Sew exciting- fashion students head to comp

FASHION and textile students, S’bahle Simamane and Julia Whitby are vying for a spot in the World Skills Clothing Technology Competition taking place in Shanghai, China in October. After taking part in the regional World Skills competition at Durban University of Technology’s Brickfield Campus, Simamane and Whitby were among six finalists selected to compete in the national competition in September with high hopes to compete at the international competition in October.

The competition was made possible by the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) SETA in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Technology (DHET), World Skills South Africa and the DUT. There were 13 students from the DUT, Walter Sisulu University and Tshwane North TVET College taking part. They represented three provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

Berea Mail visited DUT’s Department of Fashion and Textiles on Tuesday to find out more about pattern making, fashion design and how to beat the clock in the competition.

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As the national competition draws near, lecturer, Nomonde Peter, said she is planning a boot camp to prepare students for the competition.

“We will be basing the boot camp on our observations in the last competition. I think the pressure got to some students as they were working against time. We will focus on pattern skills – this is key – if the pattern is not correct, the garment will not be correct. Usually we work from a block – it’s a standard version of a pattern, which students use to create other styles. During the competition, students do not have a block to use,” she said.

Second runner up for KZN, Simamane said she drew valuable lessons form the competition.

“The first round of the competition prepared us for nationals as we got a sense of our weaknesses and what we need to work on. Time management was a struggle for all of us,” said Simamane.

Crunch time

The students were given five garments to practice with and on the day of the competition, there was a random draw to determine the project. The students said they were given a picture of an asymmetrical skirt with a yoke (panel at the waist band) and pleats to copy. It was up to them to create a pattern and sew the garment to the specified size.

“We were given three hours to create the pattern and about six hours to sew the garment,” said third year student, Whitby.

Peter said there was a design aspect to the competition as students could add their own signature to the pattern- Whitby added a thicker yoke while Simamane opted for a slimmer section. As the students prepare for the national round, they are anticipating a more complex challenge.

“There is a lot of pressure on us right now during this competition but I am really positive that we can win and we are capable of doing this,” said Simamane.

“I think DUT has prepared us well enough so that we were able to cope under pressure and showcase our skills to the best of our abilities,” added Whitby.

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Pioneering the competition

Commenting on the March competition, director of World Skills South Africa, Mike Mashinini said, “It is a first in South Africa for us to host this competition. We are of the view that in 2024 all nine provinces will participate in this competition. We don’t see any other venue than this one where (DUT) has pioneered the competition for us.”

FP&M Seta general manager, Poollendren Naicker thanked the various stakeholders involved in the competition.
“We have some of the best fashion designers in the world, if you look at the likes of Mr David Tlale, Thula Sindi, we know that they perform on the catwalks of Milan, New York, Germany and Berlin. So, we knew that top skills were in in South Africa.”