Advanced Creative Pattern Cutting (6-weeks)

Have you ever put on a pair of trousers and thought, "I wish they actually fitted me?"

This six-week studio programme is designed for students who already understand the basics of sewing or pattern making and want to develop professional pattern-cutting skills.

Working in a small studio environment, you'll learn the industry methods used to draft, fit and refine trouser patterns before transforming them into a professionally developed chino design. Throughout the course, you'll receive direct guidance, pattern corrections and practical demonstrations that build both confidence and technical understanding.

When I studied pattern-making at university, I found that some of the traditional teaching methods were difficult to follow. As someone with dyslexia, I often needed to see the process differently before it truly made sense.

Rather than giving up, I began developing my own visual approach to pattern cutting, breaking each stage into simple, logical steps that helped me understand not only how to draft a pattern, but why each step mattered.

As I shared this approach with fellow students, many found they understood pattern-making more clearly, too. Their encouragement inspired me to carry this teaching method into my professional career.

Today, after years of teaching fashion and pattern cutting, I continue to use this approach because I have seen how it builds confidence, removes the fear from technical drafting, and helps students create their own patterns with understanding rather than simply copying instructions.

My aim is not just to teach you how to draft a pattern, but to help you understand the principles behind it, so you leave with skills you can use independently in your own creative practice.

Time: 11:00 to 15:00

Students will learn how to construct a foundational trouser block from body measurements, with a strong focus on fit, balance, and proportion. Through toile development and refinement, students will establish a solid technical base for further design development.

Key areas include:

• Creating a trouser pattern that fits your own body instead of relying on commercial sizing.
• Fit, balance, and silhouette understanding
• Waist, hip, and seat shaping
• Movement and ease in trouser construction
• Toile making and pattern refinement

Building on the basic trouser block, students will adapt their pattern into a classic chino trouser. This module focuses on casual tailoring, functional detailing, and professional garment finishing.

Key areas include:

• Adapting a trouser block into a chino fit
• Casual tailoring principles and design development
• Pocket construction and detailing (slanted pockets, patch pockets, waistband, belt loops, fly)
• Fit refinement through toile adjustments
• Industry-standard construction and finishing techniques

• Duration: 6 weeks
• Delivery: Studio-based, hands-on learning
• Level: Intermediate / Advanced beginners with basic sewing or pattern knowledge
• Outcome: A completed trouser block and finished chino garment suitable for portfolio development

This workshop provides technical work suitable for:

• Fashion degree applications

• Portfolio development

• Independent designers

• Small fashion brands

• Progression into advanced garment development

• Developing your own trouser collection

To request further information: Email: [email protected]

Or book @ sawrap.co.uk/patternmaking

Places may be limited