Summary
The present study, using the making of children’s clothing as the subject of learning for improving students’ motivation and interest in clothing making, examined a teaching method that allowed personal alterations in designs of children’s clothing.
A questionnaire was carried out with students before class and revealed varying levels of sewing experience and skills, as well as varying extents of understanding of technical terms and sewing tools. Considering this result, the students were allowed to choose from different dress designs depending on their experience and/or skills and make personal alterations in the chosen designs. After the dress making, an additional questionnaire was conducted to evaluate changes in the students’ understanding and their sense of achievement. The result showed improvement in the understanding of sewing and reduction of the variation in the extent of understanding that had been caused by the varying levels of sewing experience. Also, according to the questionnaire, making their personal alterations in the dress designs and acquiring a new skill improved the students’ motivation and interest in clothing making.