5 Day Course// 10 am - 4pm // Level: Beyond Beginner// Cost: £475 // July 21st - 25th
Instructor: Cassandra Belanger // Founder of The Stitchery, Co-Founder of Zero Waste Design Collective and Founding Member of Sustainable Fashion Scotland // Location: The Stitchery Studio, 23 Acorn Street, Glasgow G40 4AN
About This Course
Led by Stitchery Founder Cassandra Belanger, this 5 day intensive sewing course for ‘beyond beginners’ and improvers will help you take your clothes-making skills to the next level.
Making your own clothes is about learning to BE YOURSELF. Choose your own fabric; fit it to your own unique body; express your own unique style. If you're tired of wearing low quality, ill-fitting and generic hi-street clothing, then this course is your opportunity to break from the herd.
We're all different shapes and sizes. Thankfully. But when it comes to making clothes from a commercial pattern, this can sometimes make things tricky. Learn a unique, tried and tested method for getting a great fit every time. Create a fitting pattern, based on your body shape, and use it for your future projects.
This is Cassandra’s most in-depth Fitting Masterclass to date: she’s going to take five days to equip you with a tried and tested method for getting great fit every time. You'll also come away with a paper pattern, adjusted to your body, that you can use time and time again on your own projects. As always, the workshop is hands-on and student focused.
All body shapes and sizes welcome. We are a LGBTQI+ friendly and safe space. People of all genders, sizes, and backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to attend this course.
Teaching Method
You will learn a unique fitting method, utilising horizontal and vertical balance lines to visually draw the eye to recognised fitting issues.
The method is iterative, starting with adjustments to the paper pattern and the construction of a toile (a fitting sample). The toile is then used to determine further adjustments, which are transferred back to the paper pattern.
This process, and the pattern created, can then be used as a template for tackling future fitting issues, modifying commercial patterns, or designing your own garments.
During the workshop you'll also be using scaled pattern samples to practice techniques. At the end of the course you'll take away a completed comprehensive sample book on paper pattern adjustments, which can be used for future reference.
Topics Covered
Students will be using our in-house Fitting Pattern to create their toiles, learning additional techniques at each stage:
Cup size and bust adjustments.
Fitting the shoulders, including forward rotating shoulders.
Shortening or lengthening the bodice.
Determining the correct armhole size.
Rounded back and sway back adjustments.
Fitting the sleeve
Fitting the skirt
Outcomes
Students will learn new skills as we cover topics and techniques, applying them through sample practices, making a pattern block (sloper) for your unique body:
You'll make and take home your own 'resource book' which will be your future reference for fitting all garments.
You'll make and take home your own 'pattern block' sample (sloper); fitted to your body, which you'll be able to use and re-use for all your future projects!
You'll make and take home a sample garment consisting of a bodice with sleeves and a skirt, which you can use as reference for future fitting.
Skill Level
Beyond Beginner. If you’ve taken one of our Sewing Clothes for Beginners classes you’re good to go! You must have made at least one garment. Understanding how sewing patterns work is a plus for this course.
Course Cost Includes:
Cost of pattern
5 x 6-hour lessons (plus one hour lunch break)
Use of 230DC Janome computerized sewing machine each
Use of 6234XL overlocker (shared between students)
Handouts for resource book
Course cost excludes:
Cost of fabric and haberdashery.
A basic sewing supplies kit. Here is what we recommend for a well-stocked kit.
Booking Your Place
To book your place on this course, you will pay a non-refundable Booking Deposit of £50 + fees through Eventbrite which goes towards the total course cost. The remaining balance of £425 is due no later than 14 days PRIOR to course start. Once you’ve booked a place on the course, you will receive the details to bank transfer the final amount. We divide course costs in this way to avoid additional external fees. Please familiarise yourself with our Terms & Conditions before making your booking.
In response to the cost of living crisis, we offer one subsidised seat per class to ease the burden on our community. If you are committed to learning and experiencing financial hardship, please reach out.
About your Tutor
Cassandra Belanger (she/her) has 14 years of experience working in sustainable design, textiles and garment construction with a Masters in Fashion + Textiles focussing on zero waste design. Her work is an invitation to a more sustainable future and education is at the centre of her creative practice. She is the Founder of The Stitchery Studio, Co-Founder of the Zero Waste Design Collective and Founding Member of Sustainable Fashion Scotland. She is the Resident Sewing Instructor at the Central Scottish School of Craft and previously a Fashion and Textile Lecturer at Glasgow West College. Her research interests centre around sustainable fashion and textile design education and fashion systems for a post growth economy. Her design and teaching practice explores issues such as zero waste, waste colonialism, transparency, feminism, sizeism, and body image. Cassandra is committed to decolonising her teaching practice.
More Info:
During class tea and coffee will be available.
All of our classes are suitable for over 18s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list.
If you need to cancel, we need at least two weeks notice. Please read our cancellation policy before booking.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions please have a look at our FAQs page or contact us or feel free to contact us.
The Stitchery operates under a business model of full transparency. If you have any questions about how we cost our courses and what the breakdown of costs is, please feel free to get in touch for more information.
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 an appropriate solution.