# Handout 05.19: Textiles and Apparel Careers Cards

Name: ______________________ Date: __________ Station: ______

Lesson 5.19, two days. Pages 1 and 2 are the thirteen career cards, cut apart, one set per station. Page 3 is the self-check sheet, one per student. Page 4 is the portfolio page. Page 5 is the Unit 5 review game question bank for Day 2.

Wage and job-outlook numbers are deliberately not on these cards, because they go out of date fast. [Sal: if you want them, pull them from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook the week you teach it, and write the year on the card.]

Word bank: job, training, degree, business, repair
Turkish: iş, eğitim, diploma, işletme, tamir
Portuguese: emprego, formação, diploma, negócio, consertar
Spanish: trabajo, capacitación, título, negocio, reparar

* * *

# Pages 1 and 2. The thirteen career cards (cut apart)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**TAILOR**
**Picture:** a person at a table with a tape measure around their neck, chalk marks on a jacket shoulder.
Makes and alters garments to fit one specific body. Measures, marks, cuts, and stitches. Knows how a garment is built well enough to take it apart and put it back together.
**Usual way in:** learn on the job or through an apprenticeship, sometimes a certificate program. Many tailors are self-employed.
**You would like it if:** you like working with your hands for hours and getting something exactly right.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**ALTERATIONS SPECIALIST**
**Picture:** a rack of garments with pinned hems, each with a paper ticket.
Hems pants, takes in seams, replaces zippers and buttons, and fixes what customers bring in, all day. Works in a dry cleaner, a bridal or formalwear shop, a department store, or a shop of their own.
**Usual way in:** train on the job. This is the most common paid job in this unit and the one with the steadiest local work.
**You would like it if:** you like fixing things other people gave up on, and you like a steady stream of small problems.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**FASHION DESIGNER**
**Picture:** a sketchbook open to a drawing of a coat, with fabric swatches pinned to the page.
Decides what a garment will be. Sketches it, picks the fabric, chooses the details, and specifies what it should look like on a body.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree in fashion design is the common route, plus a portfolio. The route is long and the field is competitive.
**You would like it if:** you like deciding what things should look like and you can take criticism of your ideas.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**TECHNICAL DESIGNER**
**Picture:** a spec sheet on a screen, covered in measurements and arrows, next to a sample garment on a form.
Turns the designer's sketch into the exact measurements, seam types, and step-by-step instructions a factory can build from. Fits the sample on a form or a person and writes down every correction.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree in apparel design, product development, or fashion technology.
**You would like it if:** you like measuring, being exact, and finding the one number that is wrong.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**TEXTILE SCIENTIST**
**Picture:** a lab bench with a machine pulling a strip of fabric until it tears, and a rack of dyed swatches.
Tests fiber and fabric for strength, shrinkage, colorfastness, water resistance, and flammability. Develops new fabrics and finishes. Writes the standards a quality inspector checks against.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree, usually with chemistry or materials science. Some jobs want a graduate degree.
**You would like it if:** you like science labs and want to know why a fabric behaves the way it does.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**MERCHANDISER**
**Picture:** a store floor plan with tables and racks marked, and a sign that reads "two for $30."
Decides what the store shows, where it sits on the floor, and at what price. Plans the displays and the promotions so the things the store already bought actually sell.
**Usual way in:** a two-year or four-year degree in merchandising, marketing, or business, often starting as a store associate.
**You would like it if:** you like numbers and money as much as you like clothes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**BUYER**
**Picture:** a calendar six months ahead with order quantities written on it, next to three fabric samples.
Decides what the store will buy, how much of it, and when, months before customers see it. Guesses what people will want, negotiates the price, and lives with being wrong.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree in merchandising or business, usually after time as an assistant buyer.
**You would like it if:** you like making decisions with incomplete information and you can handle being held to a number.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**COSTUME DESIGNER**
**Picture:** a rolling rack of costumes backstage with a character name taped to each hanger.
Designs and builds clothing for a play, a film, a dance company, or a school production. Works to a character, a period, a budget, and a deadline that does not move.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree in costume design or theater is common; many people start by working in a costume shop or on a school or community production.
**You would like it if:** you like building things to a story and you can work fast under a deadline.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**UPHOLSTERER**
**Picture:** a chair stripped to its frame, with new foam and a roll of fabric beside it.
Rebuilds furniture: strips the old fabric, replaces springs, webbing, and foam, and covers it in new fabric. Works on furniture, car interiors, and boat seats.
**Usual way in:** learn on the job or through an apprenticeship. **This is often a small business run out of a shop or a garage.**
**You would like it if:** you like taking something apart, seeing how it was made, and making it better than it was.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**DRY CLEANER AND GARMENT CARE SPECIALIST**
**Picture:** a conveyor of bagged garments and a pressing machine with steam rising.
Cleans, presses, spot-treats, and repairs clothing. Reads every care symbol on every label and decides how a garment can be cleaned without ruining it. Tells a customer whether a stain will come out.
**Usual way in:** train on the job. Many dry cleaners are family businesses, and many employ an alterations specialist on site.
**You would like it if:** you like solving a problem a customer thought was hopeless.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**SEWING MACHINE TECHNICIAN**
**Picture:** an industrial sewing machine with the cover off and a set of small wrenches on the table.
Services and repairs sewing machines, home and industrial: timing, tension, feed, motors, and needles. Keeps a factory or a shop running, because a stopped machine costs money every minute.
**Usual way in:** train on the job or through an apprenticeship, sometimes a manufacturer's certification. Mechanical skill matters more than a degree.
**You would like it if:** you like machines, small parts, and being the person everyone calls.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**SUSTAINABILITY ANALYST**
**Picture:** a spreadsheet of water and waste figures next to a photo of a fabric mill.
Measures a company's material, water, energy, and waste impact, checks its suppliers, and writes the report that says what it actually did. Recommends changes and then checks whether they happened.
**Usual way in:** a four-year degree in environmental science, supply chain, or business, often with a certificate in sustainability reporting. This job did not exist thirty years ago.
**You would like it if:** you like data, you want the number to be honest, and you are patient with slow change.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**QUALITY INSPECTOR**
**Picture:** a garment flat on a table with a ruler on the seam and a red REJECT stamp beside it.
Checks finished garments against a written spec: measurements, seam type, stitches per inch, thread ends, labels, and closures. Pulls seams. Rejects what fails and writes down why.
**Usual way in:** train on the job; a certificate or two-year degree helps. **You already did this job in Lesson 5.13.**
**You would like it if:** you like being exact, you notice what other people miss, and you do not mind saying no.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

