As a lecturer in Fashion Contour technical design, I have observed that students are often struggling to compile a clear Order Of Assembly (OOA) for their garments. This is a list of operations required to assemble a garment: it is a document used in industry as make-up instructions that communicates to machinist how to sew a garment that would be new to them, as they have not participated in the development stages, and may only be executing part of the instructions. The documents lists machine used and seam allowance required for each operation. This also aids in highlighting the machines required and aids in setting up a production line with the correct machines.
Students often struggle with the sequence of operations, detail of instructions, and description of the garment part. The complexity of the exercise is particularly challanging for students who struggle with charts, sequencing and break-down of tasks, which is common with neurodivergent students. They tend to leave the exercise for last, whilst it would be best done after first toile, as it can aid in the making of the final garment. As a Neurodivergent person (Dyslexia and ADHD), I recognise that I find some of these aspects difficult myself, whilst I can draw on some well developed skills, like 3D visualisation, to aid me in this process.
Inspired by Liz’s post-it workshop during TPP, I have decided to develop a workshop to help students approach the task in a manner that is more suitable to their abilities.
Neurodiversity is highly common within the creative sector (Nueurobridge, 2025) and developing techniques that can help our students organise information to communicate with neurotypical counterparts in the production field would be an inclusive way of teaching and prepare them for the world of work.
The Workshop
The workshop is run as group work, to ensure students are supported by peers and don’t feel isolated in their efforts.
Step 1
The students are given a ready-made bra and a sticky note pad, and are asked to list all seams on the garment as they observe them; each seam should be listed on a new sticky note. Example: bottom cup seam, under-band elastication, etc.
The students can handle the bra, look inside and out and see the stitching already in existance. They can position the sticky notes around the bra, to visualise where each operation is and make sure they are all listed.
This is the most time consuming step, as it is the initial task, and can feel daunting, but any missing seam can be added at later stages as required. This step can also be broken down in smaller parts, by analysing parts of the garment separately; example: Cup, wing, strap, etc.
Step 2
The students are asked to return to each sticky note and add the machine used to realise the seam, as they are observing it. Example: bottom cup seam / lock-stitch, Underband elastication / 3 step zig zag, etc.
Step 3
The students are asked to return to each sticky note again and add the seam allowance required as they are observing it.
This oeration requires a little knowlege and imagination as seam allowances are often hidden by trims. Students can aid themsleves by thoroughly checking the garment and feeling the hidden fabric through the layers.
Step 4
Students are asked to put the sticky notes in cronological order. They can aid themselves by looking at the garment to assess what operation comes before others, but the fact that the information is already written down, and the familiarity acquired through repetition should aid them in the task.
Step 5
The information is transferred from the sticky notes to the chart required for hand in (or professional communication), one operation at the time.
If more than one group has completed the same exercise, this is a good opportunity to cross check that the results of the exercise are matching, and highlighting that at times there are multiple solutions.
The learning
The workshop is aimed at utilising different learning techniques to support each students with their individual difficulties and allow them to develop a system suitable for themsleves.
Object based learning
Object based learning presents an opportunity for students to collaborate, interact and stimulate critical thinking in a more productive way than passive learning. As students may hold concepts as thoughts, working with an object helps them realise their knowledge and turning it into useful / shareable information.
Break down of tasks
The break down of tasks is a common tool to help students tackle complex problems that may be overwhelming. Whilst the breakdown of tasks is the main objective of the document, the purpose of the exercise is to split the work according to different criteria: the identification of required seams, the identification of required stitching and the identification of required seam allowance. This should help students focus on one concept at the time, leaving the ordering for later, once they have formed an understanding of the required process.
Learning through repetition
Returning to the post-its time and time again, helps the students become familiar with the individual operations (Traverse, 2023), so that ordering them in the final task is less daunting, compared to the initial encounter with a new garment.
Learning in a group
Working together on the task as a group, will help students focus on the task, creating momentum and counteracting individual anxiety. Collaborative work helps students voicing and reinforcing their knowledge, and it establishes a first informal step towards communicating the knowledge, with an aim to creating a formal communication document.
Whilst this may be an aspect of the workshop that is problematic for some neurodivergent students ( Transition USA, 2024) and it requires observation and support during execution, the method can be reproduced individually and is not tied to group work.
Transferable skills
Whilst the ultimate goal is for students to be able to create an OOA without the aid of this process, students can adapt the exercise for their own needs, until they get to that stage. For example, they can use their toiles or final outcome garments to complete the OOA using the post-it method, or they can refer to a detailed sketch… or even go back and forth between sketch and post-its when preparing the OOA and working drawing for submission.
Feedback
I have not taken the opportunity to implement the workshop with students yet, so I have run the initial concept through my colleagues who also teach practical design with our students. Their feedback was positive and helped me improve certain aspects of the exercise.
In particular Jas Jhumat (technical design lecturer) suggested that working with a group can be helpful in avoiding the anxiety some students feel when facing new tasks. Jade Geller (technician) suggested that working with an object is a helpful way for students to tangibly relate to the practice. Linda Wing (technical design lecturer) suggests it would be helpful to provide lists of seams and machines for students to relate to, or point them at the information of this type that is already available on Moodle so they can familiarise themselves with these resources.
Thanks to the feedback from my colleagues I have refined the design of the workshop to include their suggestions, noting in particular that offering lists and additional resources can help reduce anxiety and the feeling of overwhelming caused when cognitive function is challenged.
However I have still to produce visuals that can help students visualise the process of the exercise; Jas recommended illustrating the filled in post-its to help students engage with the workshop.
After discussions with the CL, we are planning to run the workshop with the Contour students in the new academic year, so I will be preparing the visual materials and references for that occasion. I am hopeful that the workshop will be helpful for neurodivergent and neurotypical students alike, as a path to develop a skill required in industry.
References
Farr, L. (2022). Guide to Practice-Based Learning (PBL) for Neurodivergent Students. [online] Available at: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Guide%20to%20Practice-Based%20Learning%20%28PBL%29%20for%20Neurodivergent%20Students.pdf. [Accessed 5 Aug. 2025].
Heljakka, K. (2023). Building playful resilience in higher education: Learning by doing and doing by playing. Frontiers in Education, 8. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1071552.[Accessed 5 Aug. 2025].
NeuroBridge (2025). Creativity is Neurodiverse: 48% of Creative Professionals are Neurodivergent. [online] NeuroBridge. Available at: https://neurobridge.co.uk/neurodiversity-in-the-creative-industry/ [Accessed 5 Aug. 2025].
Thompson, P. (2010). Chapter 10 – Learning by Doing. [online] ScienceDirect. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169721810010105. [Accessed 5 Aug. 2025].
Transition USA (2024). Navigate Group Projects as a Neurodivergent Student | Transitions. [online] Transitions. Available at: https://transitionsusa.org/blog/group-projects-as-neurodivergent-students/ [Accessed 5 Aug. 2025].
Traverse. (2023). Traverse | Supercharge your Memory and Understanding. [online] Available at: https://traverse.link/spaced-repetition/repetition-learning.