Designing an educational tool to revitalise woven textile mending

Abstract

Purpose

Because of advances in woollen woven textile manufacture, the occurrence of industrial textile mending has diminished. While the demand for the skill is still present in certain settings, the availability of learning resources is limited relating to this particular craft. The purpose of this paper is to design and produce an effective educational learning tool to teach mending skills.

Design/methodology/approach

To address the aims of this dissertation project, bricolage methodology and qualitative research methods have been used. Using the findings from primary and secondary research, the educational, instructional video was developed to document and display the mending craft practice in a format that would endure and be accessible to anybody who wished to learn. After determining that the ability to understand woven pattern structures was key in learning mending skill, the visual tool was developed using two-dimensional woven structure diagrams and animations to train pattern comprehension and recognition.

Findings

The results of educational video tool testing confirmed that using two-dimensional animated diagrams of woven structures was an effective method to teach pattern comprehension. Also, it was found that the trainee’s participation in the instructional video was effective in helping to teach other learners mending skills. The structure of the educational video made the learning more organised and comprehensible, as it assisted in the learning process through the combined media that reiterated the same information in different formats.

Originality/value

Design technology was applied to provide a comprehensible educational resource that could be used to learn and revitalise mending skills. The principles and methods applied in this resource could be adapted to teach different textile disciplines or other craft practices.

Citation

Sakalyte, V., Cassidy, T. and Holroyd, A. (2017), "Designing an educational tool to revitalise woven textile mending", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 242-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-06-2017-0027