handmade wardrobe JUMPSTART!

has Me-Made May got you all worked up about starting, augmenting, or filling in the gaps in your own handmade wardrobe? well, i’ve got good news: summer is almost here, and i’ve got some adventures planned that you just might want to jump in on! in July, i’m honored and elated to be teaching a full WEEK-LONG workshop at the awesome makerspace A Gathering of Stitches in Portland, Maine. the wonderful Samantha Hoyt Lindgren has rounded up a roster of teachers from all ends of the stitchery world — quilting, sashiko, bra-making, shibori, screen printing, and garment construction — for her series of events called Maine Stitching Retreats. they all sound amazing; i would sign up for every single one if i could…

right now though, i’d like to tell you about the one i’m leading. it’s called Design (and MAKE!) Your Own Clothes. (no, i can’t resist the all-caps, parentheses and exclamation points even in my class titles.) i’m beyond excited about it, because this format is for sure my all-time favorite: five full days of non-stop clothes-making! we will learn how to draft patterns (for a skirt, t-shirt and shift dress), make and fit muslins for each, correct the patterns, and then sew real garments. you’ll also learn how to take those base patterns and re-style them to fit the designs you have in your head. i’ve had the opportunity to teach this week-long intensive only twice before, and it is FUN. in addition to the three main garments, i think everyone who has taken the class has made anywhere from one to three additional pieces too. yes, you really will get a jumpstart on your own handmade wardrobe!

the last time i taught this workshop was at Shakerag in Tennessee, in 2014. appallingly — though not surprisingly — i never actually shared the photos here (oh, Instagram, you do make it so easy NOT to blog, sigh…)! we had an absolute blast. so here’s a sampling of what’s possible (click on any pic to see it bigger):

learning to draft your own patterns enables you to design and make the clothes YOU want to wear, and they will be tailor-made to fit your own unique frame. once you get the basic concepts down, it’s quite simple to mix and match elements and design details (silhouette, necklines, sleeve length, pockets, collars) to create infinite possibilities.

don’t these ladies look happy and proud of what they accomplished? at the end of the week at Shakerag, all of the studios display their work and then everyone walks around to see what each class has been up to. my group hung up their mini “collections” clothesline-style, and it was impressive how many garments they’d made!