Construction Techniques - SQA Higher Fashion and Textile Technology overview
An overview of the Construction Techniques area of SQA Higher Fashion and Textile Technology: seams and construction techniques, selecting techniques to suit fabric and item, equipment and manufacture, and quality and testing.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Jump to a section
The Construction Techniques area is the making knowledge of SQA Higher Fashion and Textile Technology: how fabric is joined, finished, fastened and shaped, how the right technique is chosen, what tools and processes are used, and how quality is controlled and tested. It is the backbone of the practical activity.
What the area covers
- Construction techniques and seams - seams (plain, French, flat-felled, overlocked), edge finishes (hems, facings, bias binding), fastenings (zips, buttons, Velcro, press studs) and shaping (darts, pleats, gathers, tucks), and the purpose of each.
- Selecting construction techniques - matching the technique to the fabric type, the position and strain, the standard of finish, and the cost and time of production.
- Equipment and manufacture - pattern layout, cutting, the sewing machine and overlocker, pressing, safe working, and how CAD/CAM and computerised cutting and sewing scale production.
- Quality and testing - quality control during making, objective performance tests (strength, abrasion, colourfastness, shrinkage, flammability), quality standards and symbols, and why quality matters.
How to study this area
- Learn each technique with its purpose. Be able to say what a dart, a flat-felled seam or a facing is for, not just name it.
- Practise matching technique to fabric. Sheer to French seam, stretchy to overlocked, hard-wearing to flat-felled - and account for strain, finish and cost.
- Respect pressing and safe working. Both are marked parts of the practical standard, not afterthoughts.
- Know the tests by what they check. Strength, abrasion, colourfastness, shrinkage and flammability each prove a different property.
- Separate control from evaluation. Quality control happens during making; evaluation judges the finished item against the specification.
How it is assessed
This area is examined in the question paper and applied in the practical activity, where candidates make a complex item using at least eight appropriate construction techniques to a high standard, working safely and accurately. Command words decide the marks: describe, explain and justify (for choosing a technique for a fabric and item). Well-chosen, well-executed techniques are rewarded.
Where this area connects
Construction Techniques builds on Properties of Fabrics (how the fabric's construction and behaviour decide the technique), feeds the Course Assessment practical activity directly, and links to Consumer and Design (the techniques realise the design) and to quality and care through testing and standards. Use the dot-point pages for detail and the quiz to check recall.