| Abstract: | A Clothing and Textile course is described which provided a transition from classroom education to the world of work, improved students’ interpersonal skills and assisted in helping women students establish identities as professional people. In addition, the experience described demonstrates how concepts and skills from a large number of other courses are integrated when a specific real-life clothing problem must be solved. Through an on-campus experience, twenty-eight jackets for the Washington State University Men's Ski Team were designed and produced. Students were organized into a design team and a management team. The design team designed the jacket to meet the requirements of the ski team, made the the patterns, fitted the basic shells, reworked the pattern, wrote the assembly instructions and determined the most efficient layout. The management team investigated and purchased the materials and equipment needed, including a Babylock serger, determined jacket cost, organized and conducted meetings with the clients, and wrote the contract. All students participated in the construction of the jackets, a process organized as a factory assembly line. Students were enthusiastic about this practical opportunity to apply design and management principles and the chance to work with others towards a common goal. The approach used with this class is applicable to numerous functional clothing design problems. |
