Lesson 1: Cushion Cover Project Start
Cushion Cover Project
Items in this lesson
Cushion Cover Project
Open the term project by showing that students will design and make a cushion cover over several lessons. Keep the focus on the first lesson: safe working and the design process.
Our learning goal
I can explain basic health and safety rules in textiles and describe the main stages of the design process for my cushion cover.
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What words come to mind when you think of making a cushion cover?
Use this to surface prior ideas about sewing, safety, design and fabrics. Briefly connect student words to today's focus on health and safety and the design process.
What are we making?
This term, you will make a cushion cover.
Your work will include:
researching ideas
designing for a user
learning textile techniques
making and improving your product
Keep this brief. It sets context for the lesson arc and helps students see why safety and planning matter before practical work starts.
Why safety matters in textiles
In a textiles room, we use tools, equipment and materials that must be handled carefully. Good safety habits help to:
prevent injury
protect other people
keep equipment in good condition
make practical work calm and organised
Emphasise that safety is part of good design and making, not a separate extra rule.
Basic classroom safety rules
Walk, do not run
Use tools only for their purpose
Follow instructions before starting
Report damage or accidents straight away
Tie back long hair
Tuck in loose clothing
Keep bags off the floor
Wear the correct protective equipment if needed
Safe working habits
Personal safety
You may add room-specific rules if needed, such as where scissors, pins or irons are stored.
Working safely with tools
Common textiles tools include:
fabric scissors
pins and needles
rulers and chalk
Use each tool carefully, store it properly, and pass sharp items safely.
Model correct handling of scissors and pins if possible. Avoid adding machine detail here because that belongs more fully in Lesson 2.
Which action is the safest in a textiles room?
Run to get tools
Leave bags out
Tie back long hair
Ignore damage
Checks the basic safety rules from slides 3 to 5. The distractors come from unsafe behaviours named or implied in the content.
Complete the safety summary
Good safety habits help to prevent , protect other , and keep equipment in good . In class, we should tie back long hair and report damage straight away.
Correct answers, in order: injury, people, condition, damage. This echoes the exact safety language used in the content slides.
The design process
Designing is a step-by-step process.
A simple design process for this project is:
research → ideas → design choice → making → evaluation
Each stage helps you make a product that suits the user.
Keep the wording consistent across the project so students can reuse these stages later in design and evaluation work.
Research and ideas
At the start, designers collect inspiration.
This can include:
colours
patterns
textures
shapes
products that match a user's personality
Link this directly to the homework moodboard so students see research as part of design, not decoration.
From idea to product
After research, a designer develops ideas and chooses the best one. Then they make the product and check how well it worked.
A good final product is not made by chance. It comes from planning, testing and improving.
This is the key conceptual landing slide for the design process.
Homework: create a moodboard
Create a moodboard of images for your cushion cover project.
Include images that show:
colours
patterns
textures
styles you like
Choose images that could inspire your design.
If you want, mention acceptable formats: paper collage or digital. Keep the slide itself simple.
What comes straight after research in the design process?
Making
Ideas
Evaluation
User
Checks recall of the sequence: research → ideas → design choice → making → evaluation. 'User' is included as a plausible confusion from the glossary and design context.
Complete the design process
A simple process for this project is research, , design choice, making and . At the start, designers collect to help develop their cushion cover ideas.
Correct answers, in order: design, ideas, evaluation, inspiration. This is based directly on slides 6 to 9.
What should a good moodboard include?
Look for answers that mention colours, patterns, textures, styles, or images linked to the user's personality and design inspiration.
What is one thing you learned today?
Encourage students to name one clear thing they learned, such as a safety rule, a tool-handling habit, a design stage, or the purpose of a moodboard.
What helped you understand the lesson best?
Students can mention specific supports such as examples, the design-process sequence, class discussion, or the homework explanation.
Glossary
health and safety - rules and actions that help people work safely
design process - the stages used to plan, make and review a product
research - collecting information and inspiration before designing
moodboard - a collection of images, colours and ideas for inspiration
user - the person the product is designed for
product - the item that is designed and made
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