With knitting, I am completely self-taught (books, youtube!), which was mostly fine although I am sure some things may have been easier if I had had some hands-on help. I had been debating whether a sewing class might be a good idea (for example, to actually find out the best way to do zips as opposed to the many of ways I discovered online...). And after some deliberation I decided to try out the Intro to dressmaking weekend at Sew Over It, a sewing shop/cafe in London.
I have to note here that I took this course in October, so this is a very very belated review. I kept meaning to take nice pictures of me wearing my makes and absolutely failed, so I decided to just take photos of the clothes - you will just have to imagine me wearing them (I've worn the skirt twice already so you may even remember it).
The shop in Clapham is a lovely space spread over two floors (we were in the basement but there was another course going on upstairs), with very friendly staff and lots of beautiful fabrics to choose from. Wasn't the best location for me, but they have recently opened a second shop which I may need to visit in the future.
The course was spread over a weekend, with the Saturday involving sewing a circle skirt and the Sunday a shift dress. There were only three of us on the Saturday and four on the Sunday, which was great because we had more space to work and more personal attention from the teacher, Laurel Waldron.
I arrived bright and early on the Saturday (so early in fact that I had to wait 20 minutes until they actually opened the shop), with my bunny fabric purchased from the Knitting and Stitching Show, eager to learn. I had been a little paranoid the day before and practiced by making yet another cushion, just to make sure I remembered how to use the sewing machine!
Everything was going smoothly at first: we cut the pattern to our size, learned how to place the pieces on the fabric, and sewed the pieces together. I even had time for a giant slice of chocolate cake!
Now, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think it went a bit wrong for me after we installed the zipper (which fingers crossed I have now established in my head and will no longer have trouble with in the future). The pattern for this skirt involves hand-stitching the waistband for a more professional finish, at which point I discovered that, like with knitting, black is a terrible colour because you just can't see anything - which is annoying because I love black. So here I fell a little behind everyone else, and the competitive side of me got a bit stressed about being last.
This continued when we were doing the hem, which was sewn with the machine but was a right pain because it took ages of ironing and pinning, this being a giant circle skirt. (Note: I sort of messed it up and so decided to rip it when I got home and hem it again. And did a terrible job of it again. But as Laurel kept saying to me, practice, practice).
On day 2, dress day, I was determined to do better. Once again, measure, pin, cut, sew pieces together (and useful tips on how to modify pattern to fit my measurements). Then came the overlocker, and things went a bit downhill once again. Using the overlocker on a straight seam was easy and quite fun actually, but when it came to more curved lines it was really hard to control (practice, practice!). I started falling behind once again, and kept getting flustered when things like my bobbin run out (twice...).
I have to note here that I took this course in October, so this is a very very belated review. I kept meaning to take nice pictures of me wearing my makes and absolutely failed, so I decided to just take photos of the clothes - you will just have to imagine me wearing them (I've worn the skirt twice already so you may even remember it).
The shop in Clapham is a lovely space spread over two floors (we were in the basement but there was another course going on upstairs), with very friendly staff and lots of beautiful fabrics to choose from. Wasn't the best location for me, but they have recently opened a second shop which I may need to visit in the future.
The course was spread over a weekend, with the Saturday involving sewing a circle skirt and the Sunday a shift dress. There were only three of us on the Saturday and four on the Sunday, which was great because we had more space to work and more personal attention from the teacher, Laurel Waldron.
I arrived bright and early on the Saturday (so early in fact that I had to wait 20 minutes until they actually opened the shop), with my bunny fabric purchased from the Knitting and Stitching Show, eager to learn. I had been a little paranoid the day before and practiced by making yet another cushion, just to make sure I remembered how to use the sewing machine!
Everything was going smoothly at first: we cut the pattern to our size, learned how to place the pieces on the fabric, and sewed the pieces together. I even had time for a giant slice of chocolate cake!
Now, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think it went a bit wrong for me after we installed the zipper (which fingers crossed I have now established in my head and will no longer have trouble with in the future). The pattern for this skirt involves hand-stitching the waistband for a more professional finish, at which point I discovered that, like with knitting, black is a terrible colour because you just can't see anything - which is annoying because I love black. So here I fell a little behind everyone else, and the competitive side of me got a bit stressed about being last.
This continued when we were doing the hem, which was sewn with the machine but was a right pain because it took ages of ironing and pinning, this being a giant circle skirt. (Note: I sort of messed it up and so decided to rip it when I got home and hem it again. And did a terrible job of it again. But as Laurel kept saying to me, practice, practice).
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| Don't the bunnies look a bit like pineapples?? |
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| Full circle! |
On day 2, dress day, I was determined to do better. Once again, measure, pin, cut, sew pieces together (and useful tips on how to modify pattern to fit my measurements). Then came the overlocker, and things went a bit downhill once again. Using the overlocker on a straight seam was easy and quite fun actually, but when it came to more curved lines it was really hard to control (practice, practice!). I started falling behind once again, and kept getting flustered when things like my bobbin run out (twice...).
Aaaanyway, with Laurel's help I mostly finished it, with just the hem to do at home. Which was a good thing because when I got home the dress was too tight (despite correct measurements and expanding to accommodate the big hips). I attempted to fix this by opening up the seam, which made it marginally better but still did not look particularly flattering (perhaps not the best dress shape for me).
But all is not wasted, the pattern is drafted to also make a top or tunic, so I decided to cut the dress and make it into a cute little smart top.
All in all, a great weekend with some useful tips and two semi-wearable garments. I had concluded that I probably wouldn't make the skirt again, but its actually quite fun to wear so it may have a little sibling in the future.
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