So you're a dressmaking newbie, where do you start?

As a teacher I'd say with lessons, of course I would, but if you don't fancy lessons then here's how you get started.

Buy a pattern, there are a a few big pattern companies about, all sell online and some you can buy in shops, here in the Forest of Dean the best shop is Zig Zags in Coleford and they stock New Look patterns. Wether you're looking online or in a shop have a good look through the pattern choices available and base your choice on 2 main factors.

1. choose something you will want to wear, sounds silly but if you choose something you're not really sure about, you'll make it up and then not wear it. So you'll have wasted time and money and dented your dressmaking confidence just a little bit more, every time you pick it up you'll think "nah" and put it down and it will put you off having another go.

2. choose something within your dressmaking ability, again sound obvious but I've known students try to make garments outside their skill range, they've got stuck, panicked, put it aside and given up. If you're a real newbie, never done it before then pick the patterns variously labelled as 'easy',  'very easy', 'basics', 'it's so easy' and the like. Some online pattern sellers categorise patterns so for example Jaycotts have an easy pattern section at http://www.jaycotts.co.uk/collections/patterns_easy this is a great place to start.

When teaching I usually make the students choose something a little outside their comfort zone pattern wise but then they've got me there to push them along!!

When you've got your pattern, read it carefully before choosing fabric, the packet will tell you what type of fabric to buy and how much, more of that another time.

If I can help more with pattern selection then get in touch at www.fashionrevived.weebly.com or 01594 861286

Caroline

Do you want it singly or in a group? Sewing tuition that is!

As you all may know, a part of my Fashion Revived business is tuition in dressmaking, patchwork and rag-rugging? 

Of these disciplines rag-rugging is easily taught to quite large groups, it's a simple craft requiring little demonstration but lots of imagination, once a student has got to grips with the tools used and the main technique they are away and can rapidly move onto designing and making their own rag rugged creations. In fact this craft is one I offer both workshops and talks on and I find that large groups at a talk will often pick up the techniques and then stimulate creativity through their own discussions amongst themselves.

Sewing, a discipline which encompasses dressmaking and patchwork as well as crafts like quilting and embroidery is a craft which requires rather more tuition, as there are many techniques to get to grips with before a student can begin let alone successfully complete an item for example a garment or a bedcover. 

I usually teach sewing to beginners as a 12 hour course covering 6 weekly lessons, this is very successful with student numbers up to about 4 or 5, I find that many student lack confidence in their abilities and my job as their sewing tutor is as much about persuading them that they can sew as it is about teaching them techniques. There are after all very many good books written about the techniques and craft of the different sewing disciplines but what most student lack is the vision to see that they are able to follow the instructions given in the good books. Teaching in a small group of say 4 student gives me the ability to spend a good proportion of the 2 hour lesson with each student, so they feel they've had good instruction, have learned something and importantly have got good value for their class fees. It also allows me to properly asses how each is doing so that I can ensure they all progress. In this way all my students so far have finished a course able to undertake basic dressmaking and patchwork tasks.

Some students are very lacking in self confidence and these benefit for more intense tuition, this is afforded by smaller classes, say 2 students or even one to one tuition, some of my students who've had this individual tuition have improved in their dressmaking skills but also in their life skills as their increased confidence in sewing has meant they are happier and more confident in everyday life. I also take a great pride in helping these student to get on with their sewing and being happier people for it, a win, win situation all around.

The other end of the spectrum is a sewing bee type class I'm hoping to start in the Spring, this will be an open class, available to all skill levels to attend when able, it should run fortnightly in Coleford when the weather improves, we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime if you'd like to know more about my dressmaking, patchwork or rag-rugging tuition please contact me at 

[email protected] or on 01594 861286

Buying local - how important is it?

