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A 20-minute microteaching session focused on fabric creation through fibres, yarns, and techniques, with an emphasis on experimentation rather than direct instructions for a creative and engaging way to encourage hands-on learning.
Session Overview:
Encourage learners to experiment with fibres, yarns, and techniques to create something unique and personal. The focus will be on discovery and personal expression through materials Framework for structuring the session whilst promoting exploration:
Duration: 20 minutes
1. Introduction (2-3 minutes)
2. Material Exploration (10 minutes)
3. Reflection & Sharing (5 minutes)
4. Wrap-up (2-3 minutes)
1. Introduction (2-3 minutes)
-Introduce Yourself-Share your name, position, why you enjoy working with yarn
Engage Participants-Ask participants if they’ve ever worked with yarn/fibres before and what they know about fabric creation and techniques, if any?
– Set the tone and spark curiosity by explaining that the session is about exploring the creative potential of fabric creation, using fibres and yarns.
– Emphasize that the session is about experimentation, not a structured, step-by-step guide. It’s about feeling the materials, making unexpected connections, and seeing what happens.
– Introduce a variety of fibres and yarns (such as cotton, wool, silk, synthetic fibres, or even unconventional materials like paper or plastic strips). Avoid detailing what each is used for, let learners discover that on their own.
– Briefly mention techniques like knotting, twisting, weaving, looping, or even more tactile methods like fraying and ripping fabric, but again, without giving specific instructions.
-Invite participants to write some words down what they think of what a fabric is? Perhaps even sketching something?
2. Material Exploration (10 minutes)
– Provide an array of fibres, yarns, and other materials on the table. Include a mix of textures, colours, and weights to stimulate curiosity. Add some tools, ‘accessories’ as a way of them connecting the fibres.
–Encourage free play: Invite learners to touch, twist, knot, and combine the materials in whatever way feels interesting. You can offer a few open-ended prompts, such as:
– “What happens when you twist these two materials together?”
– “Can you think of an unusual way to tie these yarns?”
– Avoid dictating specific actions—rather, ask open-ended questions that prompt learners to explore materials in a non-linear way. For example, “What happens when you layer these textures together?”
– Encourage observation: Suggest that they take note of how different materials behave when pulled, twisted, or manipulated.
3. Reflection & Sharing (5 minutes)
– Once learners have had time to experiment with the materials, invite them to share what they’ve discovered.
– “What was your process for combining these materials?”
– “Did you find a combination of fibres or yarns that created an interesting texture or effect?”
– This is less about “right” or “wrong” and more about personal experiences with the materials. Foster an environment where participants can share their thoughts and ideas.
– Encourage peer feedback. Learners can suggest new experiments to each other based on what they’ve observed.
4. Wrap-up (2-3 minutes)
– Close the session by emphasizing the value of experimentation in fabric creation. Highlight how creativity often arises from moments of unexpected discovery and how experimenting with different fibres and techniques can lead to unique results.
– Invite participants to reflect on how they might continue to explore fabric creation outside of the session, either by continuing with these materials or seeking new fibres, textures, and approaches to try.
My aim was to keep the energy open-ended and that the focus was always on exploring, making mistakes, and learning through the process of working with the materials and really letting the participants drive the direction of the session. Encouraging a non-judgmental atmosphere where the learners felt comfortable creating freely, without worrying about making a “perfect” outcome.
I also wanted the participants to try to acknowledge that the act of creating through experimentation might lead to results that are abstract or unexpected and that’s part of the learning process. Initially, I had thought about creating a session where the participants learnt a specific technique and put that in to practice, such as crochet or macrame I tested this out with a friend prior to the session and realised how complicated they found it and were actually quite stressed about getting the technique right and then thinking about how to create a fabric with this specific technique which led me to think about the nature of the word teaching and the idea that a participant leaves your workshop/session with a new skill, but that didn’t need to be so specific.
This made me think about how I work with younger children in my workshops where the emphasis is really on play, exploration and mindfulness, being engaged in something for the pure joy of it as oppose to any particular outcome, I have found this engages them on a much deeper level and in fact they end up often learning more but mainly have a very positive relationship to the materials and subject matter. I mainly stuck to my overview but did not really spend so much time with suggesting or encouraging fabric creation outside of the session, this was really due to time as I gave more time to ‘fabric creation’ element and wanted to leave time for verbal feedback as it had been quiet whilst they were focused on their work. I also would have liked to have encouraged more peer to peer feedback but as the group was small this didn’t feel as necessary as when I was planning.
My own teaching practice as a HPL on the BA textiles course is very structured mainly due to time constraints and the outcomes of the unit, where its quite vital that the sessions taught by the technicians are very focused on the ‘correct way to do something for the outcome they want. So, I really wanted to create the type of session that fosters a sense of curiosity and play, whilst also allowing learners to gain a deeper understanding of the materials they’re working with through hands-on experience.
The atmosphere that was created, was quite remarkable and I found myself not giving the usual input of guidance and encouragement as the participants seemed very mindful and focused on their creations, with one person commenting that ‘it quickly became meditative’. The pieces that were created in such a short space of time were impressive and I think show a lot about the makers, I think we find it hard to ‘let go’ as creatives and can continue to put a pressure on ourselves to think that the outcome needs to look good or have some kind of aesthetic or idea behind, with one person commenting “it was challenging to be so free”. I think this happens on such a sub conscious level that comes from really diving into the creation and then sitting back to contemplate afterwards where the ideas came from.
Overall the feedback was very positive “it was an excellent way to encourage thinking and concept development through doing” with many comments around ideas of expectation and the fact that there was no pressure to do something in a certain way. It felt at times as though I wasn’t doing ‘enough’ as the tutor and one person commented that I could have given more ‘focus’ but I honestly felt the whole point was for people to not have a focus and passively ‘play’ and interact with the tools and materials for which the majority were able to do and consequently got a lot out of that process and found it quite freeing to do so. I find this is an issue with some students that really lack confidence in decision making and unfortunately I feel some tutors are too keen to give opinions as oppose to nurturing the student to make their own choice and really understand that there is no correct way to design and that they are creating their own language as creatives and how important that is. I would love to implement this as part of my role as HPL but feel that would be impossible as it stands now as I do not have any capacity to change the hours that I do where it is very fixed in terms of structure of the unit. I could perhaps suggest an element of this by way of taking the intimidation out of fabric creation especially on the knitting machines which many of the students are quite stressed about initially.
I felt the whole microteaching session was a brilliant way to see how other people approach learning and I was really inspired by the thought, preparations and ideas that came up in each person’s twenty minutes. I particularly loved the session on ‘empathy in objects’ as it was such a simple process that brought up so many ideas and is something I relate to in my own practice. That said I honestly took something from each and every persons microteaching and feel so fortunate to have been a participant as there was so much to ponder, feel and learn.
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URLromanypgcert.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/02/08/microteaching/Stick to the top of the blogPost FormatAsideGalleryStandardAuthorRomany TaylorSwitch to draftMove to trash
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