Beginners’ Dressmaking Course Part Two

Following on from Beginner’s Dressmaking (part one), continue your journey into making fabulous wearable clothes that you’ll love! This course allows you to develop, practice and increase your confidence to make beautiful clothes that actually fit you in the fabrics you love. It is the perfect way to continue to indulge your dressmaking habit and develop it into an addiction.

Repeat this course as many times as you like, your skills will grow and you will become a more confident and skilled dressmaker.

During the course, you will cut, sew and construct a garment of your choice.

Session 1
• Measure yourself
• Select the correct size
• Understand trickier fabric choices
• Prepare and cut your paper pattern
• Demonstration and sample on overlocker – understanding function and uses

Session 2
• Lay pattern on fabric
• Pin and cut out pattern from fabric
• Transfer markings to fabric
• Begin construction – staystitching, darts, interfacing etc.
• Sew a sample dart

Session 3 & 4
• Tips & tricks to sew with trickier fabrics such as jersey
• Garment construction continues as per pattern instructions.
• Buttonhole demo & sample
• Making minor fitting adjustments

Session 5
• Finishing off
• Measuring hem correctly
• Hemming techniques
• Hand finishing details

Your patient and knowledgeable dressmaking tutor, Alison, will guide you and encourage you from start to finish, helping you to understand the steps to create a polished finished garment.

For those who have already completed Beginner’s Dressmaking or have been doing some simple dressmaking at home, this course will develop and expand on previous learning and consolidate your knowledge, helping you to gain confidence in your dressmaking skills. Been on the course before? Come along again and you will just keep getting better and better!

Please note there will be a maximum of 6 learners on this course to ensure that everyone has enough time to get hands on support from their lovely tutor as well as enough space to cut out their garment.

Session 1
Your Pattern.
• When selecting a pattern for Beginner’s Dressmaking Part 2, feel free to select a dress, skirt, trousers or a top pattern. Choose your pattern from the “Learn to Sew” or “Easy” ranges from the pattern companies.
• Many independent pattern designers such as Tilly & the Buttons, or Sew Me Something design patterns especially with beginners in mind.
• As a general rule of thumb, select an unlined garment and remember that the more seamlines or details that a garment has, the more complex the construction will be.
• If you want to select a pattern designed for jersey or knit fabrics, please ensure that the pattern is suitable for beginners.

Session 2
• Fabric for your project as discussed and agreed with your tutor during the first session
• You will also need the other items listed on your pattern, such as interfacing, bias binding, elastic, zips, buttons, etc.

If you would like to bring your own sewing kit, please do, however, this is not necessary as all the tools you might need are provided for you to use.

Please note:
Pattern and fabric guidelines are given to help you choose a project suitable for a beginner, if you choose something outside the suggested patterns/fabrics it could be more complex and you may risk not completing the garment within this course.
There may be some homework required to complete you garment in the given timescale.

You will take away with you, all the course samples and handouts, the knowledge and skills gained, you finished garment and a feeling of pride that you made it.