Upcycle Your Wardrobe: Sewing Skills for Customising Your Clothes

Wardrobe looking tired and in need of some sauce? Don’t look to fast fashion for your answers, join local dress designer Christina for insight and inspiration to customise your clothes in a sustainable way! Learn from an experienced professional, and from each other to create your own design ideas and improve your sewing skills using hand- and machine-sewing techniques, basic design principles and how to sustainably source materials.

What topics will you cover?

1. Design concepts and principles 
2. Selecting which garments to upcycle and envisioning your design 
3. Sourcing and buying fabrics and trimmings sustainably 
4. Sourcing and buying base garments 
5. Hand sewing skills 
6. Machine sewing skills using the Bernina 3 series 
7. Garment design appreciation and planning for further work 

Learning objectives

By the end of the course you will have:

1. Developed or improved your hand sewing skills
2. Developed or improved your machine sewing skills, including a basic understanding of using   the Bernina 3 series machines and their accessories
3. Developed a critical eye for design ideas
4. Upcycled your garments

How will I be taught? What kind of activities will I be doing?

Practical demonstrations, working in small groups and individually.

What will I need to bring? Where can I get this? What do we provide?

Your own clothing, and ideas to share! We will provide basic materials plus access to brand new Bernina 3 series machines. We will provide information on sourcing additional materials sustainably.

Will I get feedback? What could I do next?

You will get individual and group feedback throughout the course, and at the end you will have the opportunity to discuss each other’s designs and work.

You could look at doing more advanced sewing and garment design classes, and even consider selling your designs!