Microteaching: Shirring and Smocking
I decided to use Shirring and Smocking samples as objects for my Microteaching session.
I initially considered using a Pleating machine as my object, which is used to pleat fabric for smocking. However, I am in the process of building a sample library so it was more relevant to my current pedagogic practice to receive feedback on how I introduce the samples and encourage students to think about the techniques contextually and the influence on their design decisions.
What I did
I started by introducing myself and explaining the material library that is currently in development to give context to the session. – 1-2 mins
Introduction slides
I split the group of 4 into pairs and gave them an assortment of samples to analyse, discuss, and make notes about the qualities of the samples and gave them prompts to direct them. – 5 minutes.
Activity slide
Shirring and Smocking samples
I then presented my PowerPoint, which introduced Shirring and Smocking techniques, a brief history and description, and some historical and modern examples. -5 minutes
Shirring slides
Smocking slides
Afterwards, I demonstrated how the stitching formation for shirring and smocking works to create gathers and pleats. – 2 mins
I then presented an example garment which was advertised as smocked fabric but was shirred fabric with digital embroidery application on top, followed by reflective questions and discussion. – 5 mins
Shirring vs Smocking and reflective questions slides
My teaching methodology
I was inspired by ‘The Potential of Online Object-based Learning Activities to Support the Teaching of Intersectional Environmentalism in Art and Design Higher Education’. The piece reflects on an online, object-based, learning event called Colonialism to Climate Crisis, in which students were asked to analyse botanical drawings from the 18th and 19th centuries. They were “introduced to a methodology for visual analysis first suggested by Gillian Rose in her book Visual Methodologies (2012)” (Willcocks And Mahon, 2023), in which four stages are used for visual analysis: ‘the site of production, the site of the object, the site of audiencing and the site of circulation’. Students learnt about how these drawings were used to advertise plants to the Western World through the “colonial desire to map, understand and exploit the natural world for economic gain”(Willcocks And Mahon, 2023). The extraction of these plants through exploitative means resulted in the destruction of indigenous agricultural systems and sustainable farming practices.
This method inspired me as it encouraged students to analyse how the objects they use represent more than just their aesthetics. I reinterpreted the Rose Method to analyse my Shirring and Smocking samples to help me generate reflective question prompts:
The site of production– Where and how were these techniques produced and has that changed to the present day? Who used to produce these techniques and who does now?
The site of the object– its visual content and composition, what does it look like?
The site of circulation– where and how does the technique/ process travel over time and space?
The site of audiencing– where and how these techniques/ processes are encountered by its users?
Reflections:
Going forward, it would be great to include the Rose Method sites, along with the inspired question prompts, to give students a clearer understanding of where these question prompts originate so that they can expand and generate their own questions which may be more appropriate to them.
References:
(2005) Blue silk dress trimmed with smocking in silk and machine-made lace, designed at Liberty & Co. Ltd., England, probably 1893-1894. Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108865/dress-liberty–co/(Accessed: 10/02/2024).
Carpenter, C. (2019) Smocking at: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/smocking/ (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
Feben (2022) SKY AW22. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClBYENvNrcv/?igsh=eDRrajVhYjh1anA4 (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
(2017) Look 1 Molly Goddard AW17. Available at: https://mollygoddard.com/products/aw17 (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
(2004) Man’s smock of cotton twill embroidered with cotton, England, 1850-1900. Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O92186/smock-unknown/ (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
(2017) Molly Goddard AW 2017. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/fashion-in-motion-molly-goddard (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
(2018) 1880s mourning dress by Jay’s General Mourning Warehouse. Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1457181/mourning-dress-jays-general-mourning/ (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
(2023) Sea Olga smocked embroidered-cotton top Available at: https://www.matchesfashion.com/products/Sea-Olga-smocked-embroideredcottontop1539701?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=MF%20%7C%20GB%20%7C%20ENG%20%7C%20PMAX%20%7C%20Conversion%20%7C%20Female%20%7C%20Sale&utm_content=1539701000009&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA29auBhBxEiwAnKcSqlYb7Lmjxd5xqFerOVXSilntNe8hRb-uwECJRHcGlSpMreKQQPIeqBoCylIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
The sewing Academy (2012) Synchronized Stitching. Available at: https://www.thesewingacademy.com/tag/shirring/ (Accessed: 10/02/2024).
Willcocks, J. And Mahon, K. (2023), ‘The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education’, Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education 22(2), pp.187-207.
Wolff, C. (1996) The Art of Manipulating Fabric. Edited by R. Fanning and R. Cooke. United States of America: Interweave.