* * *

# Page 3. The self-check sheet

## Part 1. The thirteen careers

Five words or fewer for each. What does this person do?

| Career | What they do |
|---|---|
| Tailor | |
| Alterations specialist | |
| Fashion designer | |
| Technical designer | |
| Textile scientist | |
| Merchandiser | |
| Buyer | |
| Costume designer | |
| Upholsterer | |
| Dry cleaner and garment care specialist | |
| Sewing machine technician | |
| Sustainability analyst | |
| Quality inspector | |

## Part 2. The pathway sort

Write each career in the column where people most commonly get in. Some belong in more than one; pick the most common and be ready to argue.

| Train on the job or apprenticeship | Certificate or two-year degree | Four-year degree |
|---|---|---|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |

The two that are commonly run as a **small business**: ______________________ and ______________________

The one that most needs a **science background**: ______________________

Correct your sort in a different color during the class correction.

## Part 3. Would I like this? Answer honestly. Nobody sees this but you.

| # | Question | Yes | No | Maybe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do I like working with my hands for hours? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 2 | Do I like fixing things other people gave up on? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 3 | Do I want to be around people all day, rather than mostly alone? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 4 | Do I like measuring and being exact? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 5 | Do I like deciding what things should look like? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 6 | Do I like numbers and money more than fabric? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 7 | Do I want to run my own thing rather than work for somebody? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| 8 | Am I willing to keep going when it does not work the first time? | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |

## The scoring strip

Find the pattern closest to your answers. These are starting points, not verdicts.

| If you said yes to | Look at |
|---|---|
| 1, 2, and 4 | Tailor, alterations specialist, upholsterer, quality inspector |
| 1, 2, and 7 | Alterations specialist, upholsterer, tailor with your own shop, dry cleaner |
| 1, 4, and 8 | Technical designer, quality inspector, sewing machine technician |
| 4, 6, and 8 | Sustainability analyst, buyer, merchandiser, technical designer |
| 3, 5, and 6 | Merchandiser, buyer, retail management |
| 1, 5, and 8 | Costume designer, fashion designer, tailor |
| 4, 8, and you like science class | Textile scientist |
| 1, 2, 8, and you like machines | Sewing machine technician, upholsterer |

**I might like ______________________ because ________________________________________________.**

* * *

# Page 4. My five-repair portfolio page

This is the concrete first step. Five photographed repairs or made items, each with one line saying what was wrong and what you did. Keep it in a folder. This is what an alterations shop, a dry cleaner, a costume shop, or a tailor looks at when a sixteen-year-old asks for work, and it is what a high school CTE program asks for when you apply.

