Beginning Fitted Garment Construction Class
by Rebecca on April 11, 2012
For my second class at Nonpareil in Ann Arbor, I signed up for the beginning fitted garment construction class. The first class I took was the sewing fundamentals class where I made my own pajama pants. In the garment construction class, we learned how to make a skirt. We didn’t start with a pattern, instead we took our measurements and created our own pattern completely custom to our own bodies. We got to choose to create an A-line skirt, which I chose, or a pencil skirt. Michelle had fabric we could buy for our skirt if we wanted to, which I did, it’s a black cotton twill with a bit of stretch and it’s really nice.
The class was 2.5 hours long and was held on Wednesdays for five weeks. During that time, in addition to creating our own pattern, we learned how to install an invisible zipper, how to create a muslin or test skirt, how to sew facing for a professional finish, and how to hem. The zipper was by far the trickiest skill to acquire, but I know feel confident that I could put one in without a problem.
I’d like to take more classes at Nonpareil in the future, perhaps the perfect pant class. But for now, I have a long list of sewing projects that I’m planning on trying at home including another skirt so I don’t forget those skills!
April 25th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
I was raised by a very crafty/sewing-gifted mom, but for some reason never picked up her interest in the sewing department. I really wish I had paid more attention, though…because when you’re just under 5’4″, there are a lot of pairs of jeans that need to be hemmed. It may be time to kick myself into a sewing class so I don’t get mistaken for a large, poorly-dressed second grader.
April 25th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Nonpareil in Ann Arbor also offers a class about doing your own alterations, may come in handy!