Do you have a dream outfit in mind? Explore patternmaking to create your own unique creations. This course is for anyone with sewing skills who wishes to upskill and expand their expertise in the foundations of patternmaking for fashion or décor. It will enhance your sewing skills and enable you to adapt and more readily create individually designed garments to suit your style and shape. The course covers measurements, fittings, alterations and manual patternmaking.

Course Outline:

The course will commence with creating a straightforward bucket hat pattern. This involves taking head measurements and following simple mathematical processes to prepare a flat pattern. Following on from the bucket hat, we will focus on taking measurements as preparation for making garments. The next stage is to alter a commercial pattern, students need to bring a commercial pattern that needs adapting. The class’s first garment pattern will be a t-shirt, or top for knitted fabric.

Learning Outcomes:

Develop more skills in;

• Patternmaking, to enhance your skills in sewing and sewing techniques
• Taking measurements and undertaking fittings, making alterations to patterns as a result of fittings
• Create unique patterns, that adapt to your shape and style
• Understanding how patterns are used in sewing, such as layouts and cutting
• Optional: Creating toiles and adapting patterns form toile fittings.
• Understanding of the necessary steps undertaken in a sewing project
• Create free-form patterns by creative draping on the body

What to Bring:

• Paper, such as butchers paper or light cardboard for your patterns
• Bring at least a sketch or picture, or a design concept, of a garment that you wish to create a pattern for during the term to the first lesson or if you are altering an existing pattern, do bring that.
• Paper scissors, measuring tape, long ruler, a square, pins, sticky tape, pencils, biro, red, blue and green fine point pens, stapler, glue sticks
• A commercial paper pattern for alteration
• Notebook and pen
• Calico for draping, approx. 3 metres. If you wish to have a softer drape, then it is advisable to wash the calico and iron it.
• Optional: If you wish to create toiles, please sew them at home and bring them back to class for a fitting.
• Students must wear closed-in shoes, no sandals or thongs.

About the Tutor:

'Elissa has many years of experience in dressmaking, creating patterns and knitting. She has qualifications in Fashion Production & Technology from TAFE. Elissa is keenly aware of the importance of sustainability in fashion and prefers to work wherever possible with natural fabrics that are kinder to the environment and to adapt limited-life garments, yarns and fabrics in order to give them a new lease of life. As well as teaching, she does customised creative mending, alterations and made to measure garments and millinery. She enjoys sharing expertise supporting students to forge ahead on their individual creative journeys. She says 'It’s a magical experience!'

Other Information:

• To ensure resources are ready for you at the start of your course, we ask you ideally enrol at least one week before the course commences.
• All courses need a minimum number of students to run ("we try our hardest to get those") . If your course does not have enough students it will be cancelled before the commencement and you will be informed.