Fashion Design

Shaerie does an excellent job explaining how to sew this skirt with clear, easy-to-follow steps. Even complete beginners can follow along without trouble. However, the PDF instructions that come with the pattern are cut off, making them unreadable. I recommend providing the written instructions as a separate file, not attached to the pattern itself. Also, assembling the printed pattern was a bit tricky—it would help if the pages were numbered or had a guide to show how to tape them together correctly. For that, I give this 4 stars.

Shaerie’s videos are excellent. Everything else is dreadful. Written transcripts : no one has bothered to go through the transcripts of spoken commentary, and edit the words which sound the same but don’t make sense in a sewing sentence. To get the instructions and pattern, print out the pdfs labelled 'Class Materials'. No printing maps of the instructions and pattern. No instructions about how to assemble a pdf pattern. p.3-10 : Written instructions - very confusing, the pages need to be combined into a single sheet. To get a version that makes sense : Each page has corner marks, you have to draw lines connecting them to find the trimming lines. • mark the trim line on the left and right sides of each sheet, • trim off the right side of each sheet, • lay out and assemble the sheets in these rows, match the trim lines and use transparent tape or glue : 3, 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9, 10 • mark and trim off the top of the lower row. • combine the two rows. You now have a sheet on which the instructions read down in 4 columns. Be sure to print out the pattern pieces at 100% scale. p.11-13 : yoke pattern p.14-21 : skirt pattern, 4 pages wide, 2 pages deep, note odd layout : 17, 16, 15, 14 18, 19, 20, 21 Mark, trim, and assemble as above. If you want to make a longer skirt, you can add more paper below this. I added 12" length to make a midi skirt. So I needed 2 x 12" = 24" (2/3yd or probably easier to buy 3/4yd) more fabric. The skirt is wide enough that you will be able to walk in a maxi without adding side seam slits. Now you can relax and watch Shaerie’s excellent videos.

Shaerie’s videos are excellent. Everything else is dreadful. Written transcripts : no one has bothered to go through the transcripts of spoken commentary, and edit the words which sound the same but don’t make sense in a sewing sentence./ To get the instructions and pattern, print out the pdfs labelled 'Class Materials'. No maps of the instructions and pattern. No instructions about how to assemble a pdf pattern. / p.3-10 : Written instructions - very confusing, the pages need to be combined into a single sheet. To get a version that makes sense : Each page has corner marks, you have to draw lines connecting them to find the trimming lines. - mark the trim line on the left and right sides of each sheet, - trim off the right side of each sheet, - lay out and assemble the sheets in these rows, match the trim lines and use transparent tape or paper glue : 3, 4, 5, 6/ 7, 8, 9, 10. - mark and trim off the top of the lower row. - combine the two rows. You now have a sheet on which the instructions read down in 4 columns./ Be sure to print out the pattern pieces at 100% scale. p.11-13 : yoke pattern. p.14-21 : skirt pattern, 4 pages wide, 2 pages deep, note odd layout : 17, 16, 15, 14/ 18, 19, 20, 21. Mark, trim, and assemble as above./ If you want to make a longer skirt, you can add more paper below this. I added 12" length to make a midi skirt. So I needed 2 x 12" = 24" (2/3yd or probably easier to buy 3/4yd) more fabric. The skirt is wide enough that you will be able to walk in a maxi without adding side seam slits./ Now you can relax and watch Shaerie’s excellent videos.

I have been sewing for over 40 years and I learned so many new tricks to pattern fit. I have been frustrated many times when I fit my pattern as I get ready to cut to my fabric. I usually sew couture garments using Vogue patterns and others. This has been so helpful as I continue my sewing! I do appreciate this class. It has been very beneficial and I certainly recommend it to any beginner seamstress or someone who has been sewing for decades. Thanks again for this free class. Now I just wish I could find couture fabrics in our area.

I have tried multiple times to make clothing for myself. But they never come out fitting me right. I bought the Palmer/Pletsch Complete fit guide book first, that helped but I wasn’t familiar with the terms and order of the tissue fitting. This video helped everything come together in my head. 😂 I can’t wait to try tissue fitting my patterns. I even ordered some Palmer/Pletsch patterns so I could have some with the fit lines already on them. I am confident this class is going to step up my sewing game!! Thanks for having this online class!!

Wondering if there's any way to still get this pattern. Thanks!

