Year 9 Textiles & Design

The Black Gully festival was held on Saturday 11th November at NERAM. Year 9 Textiles Technology contributed to an important event on the day, known as slow fashion.

The textiles industry is one of the greatest contributors to landfill and pollution and there are many fashion designers and companies taking this seriously by creating some amazing and innovative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The students were asked to upcycle an item to make it into a wearable and fashionable piece for a non competitive, relaxed style fashion parade on the day, to highlight what can be done when creativity and collaboration meet.

Students from all schools were invited to participate. Students had a fun time and really made the event a successful one. We look forward to being able to contribute to the event next year.

Anna Jackson

When this denim skirt was first purchased from Salvos for $4, it was long and outdated. Through the process of upcycling it was simply cut to a more modern length, and the denim was distressed using sandpaper and steel wool, which is on trend for this season. The crisp white lace was added to the back pockets as an extra accessory and compliments the denim skirt nicely. To complete this upcycled outfit, Anna tie-dyed an old white shirt into a trendy red one.

Chloe Brown

Chloe’s unique upcycled project consists of a skirt made out of men’s neck ties. When she first got her hands on these ties, some were stained, outdated and some had sentimental value as they were preloved by her late grandfather. Facebook came to the rescue when we were a few ties short, and people generously donated old, unwanted ties. Chloe has managed to take these ties and make them into a fashionable, more feminine skirt, continually comforting her with the memories of her grandfather. Chloe inserted a centre back zipper and attached a waistband for a comfortable fit. The blue, white and grey tones in any season create a classic look. Chloe’s skirt demonstrates just how easy it is to take something unwanted and turn it into something anyone can wear!

Liv & Clancy When Liv and Clancy first purchased their white skirt from Vinnies for $6, it was long and out of fashion, but they had a good idea as to what they wanted to achieve. After a long five weeks, they turned what was once one skirt, into two modern a-line mini skirts. The skirts are finished off on the waistband with some black and white fabric that the girls had used in a previous bag project. Good use of scraps, instead of it going to landfill. They faced a few complications and design challenges along the way but with some good problem solving the end result was pretty impressive. To finish their outfit, they have taken two second hand Men's shirts, and cropped them creating a more modern feel.

Chelsea Ahern

Chelsea purchased a pair of knee length denim shorts and a peachy pink pleated skirt, at a nifty price of $9. She deconstructed both items by chopping off the legs of the shorts to create the top of the skirt. She then unpicked the bow from the skirt to save for decoration. The waistband from the skirt was cut off and discarded. With the pleats still in tact Chelsea pinned and stitched them onto the denim. The bow was stitched in place at the back for a fun and feminine look.

Molly and Bailey

Molly and Bailey purchased their two pairs of denim jeans and a denim skirt from Vinnies for a cheap price of $12. The girls cut out random sized pieces from the denim items. They arranged these into a patchwork pattern to the size of the front and back dress panels. They stitched them altogether using straight and zigzag stitching. The two pieces were then stitched at the side seams and the girls created a button and button loop opening at the side seam, using recycled buttons and elastic. They also purchased a small piece of broderie anglaise for 50c to make a frill along the top of the denim dress to finish the off the shoulder look, which is really popular at the moment.

Harriet Schmude

When shopping, Harriet purchased a white off the shoulder jumpsuit from Vinnies for $6. Harriet upcycled her garment by trimming the lace from around the top to create a more modern look and placing the off cuts from this around the bottom to now feature a simple decorative lace hem. To finish off the outfit she added a woven ribbon as a belt to create a contrasting color coordinating compliment to the white jumpsuit.

Lucy Fittler

Lucy first purchased her long denim skirt for $5 at Vinnies, she cut the bottom off and added lace to give it a girly look. She used a bandana from Vinnies for $3 for cross over straps and used some blue scrap fabric to make the shorts. These were then tie-dyed with marbles and rubber bands, then put in a pot of bleach to remove the colour. The end result was a cool purple and red effect.

Caitlin Jubb

Caitlin purchased her denim jacket from One of a Kind for $10. She then cut the arms off leaving an edge to be able to give the distressed denim jacket look. She added lace around the collar and added a Guipure lace design on the back for a more feminine feel The black dress underneath was purchased from Salvos for $5, and is made out of swimwear fabric, Neoprene.

Ellen Hawthorne

Ellen purchased her long sleeve men’s shirt from One of a Kind for $5 and a taupe/tan cord skirt for $3 from Vinnies. During the 5 weeks Ellen brainstormed many ideas to make her look the upcycled outfit it is today. She turned the men's shirt into a cute and girly top by cutting off the sleeves and collar and added a white lace trim to compliment the shirt’s design. Ellen then inserted elastic in a casing at the top for a better and more comfortable fit. She found white twisted rope to use as straps and adjusted the taupe/tan skirt to personally fit her body.

Emily Meehan

Emily made a fitted mini skirt from a men’s business shirt bought from one of a kind for $8. After cutting off the sleeves and removing some of the length, she then added darts for a more fitted look. The waistband was constructed from the sleeve fabric which gives a contrasting effect as the pattern runs the other way to the skirt fabric. This skirt can be teamed with many different tops depending on the look you are going for. Through the process of upcycling it was constructed into a modern and very functional design.

Mrs Channon

Textiles & Design

Student Awards

Congratulations to students who received Principal awards and to Artist of the Month Year 10 student Dee Levingston.

O'Connor Catholic College Newsletter

Issue 18 · 17 Nov 2017

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