Creative Reuse: Art from Scrap Textiles

It all started with a KAEA conference workshop. A workshop description mentioned recycling textiles into art. I thought "I like recycling. I have lots of fabric scraps at school." So I signed up.

I didn't even notice that the presenter was the wonderful Liz Kowalchuk when I chose the workshop. The presentation was inspiring and we all enjoyed making pendants out of old clothing. I couldn't wait to get started with my 8th grade students.

I started with a discussion to introduce the assignment. A slides presentation kept me organized.

Challenge 1: Create a pendant

In the workshop, Liz provided us with templates. I found a bunch of small wooden shapes that had been donated to my classroom and scraps of mat board. They were all different sizes so I showed students how to make their own template on thin paper by tracing around their base and leaving enough of a border that it could wrap around onto the back. The students cut scraps of fabric from our collection- some quilting scraps and some cut from worn out clothing, glued them in place on their templates, and trimmed the corners before wrapping. When the wrapping was done, the pieces could either be turned into pendants to wear as a necklace, attached to a ring to use as a keychain, or turned into a broach by pulling one end of the fabric through a large safety pin when wrapping.

Challenge 2: Create an original work of art out of textile scraps

I am more confident working in 2D so I pushed myself to make a sculpture for my example. I formed the bird out of denim and wire, used netting from a produce bag and other scraps to form a nest, and perched it in the crook of a piece of hedge left from prom decorations last year.

I was also excited to have the excuse to pull out some of my cool fibers/textiles/mixed media books and magazines for inspiration!

I was able to purchase an inexpensive sewing machine with a grant a couple of years ago and I wish I had room for more than one because it was popular! Probably 3/4s of the students utilized the sewing machine in some way during construction.

The students didn't have many limits for what to make. Many made pillows, bandanas, or more jewelry. A couple went much bigger, working at home to add to their resources but still focusing on repurposing items.

This student found some old wire at her house and brought in burlap from her mom's wedding decorations to make a giant dream catcher which got a ton of attention hanging in the hallway.

This student was so excited that she finished her sculpture at home over the weekend right after it was introduced. Her mom and grandma gave her some help with papier mache. She used an old doll for the torso, a tomato cage for the rest of the body, an old coat for the fur, curtains for the skirt, and scrap fabric from her quilter grandma's stash.

A few students worked together in a group on a Batman costume that they stitched by hand and an armature to model it. Other students helped teach their classmates how to use the sewing machine or helped them problem solve.

Challenge 3: Plan the display

I explained to the students that they were going to be in charge of preparing their work for the display case including artist statements and a sign to explain the display so people could learn about our topic. I ended up home with a sick kid on the day they set up the display so it was really all them!

I couldn't have been more proud of the students' work on this project. They all learned new skills even though the skills were not the same across the board and they all communicated their ideas.

Jewelry Boot Camp

Spring semester in my intro high school class is usually organized by a theme for each month. But what do you do with March when you miss a full week for spring break and at least a couple other days for in-service, state basketball, etc? A couple of years ago, my answer was to run another boot camp/workshop on jewelry, introducing students to materials and techniques they could use and giving them 2 weeks to explore and create something.

Here is the slides presentation I put together with examples and links to the artist's websites.

And here are some examples of the students' work! They really seemed to enjoy learning about jewelry and having the opportunity to make something to wear or share with loved ones. 

Many students brought their own found objects in to work with.

I have a wire coiling gizmo that I purchased years ago and it is handy for making coils that can be cut into links for chain work. Of course, you can also wrap a dowel rod.

The wire coiling gizmo was also used for this piece.

We have an awesome Ag program in our school. One of my students used the equipment in the Ag shop to cut out a metal cross.

None of the materials we used were expensive- they were pretty much all scraps! The only purchases I made were some wire, cord, bails, and a rivet gun.

Here are some of the items we used: 

(If you make a purchase from these links I may get a small commission at no extra charge to you)

High School Jewelry

It seems like the month of March can make for tricky lwssonnplanning. We have a full week off for spring break and one or two days off for in-service and parent teacher conferences. It is challenging to get a big project completed during that month sonoast year I broke away from a theme and did more of a bootcamp/workshop approach. I very rarely have students create jewelry but I thought they would be interested if I gave them time to explore it. 

I showed the students a slides presentation with different categories of jewelry that would be possible- wire, wire and beads, leather, aluminum, found objects. We had recently discussed jewelry as art (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BrtuXYWIzt03fEHLxJAeAeCXPUuPW7lcnRotYpBkTb8) so we built on that. Here is the presentation with inspiration for different techniques:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nRs5z7Nn42KsR_k8ES0Cy3kDT-K9Lpxdd93Qggtgwag

I turned one section of countertop into a buffet with all of the materials we had available. A student taught me how to use a river gun and that was pretty fun, though not utilized by the students much. The second week I introduced some sculpture prompts but almost every student wanted to continue working on jewelry. The students combined techniques, brought studs in from home, uses tools in the Ag shop to cut and grind materials, and were just super engaged. 

We ended up taking several pieces of jewelry  to our league art show And came home with a few medals, even to a couple students who would not describe themselves as artists so that was pretty fun. 

I had intended to either do jewelry or raku during March this year but we are so behind due to snow days that most students will need the time to finish their February projects. 

Here are some pictures of the jewelry we took to league last spring. Enjoy!

Puebloan-Inspired Faux Metal and Stone Inlaid Jewelry

We spent at least the first 9 weeks of school being inspired by Native American artists and art forms for part of our district's Cultural Heritage focus. Jewelry is always a popular option with students, even 6th graders who are sometimes starting to get "too cool for school". I found several examples of really beautiful, colorful jewelry made by Native American artists in the Southwest Pueblos and came up with a project inspired by the stone inlaid jewelry using mostly recycled or very low cost supplies.

Materials

Matboard Scraps (cut into geometric shapes)

Aluminum Foil (cut big enough to leave 1/2 inch border on all sides of matboard)

Masking Tape

Sharpies

Magazines

Mod Podge

Mod Podge brushes

Paper Clips

Glue Gun

Yarn or String for hanging

We looked at lots of pictures of stone inlaid jewelry- there are several examples on my Native American Art Pinterest board- and discussed the shapes, colors, space, and how the real jewelry is made. Next, I gave a demo and the students got started. Most of this project, aside from the drying, can be completed in about 30 minutes. 

Here are the simple steps:

1. Choose a piece of matboard and wrap it tightly with foil, "like a present", shiny side out.
2. Tape edges of foil down on back, write name on masking tape.
3. Scan magazines for "swatches" of interesting color and texture.
4. Cut magazine swatches into shapes and arrange on top of foil-covered matboard. Experiment with how much space to leave between shapes for different looks.
5. When happy with arrangement, use a mod podge sandwich to glue and seal magazine shapes- mod podge, paper, modpodge. Coat entire surface of jewelry with mod podge.
6. When dry, use a glue gun to affix a paper clip hanger to the back. You can break a paper clip in half and get two hangers out of it.
7. Choose a piece of yarn or string long enough to fit over your head once tied, slip it through, tie, and enjoy!

To display: At first I had some time and was feeling fancy so I cut scraps of black matboard into squares, cut two slits distanced across the top, slid the yarn through, and secured the extra yarn on the back. When more were coming in and I couldn't keep up, I stapled the yarn to a piece of black construction paper which still looked nice displayed in the hall.

I wish I would have taken more time photographing- that shiny foil was tricky!

Here are my examples. This was a lot of fun!