delivery of the project, alongside a set of tutorial videos for improving their technical knowledge, and teaching and learning resources to use with their class.