As part of our D.T and textiles project, Year 2 have been very busy designing and creating their own tapestries in the style of the artist Henri Rousseau.
First, we looked at Henri Rousseau’s artwork, discussing his unique style and evaluating some of his work. We then created our design criteria for our tapestries. We decided that our tapestries must: be colourful; be in the style of Henri Rousseau; use neat joining techniques and be of a jungle animal.
Next, we looked at a range of different materials and fabrics such as silk, velvet, corduroy, denim and felt. Afterwards, children explored different joining techniques such as sewing, gluing, stapling and taping. Children had the chance to practise using a range of different stitches including overstitch, running stitch and cross stitch. This helped students to decide which stitches they would use when creating their products.
Children then designed their own tapestries. To do this, they needed to think carefully about how they were going emulate the work of Rousseau and what colours/materials they would use.
Then came the making! Children made paper templates for their animals before cutting their material. We used brusho paint on hessian to make our backgrounds colourful. We were lucky enough to be joined by our grownups to help us complete our tapestries in a parent workshop. They used their own choice of stitches to join the material.
Finally, we evaluated our products as a class, considering whether their tapestries met the design criteria. Children discussed anything they would change if they had the opportunity to do the project again.
I have been absolutely blown away by the end results of our textiles project. Everyone has done absolutely amazing! Thank you grownups for all your help during the parent workshop.