| # | What it was | What was wrong | What I did | Photo taken? | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (this project's item) | | | [ ] | |
| 2 | | | | [ ] | |
| 3 | | | | [ ] | |
| 4 | | | | [ ] | |
| 5 | | | | [ ] | |

**The next two repairs I intend to do, and when:**

1. ______________________________________ by __________

2. ______________________________________ by __________

## The ladder from here

1. Practice at home. Hem something, patch something, replace a button. Photograph each one.
2. A summer or after-school job at a dry cleaner, a fabric store, a resale shop, or a costume shop.
3. A high school CTE program in apparel, fashion, or design. [Sal: put the real program name and what it takes to get in on slide 12.]
4. Then one of three: an apprenticeship, a certificate, or a degree, depending on which job on the cards you want.

## Exit card (Day 1)

3 careers and what each one does:

1. ______________________ 2. ______________________ 3. ______________________

2 education paths, with one career in each:

______________________ : ______________________ and ______________________ : ______________________

1 career you would look at again, and the first step you would take:

________________________________________________

* * *

# Page 5. Unit 5 review game question bank (Day 2)

Seven categories, six cards each, 42 cards. Point values: cards 1 and 2 are worth 1 point, cards 3 and 4 are worth 2 points, cards 5 and 6 are worth 3 points. Cut into a set per station, or read from this page.

## Category 1: Clothing for situations

1. (1) Name one clothing rule for working at a sewing station. **A: closed-toe shoes, hair tied back, sleeves not dangling, no loose jewelry**
2. (1) Why do you wear layers when the weather changes during the day? **A: you can take them off or add them as the temperature changes**
3. (2) Name two features of clothing for riding a bike near traffic at dusk. **A: high-visibility or reflective color, close-fitting so nothing catches in the chain, a helmet**
4. (2) You are going to a family event and the shirt will be in a bag all day. What fabric feature do you want? **A: wrinkle resistant, which usually means a polyester blend**
5. (3) Name three ways clothing can protect a worker, with a job for each. **A: any three: closed-toe shoes in a kitchen or shop, high-visibility vest on a road crew, apron in a kitchen, gloves for handling sharp or hot things, hair net in food service, tied hair at a sewing machine**
6. (3) Somebody says "it does not matter what you wear to an interview." Give the strongest argument against that. **A: clothing communicates before you speak; it shows you understood the situation and took it seriously**

## Category 2: Fibers and their properties

1. (1) Which fiber is absorbent and comfortable but wrinkles and shrinks? **A: cotton**
2. (1) Which fiber keeps you warm even when damp? **A: wool**
3. (2) Name one natural fiber and one manufactured fiber. **A: natural: cotton, wool, linen, silk. Manufactured: polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex, rayon**
4. (2) Why does a hot iron ruin a polyester shirt? **A: polyester is a synthetic that melts under high heat**
5. (3) A garment is 95 percent cotton and 5 percent spandex. What does each fiber contribute, and which one will fail first? **A: cotton gives comfort and absorbency, spandex gives stretch and recovery; the spandex fails first**
6. (3) You need a shirt that dries fast, resists wrinkles, and still feels comfortable. What fiber content would you look for and why? **A: a cotton and polyester blend, because the cotton gives comfort and the polyester gives quick drying and wrinkle resistance**

## Category 3: Care labels and laundry

1. (1) What does a tub of water with a hand in it mean? **A: hand wash only**
2. (1) What does a triangle with an X through it mean? **A: do not bleach**
3. (2) What does an iron with one dot mean, and why does the number of dots matter? **A: iron on low; the dots are the temperature setting, one is lowest**
4. (2) Give one sorting rule for a laundry basket and one thing that gets washed separately. **A: sort by color and by care instruction; a new dark or red item that will bleed, or a towel that sheds lint**
5. (3) Name three things you can change about how you do laundry that make clothes last longer. **A: any three: wash cold, wash less often, air dry or tumble low, close zippers and turn garments inside out, do not overload, skip the hottest dryer setting**
6. (3) A wool sweater came out of the wash two sizes smaller and thick. What happened, and what should have been done? **A: it felted from heat and agitation; it should have been hand washed cool and laid flat to dry**

## Category 4: Tools and safety

1. (1) What does a seam ripper do? **A: takes out stitches without cutting the fabric**
2. (1) Why are fabric shears never used on paper? **A: paper dulls the blades and then they chew fabric instead of cutting it**
3. (2) Describe the count-out and the count-in. **A: count every needle and pin out of the tin at the start and write the number; count them all back in at the end and the number has to match before anyone is dismissed**
4. (2) You drop a pin. What are the next three seconds? **A: say it out loud, pick it up yourself, before doing anything else**
5. (3) Name three rules for handling shears and needles in this room. **A: pass shears handle first with blades closed; never walk with a threaded needle in your hand, put it in the fabric first; nothing on the table, in a pocket, or in a mouth; everything in the pin cushion or the kit**
6. (3) Why does the whole class stop when a count is short? **A: a loose needle or pin in a room where people sit and walk is a real injury, and it is faster to find it now than to find it with somebody's hand**

