Fashion designs help students, loved ones stay warm for the holidays

Fleece hats, gloves provide students with a fun challenge

For the first project of the school year, Fashion Design & Merchandising teacher Carmen Galiano chose something timely — both to keep students warm as the days grow colder, and to provide them with gifts for a loved one.

Her students have been hard at work designing and sewing new winter hats and gloves. The fleece items have given them a chance to work on sewing techniques they learned earlier this school year, including a zigzag stitch, which is effective with stretchy fabrics, and how to properly use a sewing machine.

“This project has been a lot of fun,” said Perla Lopez, a senior from New Rochelle. “You just have to make sure to take your time and be careful.”

Ms. Galiano has instructed the students to make one hat and one pair of gloves for practice and for themselves. They will then sew an identical hat and gloves that they can later gift to someone for the holidays.

“I’ve learned that you have to move slowly and you have to be precise,” said Iman Williams, a senior from Woodlands High School. “Ms. Galiano tells us that using a sewing machine is like learning how to drive a car.”

For returning students back for their second year at the Center for Career Services, the project is much different from last year’s fall project, when the students worked together on a patchwork quilt. The different material requires different stitching techniques. There’s also the challenge of making the hats and gloves fit — a process that remains a work in progress.

The students are expected to complete the project at some point after Thanksgiving recess. They will also be tasked with creating a cost sheet for their product, which will require them to consider the materials used to produce the items and to conduct market research, then set a price.

“They have to be able to think about how to account for the labor and the materials and still be able to make a profit,” Ms. Galiano said.