Sewing Skills Notes
Subject Overview
Sewing Skills builds on Semester 1's basic sewing foundation with fabric manipulation and product development techniques — tucks, gathers, pleats, darts, hemming, and fasteners. You'll learn tucks and gathering techniques, hemming terminology and fastener application (zippers, buttons, velcro), edge finishes like piping and binding, and close with creative surface development combining the techniques learnt. This is a 2-credit core practical paper across 3 units.
Subject at a glance
3
Units
12
Topics
2
Credits
3
Infographics
Unit-wise Syllabus
3 units — click WhatsApp below to get the full notes for each
Unit 1: Fabric manipulation techniques
- Tucks
- gathers and shirring
- pleats
- darts
Tucks
Stitched folds
Gathers and shirring
Fullness from drawn-up threads
Pleats
Knife, box, inverted
Darts
Shape fabric to the body
Study guide
This unit covers fabric manipulation: tucks, gathers, shirring, pleats and darts. Practise each on a small sample.
Unit 2: Hemming and fasteners
- Hemming terminology and techniques
- introduction to fasteners — zippers
- buttons and buttonholes
- rivets
- velcro
- edge finishes (piping, binding, band application, drawstrings, tape finish for curtains)
Fasteners
Zips, buttons, rivets, velcro
Piping
Corded edge
Binding
Fabric strip enclosing the edge
Band
Separate band applied
Drawstring
Cord through a casing
Study guide
You study hemming terminology and techniques and fasteners: zippers, buttons and buttonholes, rivets, velcro and edge finishes such as piping, binding, band application, drawstrings and tape finish. Learn which finish suits which garment.
Unit 3: Creative surface development
Creative surface development combining the techniques learnt, sample development as the end product
- 1Choose a theme
- 2Select techniques
Tucks, pleats, gathers
- 3Test on scrap fabric
- 4Combine into a composition
- 5Finish and present the sample
Study guide
You combine the techniques into creative surface development and finish with samples as the end product. Document each sample with notes.
Why Sewing Skills Matters
Garment construction knowledge helps designers create realistic, producible designs and communicate with production teams.
How to Prepare for Sewing Skills
- Make a labelled sample for each technique.
- Practise accuracy in marking and stitching.
- Photograph your samples for your portfolio.
Sewing Skills: Frequently Asked Questions
What is shirring?
Shirring is gathering fabric in multiple parallel rows with elastic or thread to create stretch and fullness.