With THAT time of year very fast approaching, thoughts come to mind about were best to spend our hard earned cash. Even though it's tempting to look online, and buy on ebay, amazon and the like, this will not help our local shops to survive. It's of course not easy to find the latest electro-digital gadget in the nearby high street, or the designer handbag at the independent fashion boutique next door. The handbag might be there, but not at the online price.

The immediate effect of buying locally is that there are less travel costs involved and also no postage to pay. Internet shopping is quite handy, but there are usually a good few pounds added for postage and packing. It's also quite often a bit of a gamble buying something you can't actually see in 'the flesh' or touch. The long term effects are something we do not notice straight away, but are  made obvious when we think about what has already happened in a lot of places.

We have a catch 22 situation - the less money people spend in their local shops, the less choice there will be, the more likely it is that customers stay away. And the more likely that good local shops will close, allowing charity shops and coffee outlets to take over the town. So the downward spiral continues. It's a sight that we see duplicated more and more often in more and more towns.

Encouraging people to spend their money locally is not easy in these times when disposable income has generally gone down across the country. And people will make choices that affect them directly. Maybe it's time to see the bigger picture, at least to think about it now and then, how our buying habits affect the world around us. 

"Are we what we wear?"

This morning I attended a meeting with Shoo Rayner, a very talented drawer!! he showed the meeting how to draw a simple cat and then got us all to draw our own feline using our own creativity. 

I started off drawing a sort of lion but as the meeting went on I added a tutu, well I would wouldn't I? My lion, a ferocious creature surely, when wearing a frilly tutu with a bow at the waistband became a kinder, happier, softer creature! Hence todays blog.

We all know first impressions count, we are all judged by how we look on a daily basis, both by people who don't know us and by those who are familiar with our appearance and who we are as people.

A big part of this is what we wear, whether as corporate beings we wear sharp suits or as more creative beings we wear stripey jumpers and purple jeans (for example, not me of course!! well sometimes!). Corporate beings can of course wear stripey jumpers but that would probably be frowned upon and possibly not do their business prospects any good and vice versa, creative beings could wear sharp suits but they're, well, not terribly creative are they?

I think a good word here is individuality and to achieve that, when limits apply, compromise. The corporate person can add a bit of their personality to their sharp suit with beautiful accessories and colour, I know a business woman who always wears a smart suit but look at her feet and she has fabulous, quirky shoes adorning them, these are her true personality I'm sure! The creative bod meanwhile, in everyday life presumably has no need to dress sharply but the time may come when he or she needs to dress more smartly for say a job interview or a meeting with the bank manager, in this instance how about wearing the purple jeans with a smart blouse and jacket?

Above all of the style choices we can make, the most important thing we can do to make sure we look good is to make sure our clothes fit properly. Well fitting clothes will always enhance, as far as I'm concerned a beautiful fitted stripey jumper beats a badly fitting sharp jacket every time.

Caroline Jones, Fashion Revived

"Keeping secrets!!"

"This is a difficult blog to write, it's about secrets, but it's a blog!!! 

I have a couple of biggish dressmaking jobs on the go at the minute, both are for Christmas and both recipients use the internet and specifically facebook so much as I'd like to describe in detail the work I'm doing I can't? Both of these secret dressmaking projects would be brilliant for my marketing as each is interesting in it's own way and may be of interest to my readers and followers who might suddenly realise "I didn't think she could that sort of sewing, but she can so maybe I'll talk to her about a commission".

But I can't tell you, my customers have asked me to keep these jobs a secret and as I like to do my utmost for my customers keeping the jobs a secret is what I will do. For now!

My point is that my customers wishes are paramount, even to the detriment of my marketing abilities in the short term. I like to look after my customers and hope that they will help me in return by giving me more work themselves and by telling all their acquaintances about my work so that I get work from them as well. 

Of course in the long term, specifically for these two 'secret' jobs, look out in the New Year as then there will be pictures online and I will be showing the new outfits off to the world and with any luck I'll have brilliant testimonials form both the customers involved. Then we may see some orders roll in perhaps?"