With Joucelen Gabriel
Make yourself the perfect, 1950’s style, summer dress in this 5 week course. Learn dressmaking techniques to make a pretty sundress with fitted bodice, round scoop neck, sleeveless and a gorgeous flared skirt – so feminine and flattering! Wear it tea length for a retro look, or go modern with a shorter length. Bring a beautiful fabric of your choice and stitch it up into fitted and styled dress.
Over the 5 weeks you will learn how to read sewing patterns, cutting and marking fabric, fitting alterations, making a fabric toile (sample garment for fitting), sewing darts and tucks, ironing techniques for dress making, sewing tricks, inserting a zipper and hemming techniques. Leave class in your perfectly fitting dress, 100% made by you!
Please note, you need to have recent sewing and dressmaking experience to attend this workshop. You should be of at least intermediate level, able to set up and operate a sewing machine independently, have experience with cutting fabric and working with commercial patterns. If you would like to learn how to sew to attend this workshop or you need a refresher you can attend our Introduction to Sewing Course.
About Joucelen Gabriel
Joucelen does it all! A Designer, Seamstress and Patternmaker! She loves all things vintage and retro and specialises in the reproduction and restoration of vintage clothing. She also works in a variety of fields including teaching, styling, T.V, interior design, fashion shoots and costume.
View more dates for the Vintage Dressmaking and other Sewing Classes
This course was originally developed by Melanie Elron, who is currently on leave. Melanie is the owner of Elevator Girl Vintage, specialising in vintage dressmaking and alterations. She has been collecting and wearing vintage clothing for almost 20 years, and loves to use mid-century sewing techniques to create an authentic vintage look with a custom-made fit.