What a great group of ladies in this class, I know I've said it before and I will probably say it again, but it merits repeating, I continually challenge them and they come through in spades!  They even create their own challenges LOL!  Goes to show how dedicated they are to learning.  The fit on the mock ups if fantastic, there are still a few very minor issues left to deal with on some mock ups but I think it's more a sewing issue than drafting we will get them all sorted out next week and I promise to take pictures!
The project is a jumper or dress that is sleeveless and will be finished with facings with the exception of one who purchased some exquisite fabric to make a dress so she will be lining it!  I know she is up to the task :)  They are supposed to be either straight, A-line or tapered hem but one creative soul decided to add godets to the front and back princess seams (even though we haven't done the back yet!) and the sides, great idea so I asked her to do pin-tucks from the bottom of the fish eye dart to where the godet begins and the front seams should go to the hem  instead of finishing at the fish eye darts.  It will be fun to hem this puppy hahahaha!!! The beginners are progressing very well, very impressive work indeed.

Homework will be to cut the jumper/dress, mark and sew the darts and centre back from the bottom of the zipper opening ready to add zipper in class the following week.  Leave 2 cm seam allowance everywhere including the facings, tailor tack the whole garment for the most accurate sewing possible. 

Finish the hand sewing assignment, catch stitch the pressed edge to the end.   

Draft a knit pattern only  using page 84 as a guide  this can be ready for December 13th class, no sewing required on this one at home.  I just need to see the pattern and possibly the tissue pattern pieces next week to check for accuracy. 

For next week bring some lightweight or ultra-lightweight fusible interfacing strip long enough to cover the zipper opening and the width of the seam allowance.  Also enough to cover the facings for a better finish.  Bring in a short zipper and some fabric to do a practice zipper before installing it in the dress.  Don’t forget the long zipper to be installed in the garment.

Have a great week!

Hello all great class on Thursday!  These ladies are working so very hard and are improving by leaps and bounds even the beginners are keeping up!  Since the beginning of class they have created 3 mock ups; the first one took 5 hours to complete, the second took three hours to complete, the third took just over 2 hours to complete. How's that for progress?!  Plus it was noted the fit improved with each mock up, the whole objective of the program to create perfect fitting garments. 

Yesterday the class worked on the mock princess top doing a lot of the work at home and learning the value of hand basting, makes the sewing a breeze.  Yes they had to tailor tack the princess seam/dart too!  Last class we re-configured the classroom and it's making a difference in the productivity of the class.  Everyone is more relaxed, laughing, joking but most important they are really working efficiently and I can be a more effective teacher as well.  Funny how a small change can make such a big difference. 

The class was given a choice of class either the sleeves or knits for the last 3 classes so they chose to work with knits,  Good choice because T-shirts or knit tops can be made very quickly and are simple to draft with no shaping required, the stretch of the fabric provides the shaping. 

Homework is to draft a dress as shown in class in the style of the students’ choice, sheath, princess or mock princess cut.  The neckline can be a scoop, V-neck, boat-neck or jewel neckline (round), the skirt can be a pencil skirt, A-line or tapered skirt.  Students are to create a mock up of their choice of design as was discussed in class, the neckline will be drawn in class on the mock up to see which style will suit the wearer best.  Now that the class has seen how easy it is to sew when seams are basted I believe they will use the basting stitch more often. 

Whether the garment is a summer dress or a jumper is up to the student, either way it will be finished with facings at the neckline and armholes with a centre back zipper.  Next class will be only drafting, there will be two drafts; the top with two base darts plus a pattern for suitable for knits, no machines necessary. 

Please bring in your fabric for the dress/jumper for advice/approval as well if you have an opportunity to purchase some knit fabric please bring it in as well so the stretch of the fabric can be accounted for before drafting the pattern. 
There are only 3 classes left, the last 2 classes will be for finishing both the dress as well as a knit top.  The last class on December 13 will be one hour longer, there is one hour outstanding to complete the requisite hours for the semester.  This will allow the class to really complete the projects without having to rush through the work. 
A reminder the December 6 class will be in the morning from 9 to 12.  November 29 class is at the regular time 1 to 4 see you then!

