From fashion design to fabric care, the 4H Clothing & Textiles Project will help you build the skills to plan, create, and care for clothing that fits your lifestyle, whether for school, work, or special events. You’ll gain hands-on experience, express your personal style, and have fun along the way.
Contact your county Extension office to get involved!
Clothing and Textiles Project Toolkit
- Beginner
- Intermediate Unit 1: Selecting What’s Right for Me
- Intermediate Unit 2: The Economics of Clothing
- Intermediate Unit 3: Global/Ethnic Fashion
- Intermediate Unit 4: Caring For My Clothes
- Intermediate Unit 5: Creating Clothing and Accessories
- Intermediate Unit 6: Understanding Textiles
- Advanced: Careers in Fashion, Textiles and Design
- Advanced: The Economics of Clothing Purchases
- Advanced: Let’s Plan a Fashion Show
- Advanced: Creating a Fashion Trend Board
- Advanced: Selecting What is Right for Me
- Advanced: Clothing and Textiles
Looking for ideas for hands-on projects in Clothing and Textiles? Follow these links to fashion, clothing, and textiles ideas and activities from other states:
- Beginning Sewing Projects (Kentucky) includes fun, simple projects with instructions.
- How to Remove Stains from Fabrics (Illinois) Lists stains and strategies for removing each.
- In-Touch Science: Foods & Fabrics, Cornell University. A Hands-on science program that provides the opportunity to manipulate materials and equipment, test ideas.
- Clothing Quality Standards (Texas) lists the qualities of a well-made garment, breaking down each aspect (Ex, Seams, Hems, Fit, Collars)
- Being Creative with Nature (Cornell) includes ideas for using nature and natural substances to create interior and clothing items.
- All about Interfacings (Kentucky) explains the purpose of using interfacing, different types, and where to use them in garments.
- All about zippers (Kentucky) explains the different types of zippers and how to apply them in garments.
- Quilting for Fun (North Dakota) Basic information about quilting, supplies needed, types of quilting, and resources.
- Style Engineers: Fashion through Science 4-Hers will have fun while learning all about fabrics and designs. Modules include: Marvelous Materials, which explores the exciting world of fabrics and their impact on designs; Smart Clothing, which covers how to light up fabric using LED lights; and Pattern Making, which delves into the nature of patterns, offering simple projects such as totes, bags, and draping techniques.
Check out these useful resources from well-known companies and individuals. They offer projects and ideas to help you learn and find extra materials. Some resources require membership, but you can still access plenty of great information for free. This includes project instructions, sewing tips, videos, and helpful “how-to” guides.
- Sewing with Nancy: Sewing how-to videos.
- Home Sewing Association Free patterns, educational information
- Cotton: the fabric of our lives. Cotton: Benefits, qualities, care tips, and news
- The Sewing Directory: free sewing projects, sewing techniques, and news
- So Sew Easy is A sewing blog focusing on free sewing patterns, easy sewing tips, and tutorials for new and improving sewers.
- It’s Sew Easy, the place for creative and contemporary sewing with instructions, videos, patterns, and projects presented by leading sewing experts.
- The How-To’s of Laundry explains steps in getting your clothes clean, how to make them last longer, and stain removal tips.
- Tennessee Make It With Wool Contest Information about how to enter the Make It With Wool Contest.
- Express Your Personality Through Your Clothing: Information about expressing your personality with your clothing choices.
- Make and display a poster about caring for your clothes
- Donate gently used clothes to a needy family or local charity
- Repair or alter clothing for your family and friends
- Make an autograph bear; donate to a fire station, children’s hospital, etc.
- Make a simple fleece scarf; donate to a homeless shelter or give to senior citizens
- Make a small decorative pillow; give to organizations working with foster children, nursing homes, etc.
- Make a pillowcase dress with pillowcase or fabric and ribbon; give to international mission or Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Outreach
- Make finger puppets out of fleece or felt and give to Operation Christmas child Shoebox Outreach
- More Community Service Project Ideas
