Course Overview: Interiors, Fashion and Textiles (IFT)
The Interiors, Fashion, and Textiles pathway is a three-year program that allows students to explore their creativity and develop industry standard skills. Throughout their time in the program, students will learn many skills including how to redesign rooms, use sewing machines to create basic sewing projects, and how to develop and design fabrics for both interior design and fashion applications. This is a project-based program that challenges students to problem solve and take risks. Students have several field trip opportunities and are encouraged to take their skills to the next level by competing in an FCCLA Competition. Students who finish the program as a junior are encouraged to apply to be a Threads Intern for their 4th year.
Foundations of Interior Design (IFT Year 1)
Foundations of Interior Design is the first year of the IFT Pathway at RCA. This course covers a variety of topics related to Interior Design, including the principles and elements of design, color theory, space planning, furniture and finishes selections, hand drawn and digital floorplans, and more! Throughout this course students are challenged to creatively show their skills and content knowledge. Some favorite projects include the 3D Mood Room Project, the DIY Home Decor Project, and The Studio Apartment Project. Each of these projects require students to get hands on with the content and connect what they are learning with the real world.
Fundamentals of Fashion (Year 2)
Fundamentals of Fashion is the second year of the IFT Pathway at RCA. This course covers a variety of topics related to the world of Fashion, including fashion through the decades, elements and principles of fashion design, ethical consumerism, fashion sketching, hand sewing and machine sewing techniques, and more! Students get hands on with the content in many ways, including sewing projects, a field trip to SCAD Atlanta, and a favorite project - "Fashion takes Flight" where students design a fashion line based on a bird! Students use their design knowledge from their first-year class and build upon it with fashion related skills and content.
Textile Science (Year 3)
Textile Science is the third year of the IFT Pathway at RCA. Textile Science brings together content from Interior Design and Fashion with an emphasis on fabrics and how they relate to both industries. This class feels like an art class for fabrics. Students get to show their creativity through many projects including screen printing, block printing, synthetic and natural dyeing, embroidery, weaving and knitting, and more. As a final Capstone Project, Textile Science students apply their skills from all three years of the program and implement a real-life Fashion or Interior Design project. Students find a real client and provide them with a design related service. Previous projects have included created original garments from scratch, upcycling a batch of clothes, or even renovating a room in their client's home. This course helps students connect their interior design and fashion knowledge with real life applications.
THREADS: The RCA Upcycle Boutique
Threads is the IFT program's school-based enterprise. Each year 3-6 students receive the privilege of being a Threads Intern through the work-based-learning program. These students upcycle donated clothing, perform clothing repairs, and create new merchandise to sell at our mobile store. The Threads Interns take the skills they learned through the IFT program and use them to create high-quality, marketable products. The profits from Threads help buy more supplies for the boutique, as well as the IFT program.