Lower Key Stage 2 British Clothing 1066 to Present Day
Spinning and Weaving

Describe how spinning and weaving have developed over time. Practise using a drop spindle, master the basics of weaving and produce a piece of cloth using a cardboard loom. Learn about key developments in weaving technology from its beginnings as a medieval cottage industry and see how developments in the textile industry affected Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Session 1 Spinning

Objectives

History

  • Study an aspect or theme in British history (clothing) that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066.

Design and Technology

  • Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, pupils develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

Lesson Planning

Explore the craft of spinning and how it has developed over time. Practice spinning using the drop spindle technique and use poetry to show the process that spinning goes through.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn how the craft of spinning has been important to people through the centuries and how it has changed and developed over the past 1000 years.
  • To investigate how fibres can be twisted into yarn through the process of spinning and to learn the craft of hand spinning using a drop spindle.

Children will:

  • Learn how the craft of spinning has been important to people through the centuries and how it has changed and developed over the past 1000 years.
  • Spin a ball of yarn from sheep’s wool (fleece) using a drop spindle.
  • Learn about the whole process from sheep to yarn in the form of a poem that is an adaptation of The House that Jack Built.
  • Make a zigzag book and use it to write and illustrate the poem.

You Will Need

  • A set of magnifying lenses
  • A selection of different fabrics (or items of clothing) that are both knitted and woven
  • A selection of lengths (30cm approx.) of different threads and yarns
  • Sheep fleece
  • 2 pieces of A4 white card per child
  • Template strips of stiff card 14cm x 1.5cm enough for one per child

Session 2 Hand weaving

Objectives

History

  • Study an aspect or theme in British history (clothing) that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066.

Design and Technology

  • Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, pupils develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world.

Lesson Planning

Explore the craft of weaving and its development in medieval times. Learn the basis of weaving and practice weaving using a simple cardboard loom.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn how the weaving of woollen cloth from yarn was an important and prosperous British industry in medieval times.
  • To learn about the craft of weaving; to make a simple cardboard loom and use it to begin weaving yarn into cloth.

Children will:

  • Learn about the process of weaving yarn to make cloth and how this craft became a thriving cottage industry in medieval times.
  • Learn the vocabulary of weaving and its history, e.g. weft, warp, loom, merchant, spinster, yarn.
  • Weave paper strips on a paper loom to learn the “under/over” technique.
  • Make and thread a cardboard loom and use it to begin weaving a rectangle of cloth.
  • Practice the craft of drop spindle spin learnt last session to create yarn for weaving.

You Will Need

  • Squares of loosely woven cloth, e.g. hessian or similar
  • A large number of 1.5 cm strips of different coloured paper
  • A group set of drop spindles as used last session with some raw fleece to spin
  • Stiff card rectangles
  • Small rectangles of stiff card about 9x4 cm to make the shuttles
  • A large quantity of different coloured woollen yarn
  • Masking tape

Session 3 Continuing hand weaving and finishing

Objectives

History

  • Study an aspect or theme in British history (clothing) that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066.

Design and Technology

  • Understand how key events and individuals in Design and Technology have helped shape the world.

Lesson Planning

Discover how weaving developed over time, particularly during the industrial revolution and how this affected people’s lives. Continue learning about the basics of weaving and complete a simple weave on a cardboard loom.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • Discover how weaving developed over time, particularly during the industrial revolution and how this affected people’s lives. Continue learning about the basics of weaving and complete a simple weave on a cardboard loom.
  • Understand how new inventions and technologies in spinning and weaving influenced the lives of people through the industrial revolution and to practise the craft of hand weaving on a cardboard loom.

Children will:

  • Learn about the process of weaving through the ages in Britain and particularly how it changed in the Industrial Revolution.
  • Learn how developments in the textile industry affected the lives of people in Britain in the 18th and 19th century.
  • Continue to hand weave a piece of cloth on a homemade cardboard loom.
  • Learn how to finish off their weaving by securing the loose ends and removing it from the loom.

You Will Need

  • Threaded cardboard looms and shuttles (begun last session)
  • A selection of different coloured yarns
  • Tapestry needles (they have a blunt end and a large eye) one per child

Weblinks

There are no weblinks needed for this session.