Sewing Clothes for Beginners - Sept-Dec 2025

12 Week Course // Sept 2nd - Dec 2 nd12.00-14.30 (No Classes: Oct 14 & 21)// Cost: £435 // Skill Lever: Pure Beginner // Instructor: Cassandra Belanger // Location: Bridgeton, Glasgow.

Cassandra’s work is an invitation to a more sustainable future. It challenges home sewists, designers and educators to think through the social and environmental impacts of their practice, exploring issues such as zero waste, transparency, embedded storytelling, feminism, sizism, and body image.

Originally from Western Canada, Cassandra currently runs The Stitchery Studio in Glasgow, Scotland, which offers private tuition and pop-up workshops, educating both home sewers and designers on the topics of making a zero waste wardrobe, garment construction, machining skills, sustainable design processes, garment fitting and patchwork quilting, all with an approach to encouraging sustainable thinking and zero waste sewing. She is also the co-founder of the Zero Waste Design Online Collective that develops online education resources in the field of zero waste design and systems thinking in fashion.

Websites: www.thestitcherystudio.com / www.zerowastedesignonline.com

Instagram: @stitcherystudio / @zwdo_collective

Led by Stitchery Founder Cassandra Belanger, this is a 12 week, in-depth introduction to sewing clothes for beginners. The course will equip students with a comprehensive set of basic skills that you can develop and apply to a range of clothing types. Learn how to use and maintain a sewing machine, work with paper patterns, and understand different fabrics. We’ll practice basic techniques on small samples, then apply them to constructing a simple top – a versatile zero waste pattern designed by Cassandra that can be customised in many ways to suit your style, in a fabric of your choice. Students will be walked through the process of making a garment with sustainability in mind. We’ll talk about fibres, textile production, and textile waste amongst other important topics. You will be encouraged to develop a practice of zero waste sewing.

This is a Beginner level course, which means it's suitable for absolute beginners, or anyone with limited experience who wants to firm up the basics. We have a sewing machine available for each student, although you can bring your own if you like.

Don't worry if you might miss one or two classes; we've plenty of opportunities to catch up through our additional sewing sessions or private tuition.

• A basic set of sewing skills; a basic understanding of how to make clothes; and the confidence to go on and try more.
• An item of clothing made by you, to fit your body and in the fabric and style of your choice.
• A sample book, made by you and full of the techniques you've learned as part of the course that you can reference in the future.
• An understanding of how to make clothes that consider the impact on people and the planet.
• An understanding of zero waste sewing.
• A Making Clothes for Beginners e-book for future reference.

Two weeks before the course starts we'll be in touch to discuss options for your pattern choice.

• 12 x 2.5-hour lessons
• Use of 230DC Janome computerized sewing machine each
• Use of 6234XL overlocker (shared between students)

• Cost of pattern
• Cost of fabric and haberdashery

Topics Covered:

• How to use a sewing pattern (including zero waste sewing patterns)
• Taking body measurement and determining pattern size
• How to cut fabric
• Parts of the sewing machine
• Sewing basic stitches and seams
• Bust adjustments
• Fitting tips
• Darts, gathering and pleats
• In-seam pockets
• Sewing a lapped zipper
• Sewing a button and buttonhole
• Seam finishes
• Hems

Skill level: Pure beginner, complete novice

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 that 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 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.

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

Non-Refundable Deposit

All of our courses and workshops require a deposit to book your place. Please note that the Booking Deposit is completely non-refundable.

Cancellation & Course Fees Refund

Because of the popularity of our courses and the limited number of spaces available, we've now introduced a Cancellation & Refund Policy. If you cancel your booking 14 or more full days before the start date of your course or workshop, you will be refunded the balance of your fees. This is equivalent to your full course fees minus your non-refundable deposit.

If you decide to cancel your place once the course has started, a refund is not guaranteed. In this situation we shall review the circumstances of the cancellation before deciding on appropriate solution.

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