Lesson Plan

Last modified by Stella170101 on 2020/09/10 10:20

This page provides a lesson plan to teach programming embroidery designs.

Teachers are free to use the prepared Lesson Plan as well as to create their own. To learn how coding embroidery designs works, it is recommended to go through the chapters and challenges for oneself.

There are six fully prepared 50min-lessons, for teachers of all school subjects. There is no knowledge required.

Mark, that you you need access to a programmable embroidery machine. Additionally every child must have an Android smartphone with internet access. 

The App Embroidery Designer is currently only available for Android phones. We are working very hard on an iOS version.

The 1st lesson is to get to now the world of embroidery in conjunction with coding as well as drawing first drafts of own designs.

In lesson 2 and three the children learn how to code embroidery designs. At the end of each lesson there is a small challenge to code easy designs with some basic help. For every exercise there are little cheet sheets and solutions too.

The lessons 4, 5 and 6 are intended for the childrens' own designs. Basically, every design is possible. The more complicated a design is the more time it will take. Therefore, if there are more lessons relatively is more time available, the children get the chance to create an even more brilliant design.

Lesson 1: Drawing Ideas – 50min

 

Material

  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Eventually a smartphone with internet access
  • Ruler
  • Divider
  • Design Template (online)

Goal

At the end of this lesson the children should have come up with ideas for their embroidery design and have created a final draft. They will need this draft in the lessons 4-6 to code their own design.

Process

Phase 1 INTRODUCTION 10min

TickTock.png
 

 

The teacher gives a short introduction about the difference between stitching and sewing (you can find more information here) as well as which designs are possible in the available time. 

Basically, every design is possible. It is only that all designs must be dividable into geometric parts such as lines, circles, polygons and arcs. Additionally, the more parts there are, the more time programming the pattern takes.

 

To show some designs which are possible in the beginning here are some pictures.

Beginner Designs:

2020_08_26_123235.png2020_08_26_123605.png2020_08_26_123629.png

More difficult Designs:

2020_08_26_122711.png2020_08_26_123049.png2020_08_26_123032.png

Phase 2 BE CREATIVE 20min


During this phase it is possible to show the children an example of how the embroidery machine works. Of course, this is only possible if one is available. If there is, you can download here some .DST-files of example projects. Otherwise you can show this video as an alternative.

After the introduction the children should take paper and pencil to draw the designs which come to their mind. At this point it is not that important to be precise, those are just first drafts. Every child is welcomed to draw more than one design, although they will be able to code just one design.

Phase 3 FINALISE YOUR DESIGN 15min


Now the children have 15 minutes to draw their final draft in original size onto the design template. Therefor print the template in the size of your embroidery hoop. This could be 10 x 10cm or 20 x 20 cm for example. You can find the templates here.

 

Lesson 2: How to start coding – 50min

 

Material

  • smartphone with internet access
  • tutorial chapters(online)

Goal

In this lesson the children should learn the basics of programming with the embroidery designer. They will learn how to program lines and how to set directions and places. They won’t need their design yet, at first there will be some basic challenges.

Process

Phase 1 WHICH STITCH TYPES ARE THERE – INPUT 5min

The teacher gives a short input about stitch types. (You can find information here)

To show the different types of stitches here is a picture.

different_stitches.png

runningstitch.png

The running stitch is just the normal stitch.
triplestitch.pngThe triple stitch looks very similar to the running stitch, it is only that the machine stitches forward-back-forward, therefor the line is three times as strong as with the running stitch. This means the line stands out more.
zigzagstitch.pngThe zigzag stitch is a thicker stitch. You can choose the thickness by changing the width. The length is the density of the stitch. In the picture the stitch has a length of 1 and width of 20.

The children should also be told about vocabulary like stitch length of the running stitch or density of the zigzag stitch. It should be clear, why the stitch length of the running or triple stitch should not be greater than 10 or smaller than 5 as well as why very small (under 5) or high (over about 40) values for the zigzag’s density are not embroiderable.

