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Fiber Arts Build Lab

The Wond’ry Fiber Arts Build (FAB) Lab provides tools, materials, mentorship, and training for textiles creation, manipulation, and prototyping for both wearable and non-wearable products.   The FAB Lab supports the development of technical textile products and consumer textile products.  Technical textile support includes products such as medical devices, sustainability and ecological interventions, military and space applications, and industrial materials.  Consumer textile support includes garments, furnishings, decorative and aesthetic projects, educational and cultural explorations, and adaptive solutions for disabilities.

Alex teaching a sewing class

Wond'ry Makerspace Hours

Mon-Thur, 1:00pm - 8:00pm
Fri, 1:00pm - 6:00pm

* Hours may periodically be variable due to special events, weather and student staffing schedules.

Looking to 3D Print or Laser Cut a part for a project? Use our new Wond'ry Makerspace Jobs Request Form to submit your files.

FAB Lab Team

  • Alexandra Sargent Capps

    Alexandra Sargent Capps

    Fiber Arts Build Lab Manager

Available Equipment

  • Sewing Machines

    The workhorse of textile work, suitable for most sewing needs, perfect for beginners and experts alike.

  • Hand Sewing Supplies

    Sewing Supplies Needles, thread, pins, scissors, thread rippers, measuring tools, grommeters, awls, edge tools, and just about everything needed to sew by hand.

  • Industrial Sewing Machine

    Industrial Sewing MachineFor heavy-duty textiles that would break the average sewing machine, we have an industrial sewer that can handle tougher fabrics such as sailcloth, kevlar, and leathers.

  • Long Arm Sewing Machine

    Long Arm Industrial Sewing MachineA longer arm than the average marchine allows this for sewing large-scale pieces like blankets, banners, tarpaulins, tubes, and sleeves.

  • Serger

    Serger Sergers create finished edges to textiles, preventing unraveling or damage as a fabric is used.

  • Embroidery Machine

    Embroidery MachineAllows the transference of digital assets (such as raster or vector images or text) onto textiles.

  • Knitting Machine

    Knitting Machine Allows for the creation of custom woven textiles from a variety of materials.

  • Half-Scale Dress Forms

    Half-Scale Dress FormsAvailable in both male and female options, these forms are one-half the average human scale.  The smaller size allows for the rapid creation of prototypes, more quickly and using less materials than a full-scale model.

  • Full-Scale Dress Forms

    Full Scale Dress FormsAvailable in both male and female options and a variety of sizes, full-scale dress forms allow for the creation of functional, wearable prototypes.

  • Industrial Iron

    Industrial IronBeyond presentational neatness, using an iron to smooth textiles make them easier to perform machine work upon.

Adaptive Clothing Resource Guide

Alicia Searcy, a treasured Wond'ry community partner and local Nashville fashionista born with cerebral palsy, dreamed of creating a guide for tailors that includes adaptive hardware and instructions for effectively altering clothes for people with disabilities in order to create a more equitable world.  Two Wond'ry students in Professor Alex Sargent's Sustainable and Adaptive Fashion class, Trieu Vy Truong and Sophia Potter, began the work of building the guide by gathering research and interviewing a range of people.  Soon, a collaborative team of community members and students pooled their talents to create this guide.  Alicia's wishes include making the guide available to all by keeping it open source.

Please click the image below to download a copy of The Adaptive Clothing Resource Guide.

Adaptive Resource Guide

Mix Your Makerspaces!

The Wond'ry's Makerspaces are co-located to optimize interdisciplinary prototyping.  Read below for ideas on how to mix different makerspace specialties for innovative creations.  All the examples below are real ideas that have come through the Wond'ry!

  • FAB Lab + Electrical Lab

    The Destress Vest

    By incorporating biosensors into a wearable vest that includes expandable bladders and heating elements, this wearable vest is able to detect when its wearer is stressed and provide therapeutic massage and posture support.

    This idea is still in the prototype stage.

  • FAB Lab + Emerging Tech Lab

    Virtual Try-On

    Clothing companies incur enormous costs both monetarily and in carbon footprint due to shipping returns for orders that don't fit.  By creating a virtual try-on software that uses a shopper's own measurements, fit can be assured beforehand.

    This idea has been turned into an available product!  See the Couture Technologies website for more information.

  • FAB Lab + Mechanical Makerspace

    Assistive Exo Suit

    By using non-motorized mechanical connections, this wearable device is able to protect the back and increasing lifting capability.  This leads to improved health outcomes and reduced workplace injury in jobs with repetitive lifting, such as shipping and assisted living providers.

    This idea has been turned into an available product!  See the HeroWear website for more information.

Curricular Classes

  • ES 3890-03 : Wearable Product Design

    Prerequisite: None

    This course explores of the dynamic intersection of the human body, technology, and design through a human-centered design process. Students will develop skills in textile identification and pattern drafting and draping for fit, comfort, and movement applied to the research, design, and prototyping of innovative wearable products that integrate emerging technologies such as smart materials, sensors, and responsive systems. Students will critically examine how fashion, product design, and technology converge to redefine the relationship between humans and wearables, with particular emphasis on sustainability and adaptive, universal design solutions.

    Class Time: Tuesdays, 1:15PM - 2:30PM

    Lab Section (Choose 1): Thursdays, 1:15PM - 2:30PM -or- 2:45PM - 4:00PM

    Location: ESB 201 (Wond'ry 2nd Floor Lounge)  

  • ME 3273-01 : How to Make Almost Anything (and Make It Matter)

    Prerequisite: None

    Open to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students.  Being able to make things with hand tools and digital fabrication tools will help you quickly test ideas, clearly communicate concepts, and solve problems in your life.  Hosted in the Wond'ry, this course provides an introduction to design thinking, computer-aided design (CAD), rapid prototyping methods, and the strategies to actualize your ideas.  Also, you get to make stuff!

    Eligible for Immersion Vanderbilt's Immersive Experience component

    Class Time: Mondays & Wednesdays, 12:20PM - 2:20PM

    Location: ESB 201 (Wond'ry 2nd Floor Lounge)

  • ME 3890-02 : Make It Real and Make It Matter

    Prerequisite: ME-3273 or DF-2100

    This making course builds on skills learned in ME-3273: How to Make Almost Anything or DF-2100: Rapid Prototyping and is open to all majors.  Students will embark on a team-based, semester-long design/build/test project, crafting a design with an external sponsor/client and then putting their design through test phases with potential customers or end users to determine needed modifications.  Covered topics will include translation of client requirements and constraints, concept development, advanced prototyping methods, customer research and testing, and iterative client engagement.

    Class Time: Mondays & Wednesdays, 3:10PM - 5:00PM

    Location: ESB 201 (Wond'ry 2nd Floor Lounge)  

In the News

External Resources

  • Ellen Macarthur Foundation: Circular Business Models – Discover examples of companies implementing circular business models in the fashion industry with this selection of case studies from around the world.
  • Vanderbilt Fashion Week - VFW connects trailblazing companies and up-and-coming designers from around the world with students from across Vanderbilt's campus and the Greater Nashville area in order to create an inventive and inspiring sustainable fashion ecosystem that maximizes prosperity, idea sharing, and positive value change.
Collage of Fiber Arts Build Lab