Hello all how are things?  It has been busy here with all kinds of things going on, last week unfortunately there was a death in the family a beloved uncle passed away while undergoing some tests at a hospital.  His health was failing and he had a fall a few days earlier, like these stories go it seems at the age of 90 a fall is the beginning of the end.  No matter at what stage a loved one is in their death is always a shock.  The finality of it is just shocking.  What was the most sad was that this uncle was the last of his generation to go, his younger brother passed this summer in Italy, that really shocked everyone! 
That meant that last week's class in Bradford was cancelled and moved to tomorrow morning.  Can't wait to see the students how bright eyed and bushy tailed they are LOL!  I just hope they bundle up it will be cold like -17C cold!!  Good job I have coats for every temperature and I even made a fur cape for myself!  The other project I had was a little christening outfit made from the mom's wedding gown (train).  This was a favour for a friend who's mom got very ill so she was not in the right frame of mind to create anything.  I was glad to help. 
Have a great day! 

Hello all I muddled my way through the weekend retreats even without my laptop!  The students had so much fun it was ridiculous!!  I never heard so much giggling from 3 women ever, myself included!  The biggest thrill was to see the pajama tops with Dolman sleeves become a reality especially when I broke out my cover stitch machine that works like a charm on knits and gives such a professional finish.  Both Peggy and Karen were afraid of working with knits prior to this class and now I think I have created knit monsters!!  The excitement and anticipation was palpable in the class they worked so fast that they finished the pajama top in less than 3 hours, Peggy also made pants to go with the top while Karen added a hood to her pajama top in blue with contrasting beige thread that she sewed on the cover stitch with the underside showing.  Peggy opted for monochromatic also using the cover stitch with the underside showing.  In both cases it really worked well and looked very professional, they stated that this machine would be on the very top of the Christmas wish list!  Guess I'm probably going to get some hate mail from family members for introducing them to the cover stitch LOL!!!  
Homework is to complete the remaining patterns on these pages that were not done in class.   Re-draft raglan for wovens using different measurements, draft the raglan for knits on page 84 using both personal and different measurements, sew a fleece top with front zipper as shown on page 84. 
Have a great winter we will be continuing over Skype until the spring.  
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Hello all so I finally got my new laptop!  Did I ever miss it!  So now it's going to be another learning curve to learn office 365, that's the price we pay for progress!

On Thursday we had a great class in Bradford, we re-configured the class and it made a difference on the class demeanour everyone seemed to be happier and more engaged with the new configuration.  This makes me happy when the class is engrossed in the work and the time flies by.  The class actually sewed together a princess seam mock up in only 2 hours, these are beginners!  We even had time fit the body, analyze the tops and then learn a new pattern. 

Homework is to draft a mock princess top as discussed in class using personal measurements.  This is to be completed as a mock up therefore a master pattern is to be drafted, the pattern pieces are to be traced as shown in class the pinned to the mock up fabric, the back may be cut out and the dart tailor tacked, the front is to be pinned only and tailor tacked where the dart has been transferred to the armhole and down the fish eye dart.  Students will be shown how to cut out the front in class.  There will be a slight change to the syllabus, the next class will be dedicated to sewing the mock princess mock up to understand well how to ease together seams. 

Students are to choose one of the three styles on page 44 – 45 as their finished project, it may be done as a jumper to wear in the winter with a shirt/sweater underneath.  The fabric choice is up to the student, my recommendation is either a cotton twill, light tweed, wool, or suiting 1 to 1.5 metres of fabric depending on the width.  Along with the fabric students will need to purchase a regular zipper for the centre back and an additional regular zipper for practice, we will be finishing the jumper with facings so some lightweight fusible interfacing, it is sold by the package. 

Have a great two weeks and remember the key to success is repetition so keep drafting even it isn't assigned, challenge yourself by choosing something similar to the lesson and draft it or use the lesson and draft it using different measurements. 

Happy sewing!