Children often have a favourite colour, and no two are the same. This activity puts them all in one panel. It shows that different favourites can look beautiful together.
An adult does the cutting and the photographing. Children choose the cloth, look, and talk about what they see. Nobody photographs a child, only cloth.
What we need
- A scrap of cloth from each child, in their favourite colour. Cotton or linen is best (the studio says “Cotton or linen works best.”).
- Sharp fabric scissors, for the adult only.
- A phone, tablet or computer with a camera.
- Daylight, by a window.
Before the activity
- Ask each child to bring one scrap in a favourite colour. Wash and iron it first.
- Cut a window template. Our post on how to cut and photograph cloth squares shows how.
- An adult cuts squares 6 × 6 cm from each scrap. Only 4 × 4 cm of each square shows on the panel.
How many squares
A panel has 35 squares: 5 across and 7 down. The studio will not make a panel from fewer. It says, for example, “Add 15 more pieces to complete the grid.”
The studio counts pieces, not cloths. When the adult adds a cloth, the studio asks “How many of this piece”. The count is a whole number from 1 to 500. So one scrap can give several squares.
A class of 7 can cut 5 squares from each scrap. A class of 35 can cut 1 square from each. Any number works, as long as the total reaches 35.
In the studio
- Open the studio and go to the Cloth box tab.
- Press Sample, the box name above the cloth pictures, then press Add a box. Do this so the class’s scraps do not mix with the Sample box.
- Press Add pieces.
- Photograph one scrap in daylight, flat, with no shadow. Fill the square on the screen with the cloth. The studio’s own words are “fill the square with the piece”.
- Set how many squares of that scrap the adult cut. Press the Add button. It reads “Add to box” for one square, and “Add 5 to box” for five.
- Repeat for each scrap.
- Go to the Design tab and choose a pattern. Press the same pattern again for a different arrangement.
The studio measures each cloth’s colour from the middle of the photo. A good photo gives a true colour. Read warm, cool and the rainbow for why daylight matters.
The studio tries to keep two squares of the same cloth apart. Each favourite then sits among the others.
What to look at
Ask the children to look at the finished panel, and to find their own colour. Then ask:
- Which colours look brighter beside others?
- Which pattern shows your colour best?
- Does the panel still work when no two colours match?
These posts help with these questions. Colours change their neighbours is about how a colour looks beside another. Light and dark is about why a panel needs both.
Keeping it private
The studio has no sign-in. Its own words are “Your work is kept on this device only.” The photos and the panel stay on the device that made them.
Next steps
Print the panel and stitch it, as in 11 Kantha patterns for 35 squares of cloth. The Help page covers printing at 100%. We also write for teachers on the schools page.