Fun projects to make for your little one. Susan explains things so clearly. Very nice that she also offers patterns and written instructions for free

The course was as clean and precise as her sewing. I haven't sewn for some time, but the techniques Shaerie taught will serve me well. Thanks~

Very detailed, lots of helpful information and demonstrations and has spurred me on to correct a couple of long term fit problems in patterns which I can now use without fear, so very happy with this. I have a little pattern cutting experience and found the class materials sufficient without needing to buy the book also. You can use the techniques to adapt any sewing pattern. Highly recommended.

I sew very well, imagine the disappointment when what I have sewn just does not fit well. Everyone who sews and wants what they have sewn to really be a joy to wear should take this course. It is like being there in the actual workshop. I am only half way through in the viewing and am anxious to apply what I have seen to my own sewing. It has been presented so well and in such detail that one comes away with confidence that they too can do this. I am also impatient, making a muslin takes time. Time is so precious and time to sew is really hard to come by. I have tissue fit pants in a workshop in Michigan and used a Palmer-Pletch pattern for a princess line dress I made in silk on my own. Both items fit my mature figure beautifully, and I did not have to make a muslin first for either one! When you hear, "What you see is what you get" believe it. Take this class, it will improve your fitting ability immensely and you won't believe how easy it is.

I have been trying to get the book Fit for Real People but it is out of stock. When I saw this class I thought I try it and I got it on sale . It was a wonderful class and being a beginner I found it very easy to follow. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn tissue fitting.

This is one of the best courses I have taken online; I just wish you had the ability to make notes or tabs so you could refer back to certain sections more easily. I have met and followed Pati Palmer for many years but this was my first experience listening to Marta Alto and I see why they work so well together. Thank you both for sharing your many years of experience. It was interesting to hear Pati's history on many things and I really loved Marta's sense of humour it makes watching so much more fun!

I have used the Fit for Real People book as a go to for fitting since I began sewing eight years ago. I now recommend it to students who take sewing classes with me. It has great visuals on how to read what fabric/patterns are trying to tell you about your specific body shape. This class is a great visual to show how the process goes along. If you have trouble with fitting yourself, creating a dress form of your body can be a great way of making this process easier.

Having had the book (Fit For Real People) for some time I still couldn't quite get my head around tissue fitting. This course was so well presented that it was like a light bulb going on in my head. Tissue fitting is so much clearer to me now and, of course, I can re-visit the lessons whenever I want ... all in all a fantastic course and I highly recommend it!

I have some constructive criticism that is my personal opinion- I find it distracting to have both the top down view AND the front view, switching to audience, then cut out for a while, then chat a little, etc.etc. For a beginner it is hard to follow.

Shaerie is an exceptionally clear and focused teacher. She points out essential steps for beginner sewers and doesn't get caught up with extraneous details.

Love this program! Being able to watch the lessons multiple times is like taking the class over and over. For those of us who have a hard time learning something new this is sensational. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Rose Mellor

What a great class! Susan does a fabulous job explaining each project and is great at giving you a heads up on what issues you might face with each project. I've now made two applique projects with another in the works. I've also made two of the girls skirts. Susan gave me the confidence to try and I am really happy with the results. Hope to try the binding tape soon. Thanks for offering this video.

Susan's projects were the best introduction to sewing I could have hoped for! I wasn't able to watch every project, but the ones I saw were simple, VERY clearly explained, and perfect for a beginning seamstress like myself. I'd never used binding tape before, or elastic, but now I'm confident about making my own binding tape and adding elastic waistbands to pretty much anything. I was immediately inspired to make a few skirts for myself after watching the simple children's skirt in this course, and I'm planning to make cloth napkins and an oilcloth lunch sack as well. I wish I'd gotten to see the applique portion, so I think I'll have to purchase the course in order to see that part. I'm positive that it will be just what I need to learn the process! I see that the previous reviewer was disappointed by the lack of diversity of crafts for this course, but I find that the name "Simple Sewing Projects for Beginners" was completely accurate for what it was. Perhaps it was categorized in a craft category, which would still seem applicable. I think it was advertised as having back to school projects to make for your kids, which is an even more detailed description of the course, since it includes clothing for boys and girls, as well as a lunch tote, cloth napkin, cape, and maybe more things I missed. Overall, this was my first Creative Live experience, and I was blown away by how informative and fun it was to watch!