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Creative Garment Upcycling and Alteration


  • The Stitchery Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom (map)

10 Week Course // Tuesdays, 1pm - 3.30pm // Cost: £385 (includes pattern) // Level: Beginners and beyond // Instructor: Cassandra Belanger Founder of The Stitchery, Co-Founder of Zero Waste Design Collective and Founding Member of Sustainable Fashion Scotland // Location: Indie Sewing Room, Park Lane House, 47 Broad St, Bridgeton, Glasgow G40 2QF

Upcycling and altering are two of the most sustainable ways to revitalise your style so that your wardrobe best serves YOU and saves the environment. If you are excited to find new ways to love old textiles, then this course is your opportunity to learn how to redesign, reshape, or repurpose your garments.

About This Course

Led by Stitchery Founder Cassandra Belanger, this is a 10 week, in-depth introduction to creative upcycling and alteration. The course is intended to equip you with a comprehensive set of technical skills and creative design practices that you can develop and apply to a range of projects.

In this course you’ll learn how to reuse and refashion existing textiles into wearable garments through zero waste sewing techniques. You will develop skills in clothing alteration including resizing and repairing, to improve the fit or change the features of garments to better suit your body and your style. You will also learn key methods and techniques for upcycling, including: embellishment, garment deconstruction, and re-roll to create new textiles from second-hand fabrics.

Since this class has a focus on sustainability we’ll also be looking at the following basic alterations:

  • Strategies for resizing a garment

  • Shortening sleeves, skirts, trousers and dresses 

As outcomes of this course, you will gain the tools and confidence to enhance your wardrobe using curtains, table cloths, quilts, second-hand clothes and even smaller scraps of leftover fabric. Each student will come away with a new garment made from upcycled textiles.

Join the upcycling movement and recycle all those pieces in your closet that you’ve forgotten about. Learn how to customise and personalise any garment in your own style. All you need is some creativity and basic sewing skills. 

Skill Level

This course is open to experienced beginners. You will need to have basic knowledge of how to use a sewing machine and have sewn at least one garment.

We have a sewing machine available for each student; although you can bring your own if you like. And don't worry if you might miss one or two classes: we've plenty of opportunities to catch up through our additional sewing sessions or private tuition.

Topics Covered

  • Creating new textiles from second-hand textiles

  • Garment deconstruction

  • Upcycling methods and embellishments

  • Strategies for resizing a garment

  • Shortening sleeves, skirts, trousers and dresses

  • Planning your project

  • Repairing zippers

  • Strategies for resizing a garment

  • Adding a pocket

  • Fitting tips

  • Hems

Course cost excludes: 

  • Cost of patterns

  • Cost of fabric and haberdashery

Course cost includes: 

  • 10 x 2.5-hour lessons 

  • Use of sewing machine each 

  • Use of overlocker (shared between students)

Booking Your Place

To book your place on this course, please use our online booking system below. Please pay an initial deposit of £50. Once you’ve booked a place on the course we will get in touch to arrange the balance payment of £335. This is due no later than two weeks before the start of the course. Please familiarise yourself with our Terms & Conditions before making your booking. 

You can pay by PayPal or any major debit/credit card.  NOTE: You do not need a PayPal account to make a booking. Simply click on the link which says "pay with a debit or credit card". It looks like this.  Please note that deposits are non-refundable. The deposit amount will be taken off the total cost of the course, leaving a final payment of of £335.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. 

Non-Refundable Deposit

All of our courses and workshops require a deposit to book your place. Please note that the deposit is completely non-refundable.

Cancellation & Course Fees Refund

Because of the popularity of our courses and the limited number of spaces available, we've now introduced a Cancellation & Refund Policy. If you cancel your booking 14 or more full days before the start date of your course or workshop, you will be refunded the balance of your fees. This is equivalent to your full course fees minus your non-refundable deposit.  

If you decide to cancel your place once the course has started, a refund is not guaranteed. In this situation we shall review the circumstances of the cancellation before deciding on appropriate solution.