Phase 2 CODE YOUR FIRST LINE 10min

In this Phase you need the new project, objects and line chapters.

The children should take their smartphones and learn how to program a line by reading those chapters step by step and programming simultaneously.

At this point the children should be able to differ between different stitch types and know how to program a line.

Phase 3 PLAY WITH SQUARES 15min

In this Phase you need the turn right/left, counting loops, point in direction and place at chapters.

Again, the children should go through the chapters on their own.

To evaluate possible mistakes here are a few that are often made:

1. Make sure to differ between absolute and relative degree values.

Using those bricks turnleft.png / turnright.png the direction is based on the direction before setting the brick. For example, if the object points in direction 90 degrees, hence to the right, and you say turn left 90 degrees, the machine will point in direction 0 degrees, hence to the top.

Otherwise if the direction is 90 degrees at first and you use the pointindirection90degrees.png brick it will point again in direction 90 degrees, hence to the top.

2. Make sure the children stop the stitch using this brick stopstitch.png before they place the object at a new position. Otherwise the machine will stitch to this position automatically, which is what we DO NOT want most of the time.

Additionally, take a look at the sew up chapter to make the stitched design durable.

Phase 4 CHALLENGE – BUILD A HOUSE 20min

Now the children should exercise what they have learned so far.

In this phase you need the build a house challenge.

If there are questions how to solve this, make sure that you find every brick or information you need in chapters 0 to 6.

Additionally, there is a prepared solution to solve this, which you can find here.

Be clear that there are MANY SOLUTIONS for this challenge, and this is just one of them.

The children should help each other in this phase, to learn from each other and interact.

 

Lesson 3: Improving skills – 50min

 

Material

  • smartphone with internet access
  • tutorial chapters(online)

Goal

In this lesson the children should learn how to program circles and curved lines as well as how to simplify their code by using broadcasts.

Process

Phase 1 CODE CIRCLES AND ARCS 10min

In this phase you need the circles and arcs sheets.

The children should go through the chapters on their own. Be there, to answer questions.

To evaluate possible mistakes here are a few that are often made:

  • One mistake you often overlook is, that when coding a circle, the value of the repetitions repeat_marked.png is higher than the number through which you divide the 360 degrees turn_marked.png. That means the embroidery machine stitches more than one time around the circle. This mistake is difficult to find but you can see it, when the object goes further than one whole circle.

Phase 2 BROADCASTS 10min

In this phase you need the broadcasts chapter.

Again, the children should go through the chapter on their own, but as this chapter is often difficult to understand, the children will probably ask questions.

Phase 3 CHALLENGE – ICE CREAM 30min

Now the children should exercise what they have learned so far.

In this phase you need the ice cream challenge.

If there are questions how to solve this, make sure that you find every brick or information you need in the chapters 0 to 10. Additionally, there is a prepared solution to solve this, which you can find here.

Be clear that there are MANY SOLUTIONS for this challenge, and this is just one of them.

The children should help each other in this phase, to learn from each other and interact.

 

Lesson 4, 5 and 6: Programming the Design

 

Material

  • smartphone with internet access
  • final drafts of their own designs
  • pencil
  • tutorial chapters(online)

Goal

These lessons are provided to code own designs.

Process

Phase 1 PREPARE THE DESIGN 5min

The chapter 11 provides information on how to start own designs. As the final drafts are finished already (first lesson) the next step would be to mark the different geometric parts of the design on the final draft sheet.

Phase 2 CODING THE FRAME 10min

To avoid that the programmed patterns are too large for the embroidery machine, it is important to program a frame first. Instructions for this can also be found in chapter 11.

Phase 3 CODING THE DESIGN

From now on the children should program their design on their own. If there are questions not only the teacher but also the other pupils should help each other. There is a pattern in chapter 11, which helps to know how to approach programming an embroidery design.

Downloads