## Category 5: The four stitches and repairs

1. (1) Which stitch is the strongest of the four? **A: backstitch**
2. (1) Which stitch closes a raw edge with small slanted stitches over the edge? **A: whipstitch**
3. (2) Which stitch would you use for a drawstring channel or a basting line, and why? **A: running stitch, because it is fast and it does not need to carry load**
4. (2) Name two things that make a sewn-on button hold. **A: four to six passes of thread; a shank so the button sits above the fabric; a knot that holds with a trimmed tail**
5. (3) The inside seam of a pant leg has opened two inches and both fabric edges are whole. Name the repair and the stitch. **A: a seam repair, with a backstitch, starting a half inch before the opening and ending a half inch after**
6. (3) A hole is worn through at the knee of a pair of jeans. Why is a patch the right repair and a seam repair the wrong one? **A: there is no seam to close; the fabric itself is gone, so you have to add material, and the weakened area around the hole needs to be covered too**

## Category 6: Cost per wear and smart shopping

1. (1) What is the formula for cost per wear? **A: price divided by the number of times worn**
2. (1) A $60 pair of jeans worn 200 times is how much per wear? **A: $0.30 per wear**
3. (2) Name two hidden costs of buying clothing online. **A: any two: shipping, return shipping, a restocking fee, sizing risk, waiting time, not being able to inspect it**
4. (2) Name two quality checks you can do in a store in under a minute. **A: any two: pull the seam gently, count stitches per inch with a ruler, feel or light-test the fabric weight, read the fiber content label, look for bar tacks at stress points**
5. (3) A $20 shirt worn 4 times and a $72 coat worn 180 times. Which cost more to own, and by how much per wear? **A: the shirt: $5.00 per wear against $0.40 per wear, so $4.60 more per wear**
6. (3) Name one advantage and one risk of a secondhand shop, and one situation where secondhand is the wrong answer. **A: advantage: best quality for the price. Risk: one size only, sold as-is, no returns. Wrong answer when you need a specific size, a specific look, or three of the same thing by Monday**

## Category 7: Sustainability and careers

1. (1) What is the difference between upcycling and recycling? **A: recycling breaks a thing down to its material; upcycling keeps the material and makes it worth more or just as useful**
2. (1) Name one of the four things a person can do about clothing waste. **A: buy less and better, care for what you have, repair, pass it on**
3. (2) Where does a donated sweatshirt go first, and what surprises most people about that? **A: to a sorting center, where a person decides what it is worth; most people think it goes straight to a neighbor**
4. (2) Name one career in this unit you enter by training on the job and one you enter with a four-year degree. **A: on the job: alterations specialist, tailor, upholsterer, dry cleaner, sewing machine technician. Degree: fashion designer, technical designer, buyer, textile scientist, sustainability analyst**
5. (3) Which two careers from this unit are commonly run as a small business, and what does that mean for the person? **A: alterations and upholstery; it means they can start with tools, a space, and customers instead of a degree, and they carry the risk themselves**
6. (3) You see a poster that says a number about clothing waste with no source on it. What four questions do you ask? **A: who published it, what year is the data, what exactly does it count, and what does it not tell you**

* * *

# Teacher key for the pathway sort

| Train on the job or apprenticeship | Certificate or two-year degree | Four-year degree |
|---|---|---|
| Tailor | Quality inspector | Fashion designer |
| Alterations specialist | Merchandiser (two-year route) | Technical designer |
| Upholsterer | Costume shop assistant, on the way to costume designer | Buyer |
| Dry cleaner and garment care specialist | | Textile scientist (often plus a graduate degree) |
| Sewing machine technician | | Sustainability analyst |
| | | Costume designer |

Accept a career in more than one column if the student can defend it. Tailor, merchandiser, and quality inspector all have more than one honest route in, and saying so out loud is the point of the correction.

The two small-business careers: **alterations specialist** and **upholsterer**. Accept tailor and dry cleaner as additional correct answers with a reason.

The one that most needs a science background: **textile scientist**.

Scoring: the thirteen-row table is checked for ten or more correct rows. The sort is checked for being corrected in a second color, which is the evidence the student caught their own thinking. The "I might like ___ because ___" line needs a reason; a career with no reason gets one question at the closure.