Craft Materials, Techniques and Processes
The maker toolkit: the properties of craft materials, the tools and techniques for shaping them, traditional processes and their contemporary interpretations, and working sustainably across craft disciplines.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Materials and making
Crafts turn raw materials into made objects, and a good maker knows their materials and how to work them. Every material has properties and characteristics, the way it looks, feels and behaves, that make it right or wrong for a job. Makers use tools and equipment and a range of making techniques and processes to shape and join materials. They draw on traditional craft processes, long-established skills passed down over time, and on contemporary interpretations that give those skills a modern twist, often using new materials and technologies. Sustainable work practices matter too, such as reducing waste and reusing offcuts. Students explore at least two different craft disciplines, for example textiles, ceramics, wood, metal, glass or print. This module covers materials, techniques and processes.
Craft words
Learn these before you match anything, and keep the idea of choosing a material for its properties in mind.
Traditional against contemporary
Craft skills can be used in their original form or given a modern reworking, and makers draw on both.
How to match material to craft
Do not pick a material at random. Start from what the object must do and which craft discipline you are working in, then choose the material whose properties suit it. Ask how it needs to look, how strong or flexible it must be, and which technique will shape or join it well. Weigh a sustainable option, such as a reused or recycled material, where it fits. Name the material, its useful property and the technique, and the choice is justified rather than guessed.
Match the craft discipline to a material
- textiles
- ceramics
- wood craft
- metalwork
- fabric and yarn
- clay
- timber
- sheet metal and wire
Which is a sustainable practice?
A maker keeps their leftover fabric offcuts and buys recycled yarn for a new piece. Which idea does this best show?
- A sustainable work practice.
- A purely traditional process.
- A material property.
- Wasting materials.
Choosing materials
Select the TWO things a maker should consider when choosing a material.
- The properties and characteristics of the material
- The technique needed to shape or join it
- Ignoring how the material behaves
- Only ever using one material for everything
Disciplines still to show
The course asks students to show making in at least 2 different craft disciplines. A student has shown proficiency in 1 so far. Subtract to find how many more disciplines they still need to show.
Order exploring a material
Put the steps of exploring a new craft material in order, earliest first.
- Choose a material for its properties
- Learn the tools and techniques for it
- Experiment with a making process
- Evaluate the sample you have made
Complete the maker facts
A field of making such as textiles or ceramics is a craft _____. How a material looks, feels and behaves is its _____. A way of shaping or joining a material is a _____. Working in a way that reduces waste and reuses materials is a _____ practice.
Match the term to its meaning
- material properties
- a making technique
- a traditional process
- a sustainable practice
- how a material looks, feels and behaves
- a way of shaping or joining a material
- a long-established, handed-down craft skill
- reducing waste and reusing materials
Spot the true craft facts
Tap the TWO statements that are true about craft materials and techniques.
- A material is chosen for its properties and characteristics
- Contemporary craft can rework traditional skills with new materials
- A maker should only ever use a single material
- Sustainable practice means wasting as much material as possible
Choose for the craft
Read each case and choose the best response, with a reason.
- A maker needs a material that can be shaped soft and then fired hard for a bowl. Which discipline and material fit?
- A maker wants to cut waste and lower the environmental impact of a project. What should they do?
- A student picks a material without thinking about how it behaves or how it will be shaped. How should this improve?
Explain craft materials and techniques
A student is beginning work in a craft discipline. Explain how they should choose and work with materials.
- Explain what is meant by the properties of a material
- Explain how a technique is used to shape or join a material
- Explain the difference between traditional and contemporary craft
- Explain one sustainable work practice a maker could use
- Finish by explaining why students work across at least two craft disciplines