Beginning Sewing Class Ahead {Matilda Dress}
Recently I was approached by a local sewing shop about teaching some sewing classes on the things that I love to sew, children’s apparel. If you are interested in joining, register here. I thought it sounded like a fabulously fun project, so I got right to deciding on a pattern that would be great to use for a beginner class. I asked around for some ideas on patterns that would be great for beginners and I ended up selecting the Matilda dress pattern from Violette Field Threads.
Matilda is a great little peasant style dress that offers three sleeve options. I think this will be a great way for people to get a little taste for selecting options within a pattern. for my samples I used the cap sleeve option and the flutter sleeve. I just love the flutter sleeve! It’s so feminine. I also think this is a great time to point out how fabric choice can really affect the look of your creations. These two dresses with just a simple sleeve change and different fabric look completely different from each other. I LOVE that! By the way, you can order these Dear Stella Fabrics from the shop I’m teaching at. I also love that I can make two dresses and know which child will pick which one. There wasn’t any fighting over who got each dress. It was like they knew which was theirs right away. That makes a mommy happy.
After deciding on patterns, I went to work thinking about how I could use this pattern to give people the confidence to embark on what could be the beginning of a long sewing adventure. While sewing up the pattern I noted the parts I liked, the parts I thought could be improved, and tips that beginners could take with them to use with future projects. Aren’t there things that you wished you would have learned through a pattern but didn’t until much later along in your sewing adventure? Some of my big points I plan to share are about the importance of pressing regularly. I especially love to memory press all my hems and casings. This saves so much time and really simplifies the process in the long run. I also think there are a lot of ways to gather, and some ways give better results than others. People need to know and see this, especially if they are planning to do dresses. What are some things you always do on projects that aren’t included in pattern instructions? I’d love to hear.
