Time and prototypes
I underestimated the amount of vocabulary my students were being expected to absorb, and the time it would take to source images for each word. I realised I would not have time to finish a complete glossary, and instead set out to make a prototype.
The glossary is divided into thematic chapters, and the ‘Tools’ chapter is complete with terminology and images. I made it available online on the students’ Moodle page and put up a printed copy on my classroom wall.
I used existing teaching resources to gather terminology and images. Many images from these resources were not of a good enough quality to use. I gathered alternate images using free online image archives (Pixabay, 2025), my own photos, and where necessary Google searches.1
The complexity of language
Language is a social construction, and words have the meanings that we agree they do. These meanings depend on relationships with other words and the context that they are used in. They also evolve over time (Saussure, 1916). Many words have several meanings, and many things have several names.
Thus, many of the objects used in tailoring have several names.2 The terms used may differ depending on the context, for example if you work in costume or fast fashion. Sometimes there is a different word in American English.3 Not all our students aspire to a UK-based career in tailoring and this must be taken into account when teaching them terminology. I have started to have discussions with them about the complexities of terminology, and I am considering no longer using the expression ‘correct technical term’. However, this glossary does not pretend to illustrate every meaning of a given word, only how it is used in the context of this course.
A lot of tailoring terminology refer to physical objects, lending itself well to being represented by images. In the first prototypes, I did not include words that needed a written explanation (they have a section in the Padlet, see below). But representing some words clearly with one image still proved complex.
In the glossary, all the objects are removed from their wider context, such as having a bobbin case without a sewing machine. I assume the students who the glossary is aimed at will have some previous knowledge gained from attending sessions and engaging with the learning resources.
Not all things can be described with one image. To illustrate a word like wool, I chose to use several images. For the material Silesia, I added a short sentence, as well as a physical piece of fabric stapled to the printed glossary.
Other vocabulary has a common meaning which is different from the tailoring context, such as ‘ham’ (a press cushion), ‘fork’ (crotch area on trousers) and ‘mitre’ (a small triangle cut when making pockets or the Popes hat). I opted for the below representation:
Co-Creation
A Padlet for co-creation has the potential to reflect the complexity and variation of the terminology in a way that the glossary does not. Several words and images can be added to describe one object. Students would bring their own cultural capital to the images they choose to include, widening the perspective and decolonising the resource.
To test the interest levels of the students in co-creating the content of the glossary, I set up a Padlet where they can upload pictures of vocabulary and words that they want included. I wrote a disclaimer to inform the students that if they share content then they consent to the material being used, and that this is not part of their assessment course work.
Link to the Padlet: https://artslondon.padlet.org/mthelin/co-creating-an-image-based-glossary-for-bespoke-tailoring-7ig0ctl68n05uumq
References:
Saussure, F. (1916) Course in General Linguistics. New York: Columbia University Press
Pixabay (2025) Available at: Pixabay.com. (Accessed: 22 December 2025)