Creative Garment Upcycling - Weekend

Weekend Workshop // 7th & 8th February // Saturday & Sunday, 10-4pm // Level: Beginner // Cost: £195 // Places Available: 8 // Instructor: Cassandra Belanger

In this workshop you’ll learn skills to reuse and refashion existing textiles into wearable garments. You will develop skills to improve the fit or change the features of garments to better suit your body and your style. You  will also learn key methods and techniques for upcycling, including garment deconstruction and reconstruction, and embellishment.

Through this course, you will gain the tools and confidence to enhance your wardrobe using curtains, table cloths, quilts, second-hand clothes and even smaller scraps of leftover fabric. 

Join the upcycling movement and recycle all those pieces in your closet that you’ve forgotten about. Learn how to customize and personalize any garment in your own style. All you need is some creativity and basic sewing skills. 

• Creating new textiles from second-hand textiles
• Garment deconstruction & reconstruction
• Upcycling methods and embellishments
• Strategies for resizing a garment
• Hemming - shortening sleeves, skirts, trousers and dresses
• Planning your project
• Fitting tips
• Each student will come away with a new garment made from upcycled textiles

Beginner with Experience  - Students need to have a basic knowledge of how to use a sewing machine and have sewn at least one project.

• We have a sewing machine available for each student; although you can bring your own if you like
• Use of overlockers and coverlocker (shared between students)
• Some haberdashery items for upcycling

• A basic sewing kit
• Mug with a lid if you plan to drink tea or coffee
• A couple of garments you would like to upcycle: please choose a woven garment, not a stretchy knit garment like a tshirt or cardigan. It would be helpful to have a couple options to decide from.
• Extra fabric that can be worked into the new garment (depending on what you are making)
• Thread in colours to match your garment (can be purchased in the class)
• Packed lunch or buy lunch locally

To book your place on this course, you will pay a non-refundable Booking Deposit of £50 through this Eventbrite page. This Booking Deposit goes towards course fees however, the remaining balance is due no later than two weeks PRIOR to course start. Once you’ve booked a place on the course, you will receive the details to bank transfer the final amount. We do it this way to avoid additional external fees. Please familiarise yourself with our Terms & Conditions before making your booking.

You can pay by PayPal or any major debit/credit card. NOTE: You do not need a PayPal account to make a booking. Simply click on the link which says "pay with a debit or credit card". It looks like this. Please note that deposits are non-refundable.

Cassandra Belanger (she/her) has 14 years of experience working in sustainable design, textiles and garment construction with a Masters in Fashion + Textiles focussing on zero waste design. Her work is an invitation to a more sustainable future and education is at the centre of her creative practice. She is the Founder of The Stitchery Studio, Co-Founder of the Zero Waste Design Collective and Founding Member of Sustainable Fashion Scotland. She was the Resident Sewing Instructor at the Central Scottish School of Craft and previously a Fashion and Textile Lecturer at Glasgow West College. Her research interests centre around sustainable fashion and textile design education and fashion systems for a post growth economy. Her design and teaching practice explores issues such as zero waste, waste colonialism, transparency, feminism, sizeism, and body image. Cassandra is committed to decolonising her teaching practice.

More Info:

• During class tea and coffee will be available.
• All of our classes are suitable for over 18s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
• If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list.
• If you need to cancel, we need at least two weeks notice. Please read our cancellation policy before booking.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

The Stitchery operates under a business model of full transparency. If you have any questions about how we cost our courses and what the breakdown of costs is, please feel free to get in touch for more information.

Cancellation & Course Fees Refund

Please be aware that there is a £50 non-refundable booking fee included in the cost of this ticket. This means that if you need to cancel your booking more than 14-days PRIOR to the ticketed session you will be able to receive a partial refund. After that date, partial refunds are not guaranteed so please get in touch so we can discuss your situation.

If for any reason you change your mind and need to cancel your booking, please email us (info@[email protected]) immediately so that we can release your place to someone on the waiting list.

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