Young Dressmaking

Bring out your inner fashionista!

Learn the dressmaking skills to create a fabulous wearable jumpsuit, playsuit or dress just for you.

Amaze your friends and stun your family by showing off your fabulous “me made” outfit.

Learn the skills to create fabulous clothes that you just can’t find on the high street. Be a trend setter and create clothes to fit your style.

Recommended age 11 – 16 years.

We will start with an easy pattern (New Look 6444) and you will learn the skills needed to make this lovely garment over the course of five sessions.

Session 1

• Measure yourself correctly
• Choose your size
• Cut your paper pattern
• Pinning your pattern to the fabric

Session 2

• Cut out your fabric
• Transfer pattern markings to your fabric
• Make a sample of seam method to be used
• Start to make your dress/jumpsuit

Session 3

• Making your dress/jumpsuit
• Learn about: seams, bias binding, hemming, casing, elastic,
• Check and adjust the fit as required

Session 4

• Hem your garment
• Adding elastic and bow trim
• Finishing off
• Hand finishing

Our lovely dressmaking tutor, Alison, will guide you through the process, show you how and will answer all your questions.

This class is for those 11-16 year olds with basic sewing knowledge and a passion to learn more about dressmaking.

Please note, there will be a maximum of six 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.

Fabric and other requirements - decide which option you would like to make:

Jumpsuit A

45” (115cm) wide: 2.8m (age 10) – 3.7m (age 16)
60” (150cm) wide: 2m (age 10) – 2.5m (age 16)
2m of matching bias binding
2m of ¾” (2cm) wide elastic

Playsuit B

45” (115cm) wide: 2.1m (age 10) – 2.6m (age 16)
60” (150cm) wide: 1.5m (age 10) – 1.8m (age 16)
2m of matching bias binding
2m of ¾” (2cm) wide elastic

Long Dress C

45” (115cm) wide: 3.3m (age 10) – 3.6m (age 16)
60” (150cm) wide: 2.4m (age 10) – 2.7m (age 16)
2m of matching bias binding
2m of ¾” (2cm) wide elastic

Short Dress D

45” (115cm) wide: 2.8m (age 10) – 3.2m (age 16)
60” (150cm) wide: 2m (age 10) – 2.2m (age 16)
2m of matching bias binding
2m of ¾” (2cm) wide elastic

Choosing your fabric:
Suitable fabrics – Woven fabrics such as: Cotton lawn***, cotton, polycotton, chambray, gingham, calico.

***Your tutor recommends – cotton lawn is ideal for a beginner for this project as it is stable, but has a nice softness and drape to it too.

Avoid – Stretchy, shiny, slippery and drapey fabrics or anything with a surface texture.

Beware of fabrics with stripes, checks or bold patterns as pattern matching is an advanced skill and is not covered in this course.

If you want to, you can bring along your own sewing kit (this is optional as all tools you might need are provided for you to use).

You will take home your fabulous finished jumpsuit or dress, your pattern, handouts detailing the techniques used, samples made throughout the course and, of course, all the new skills you have learnt.