Practical Application and Project Work
Practical Application and Project Work tests the whole cycle: brief, samples, plan, execution, finishing and evaluation.
What a project file must contain
- Brief and inspiration sheet; working drawing at actual size with seam allowance.
- Materials list with quantities and a cost sheet.
- Stitch sample file: 10–12 samples, each about 10 × 10 cm on the project fabric, labelled with stitch name, thread, needle size and date.
- Time plan, photograph of the finished article, and a self-evaluation against the brief.
Executing
Wash and straighten the fabric, trace, secure in a frame, work outlines before filling and flat stitches before beads, check the reverse as often as the front, finish edges and press. Record hours daily rather than guessing at the end.
Evaluation criteria
Design suitability, even tension, neat reverse, colour harmony, finishing, originality and punctuality. A marker looks for consistency between the brief, the drawing, the samples and the finished piece.
Worked example
A four-week table runner with a Paithani-inspired border: week 1 brief, drawing, costing and fabric preparation; week 2 stitch samples and border tracing; week 3 stitching the creeper border and ashtakoni corners; week 4 hemming, blocking, pressing and assembling the portfolio. Ten hours a week at ₹50 gives ₹2,000 labour, which must appear in the cost sheet.
Traps
Unlabelled samples, a drawing at a different scale from the article, a cost sheet with no labour line, finishing late, and a design that does not answer the brief - for example a Warli stick figure on a formal gold-zari runner.