Material girls learning new textiles skills
Senior pupils from Wallace High School visited an estate with royal links to embrace traditional skills.
Pupils in fifth- and sixth-year were the latest to be given the opportunity to learn embroidery and design skills from experts at Dumfries House, near Cumnock.
Around 2500 school pupils from across Scotland have engaged in Future Textiles in the Palladian mansion’s attic workshop since the programme’s foundation in October 2014 in a bid to breath fresh talent into Scotland’s fashion and textile industry.
Teacher Laura Syme brought the group to a workshop where pupils learned created designs towards their higher and advanced higher folios.
She said:“We have learned so much from the tutors at Dumfries House and the pupils learned excellent machine embroidery skills, which will tie in perfectly with their higher and advanced higher portfolios.”
Future Textiles forms a key element of the vision of Prince Charles who used £20million of his charitable foundation’s money in 2007 to secure the future of Dumfries House and use it to help people engage in learning experiences that promote confidence and personal development as well as offer training in real-life skills to open up future employment opportunities. Pupils who show a particular aptitude and interest in textiles can enrol on a more advanced, certificated course in The Atelier, increasing their chances of gaining a place in further education and a job.