Be your own label 

Our project will start by looking at the cotton plantations in the 18th century. We will look at how the British empire has changed and how slavery was used to bring us cotton fabric in Britain.  We will look at how different products were traded across countries.  We will look at what it was like to be a slave and how slavery was abolished and why. 

Our second half term we are going to become fashion designers - designing, making and branding our own sports wear. We will be be thinking about what is needed to become a leading sports wear brand, what sells and how we can appeal to our target audience. We will think about colours, comfort and durability and make our designs from scratch with the help of a local seamstress, who will be teaching us how to use sewing machines. We will incorporate tie-dye and colour washing to make our designs stand out from the crowd.

We are hoping to visit Jayne at CRE@TE STUDIOS to learn about textiles, upcycling and sewing our own designer bags.

We will be asking:

What is the British empire?

Why was slavery acceptable?

What was the trade triangle?

What was it like to be a slave?

How was slavery abolished?

What does fashion mean to you?

How has fashion changed over time and why?

What different material are used to make clothes and what are their properties?

How are their different properties useful?

Have we always used polyester in our clothes?

Does Nottingham have any link to fashion?

Look at some of the things we have been doing:

 Jane, from Cre@te Studio, has visited us to talk about textiles and up-cycling old clothing.

We all became shirt designers and looked at how shirts are constructed.