Beginners All Day - Part 1 and Part 2

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Maximum 6 Students 

A full day session for beginners, incorporating our Part 1 and Part 2 sessions.

Part 1. Morning: Our Introductory Sewing Workshops are a great starting block for aspiring sewists - whether you just want to master some basic sewing techniques or you’re keen to begin the journey towards making your own clothes.

If you’ve never used a sewing machine before or are feeling a bit rusty, sign up for a taster session and learn all the skills necessary to confidently embark on your own simple machine sewn projects.

We start right from scratch, familiarising you with the sewing machine itself, showing you how to wind a bobbin, thread the machine up and change the tension. 

In this first session you will cover the following techniques:

  • Familiarise yourself with the sewing machine
  • Sewing straight lines, corners and curves
  • Using seam allowances
  • How to lay a paper pattern, pin and cut fabric
  • How to press and finish seams with a zig zag stitch


Part 2. Afternoon: Now that you have mastered the basics of machine sewing, learn some of the primary essential skills needed for garment making. Practise a range of techniques and produce a small scale garment from calico as well as a few separate test samples.

Skills covered:

  • Laying and cutting a paper pattern
  • Transferring pattern notations to the fabric
  • Notches, grain line and seam allowance
  • Straight darts
  • Insert an invisible zip
  • Finishing edges (zig zag and turned under)
  • Three types of pleats (box, inverted & side)
  • Hemming

All tools and materials are provided. 

If you are under 16, you will need to bring a responsible adult with you who has also booked a place. Please email school@raystitch.co.uk prior to booking for advice on suitable times and sessions. You must be over the age of 11 to attend one of our classes.

If you would like to learn to sew on your own machine, please get in touch so that we can notify the teacher. Please note we can only accept machines that are less than 10 years old.

Booking a class at Ray Stitch entitles you to 10% off everything in-store for one week where our team are happy to help and advise on fabric.

Testimonials:

“I attended Introduction to Machine Sewing in the morning then Essential Skills in the afternoon and time passed very quickly, both teachers were very helpful and instructions were easy to follow, will definitely book another class” - Milly

“A really great introduction class, will be back for the follow up class!” - Sian

“An excellent introduction to sewing on a machine. We covered so much in such a short period of time and great to have made something to take home” - Laura

What's Next? 

Continue adding essential sewing skills to your repertoire and follow on with Intermediate Skills A and Intermediate Skills B which cover more advanced garment making skills and techniques.

Or, if you feel ready to jump straight in and have a go at making your first garments, book on to our Introduction to Garment Making Course for Men and Women. 

Booking a class at Ray Stitch entitles you to 10% off products in store on the day of the class! 

Please take a moment to read our cancellation policy here before booking:

Our classes are non refundable. Due our small class sizes it is very difficult to transfer your booking to a different date. If you cannot attend a class and are able to notify us at least two weeks before the class starts, it may be possible to fit you in on another date but this is not guaranteed so please give us as much notice as possible to increase your chances.