Clone Your Clothes - 5/6/26

We are delighted to welcome Helen Shine to the studio as our visiting tutor this term. She first taught this workshop with us eight years ago so it’s about time we had her back!

Everyone has a garment that they wish would last forever, or that they could get in lots of different colours and fabrics. Come along on this class and learn how to trace off your favourite dress or top, so that you have a fully workable pattern to take home and make again and again.

During this class, you will learn how to make a paper pattern from your favourite top or dress, without having to unpick a thing! We will be creating the pattern, adding seam allowance, and even making small pattern changes, such as changing the length, or adding a seam line. There won’t be time to make your garment on the course, but we will talk about construction techniques and the order to sew it at the end. If your pattern has quite a few pieces, you might not have finalised all pieces by the end of the session, but we will provide you with all the skills you need to complete it at home. Please bring along something old and loved from your wardrobe or something vintage - we cannot trace recently purchased garments.

What will be included:

• A full day of teaching from Helen Shine our visiting Pattern Cutting expert

• A range of techniques for tracing off a garment onto dot and cross paper, using push pins, tracing wheels, tape measures and a pattern master

• A full explanation of seam allowance and grain lines.

• A guide to making some pattern pieces from scratch, eg. straight plackets, simple facings.

• A introduction to cutting out your pattern pieces in fabric (depending on the complexity of your garment)

• A plan for your order of construction so that you can sew up the garment at home or in one of our Open Studio sessions.

• We will provide all the pattern cutting tools you will need and pattern cutting paper.

• You will also be given a course booklet to take home.

• Tea and coffee will be kept flowing throughout the day!

When: Friday 5th June 2026, 10am-4pm

Where: Made My Wardrobe Studio, 27 Portland Square, Bristol, BS2 8SA

Who: Helen Shine is a skilled pattern cutter with over 12 years of experience in London’s high-end fashion industry, working with renowned designers like Victoria Beckham, Mary Katrantzou, and Karen Millen.

In 2019, she launched ‘Dot n Cross’, offering hands-on pattern cutting and sewing workshops and retreats in Cornwall, where she is now based. Helen is passionate about empowering others to create their own clothes, whether they are aspiring professionals or enthusiastic home sewers, by sharing her industry knowledge and love of the craft.