TAS
Year 9 Showcase Their Creativity in Textile Arts
This term, our Year 9 Textiles students have completed an exciting design project that challenged them to explore creativity, skill, and thoughtful design. Their brief was to design and make a unique textile item featuring a piece of their own handmade felt, incorporating a minimum of three hand or machine fabric decoration techniques.
Students began by experimenting with wet felting, learning how to blend wool fibres, colour, and texture to produce a durable and visually striking felt fabric. From there, they developed design ideas for a final product, ranging from decorative cushions and tote bags to phone sleeves, soft toys, wall hangings, and zippered pouches.
To meet the requirements of the brief, students incorporated a range of embellishment techniques such as embroidery, appliqué, beading, hand stitching, quilting, fabric painting, and machine stitching. Many students explored combinations of techniques, resulting in pieces that were vibrant, detailed, and highly individual.
Throughout the process, students demonstrated growing confidence in textile construction, problem-solving, and creative decision-making. The final items were proudly displayed in the classroom, showcasing the imagination and dedication of the whole cohort.
We congratulate all Year 9 Textiles students on their outstanding work and look forward to seeing how they develop their design skills in future projects.
Year 9 Textile Arts: Nonsense, Imagination and Extraordinary Hats
This term, our Year 9 Textile Arts students embraced whimsy, creativity, and technical skill as they completed a vibrant costume project inspired by the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Their design brief challenged them to design and manufacture a creative costume hat based on the famous quote:
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't.”
Students explored this idea of “nonsense” by breaking away from conventional hat design and experimenting with unexpected shapes, bold colour palettes, unusual materials, and imaginative structural features. Early lessons focused on analysing the quote, generating design ideas, and learning how to express themes of contradiction, fantasy, and surrealism through textile forms.
Over several weeks, students developed patternmaking and construction skills, working with materials such as felt, recycled fabrics, textiles trims, and decorative elements. Many students also incorporated advanced techniques including appliqué, hand embroidery, machine stitching, beading, and fabric manipulation to bring their concepts to life.
The final hats ranged from towering asymmetrical designs and playful character-inspired pieces to cleverly engineered illusions and dreamlike sculptural forms. Each hat revealed a unique interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s imaginative world, showcasing the students’ creativity and growing confidence as designers and makers.
The display of finished works was a visual feast—colourful, eccentric, and wonderfully “not what it is.” We congratulate our Year 9 students on their innovation, craftsmanship and willingness to take creative risks. Their work truly celebrates the joy of thinking differently.
Ms. S Milis
TAS Teacher
Year 9 and 10 Textiles – Working with Apparel: Skirt Design Project
Our Textiles students have recently completed their Working with Apparel assessment task, where they were challenged to showcase their creativity, design skills, and understanding of functional and aesthetic features in textile items.
For this task, students were asked to design a modern skirt suitable for a teenage girl to wear to a semi-formal event, drawing loose inspiration from a historical period studied in class. The project encouraged students to combine imagination with practical design knowledge in a highly engaging and hands-on way.
Photos of our students’ impressive design work can be seen below. We are incredibly proud of the creativity, effort and growing design skills they demonstrated throughout this project. Their refined sketches, use of colour and attention to detail truly showcase the talent within our Textiles classes.
🍔 Burgers Galore for Year 8! – Home-Grown Burger Portfolio
As part of their Grow and Thrive coursework, Year 8 Technology Mandatory students completed a major assessment portfolio called the Australian Home-Grown Burger Design and Production Project—a highlight of the term and a favourite among students!
To begin the project, students were challenged to design a healthy, sustainable burger using fresh Australian ingredients.
The twist? They had to grow their own alfalfa sprouts and include them in the final product. Over the course of the week, students carefully rinsed, soaked, drained and monitored their sprouts, recording daily observations as they watched them grow. This hands-on activity helped students understand germination, sustainability, and the benefits of producing food at home.
Students then explored the design process: brainstorming ingredients, sketching concept drawings, researching nutrition, analysing agricultural sources, and selecting their preferred burger idea. Working in small groups, they planned their ingredients using a food order system and refined their recipes before cooking day.
Burger Practical Day was a fantastic success. Classrooms were filled with creativity, sizzling patties, and stacks of fresh produce as students assembled their unique burger creations. From classic beef to chicken, turkey, vegetarian and fusion-style options, the results were impressive—and delicious!
The “Burgers Galore for Year 8” project allowed students to combine agriculture, cooking, design thinking, sustainability and creativity into one memorable learning experience. They developed independence, practical skills and a genuine appreciation for where their food comes from.
A wonderful achievement—well done, Year 8!
Ms. Mary Psaltis
Head Teacher TAS