Sewing 3: Intro to Garment Making, Basic Jacket (Saturday Feb 22 & March 1, 12-4 pm)

Take the first step on your garment sewing journey in this two-week class. Students will make a flexible, easy and size-inclusive (0-34) jacket from Megan Nielsen patterns. (Pattern included in class registration.)

Learn how to fit a garment from pattern paper, read instructions, and important skills like bias binding, utilizing pattern notches, and inserting sleeves. Once you’ve completed your first coat in class, dive into the 6 variations and experiment with different fabrics. This fantastic pattern can be used for anything from cropped oversized shirts in light weight linen to heavy structured quilted coats for breezy fall days. Most importantly–it has pockets!

• Level 3: Students should be able to use their sewing machine (thread, wind bobbins, use straight and zigzag stitches.) Students should have completed at least 1 more complex pattern such as a pillow case, pajama pants, or simple bag. Familiarity with reading and using commercial patterns is helpful but not required.
• Ages: Adults
• Instructor: Kathleen Barth
• Class Dates: Sat. Feb 22 & Sat. March 1, 12-4 pm
• Location: 330 High St., Holyoke, MA

Required Materials: 
After registering, Paper City Fabrics will reach out with the two pattern options. This will determine how much fabric you need to purchase. 

• Sewing Machine*
  
• Medium-weight woven fabric, such as cotton, linen, chambray. Choose a stable fabric– it shouldn’t stretch when pulled, be too loosely woven, or be too thick to sew multiple layers. Questions? Stop by Paper City Fabrics, we’ll guide you in the right direction. 
  
• Matching thread–cotton or polyester.
  
• Machine needle for medium weight woven fabrics (suggest universal 90/14, preferably Schmetz or Gutterman)
  
• Empty bobbins that fit your machine.

Classroom will provide fusible interfacing for collar

*If a student doesn’t have a sewing machine or isn’t able to bring one, Paper City Fabrics has a select number of studio machines available to reserve on a first come, first served basis.

Recommended Tools: 

• Glass head pins 
  
• Clear ruler with ⅛” markings
  
• Sewing scissors or rotary cutter
  
• Thread snips or embroidery scissors
  
• Seam ripper
  
• Fabric marking pen or chalk
  
• Seam gauge

Paper City Fabrics has all recommended tools available in the classroom for students to use, but students are encouraged to bring a sewing kit if they have one. 

About the Instructor 
Kathleen Barth has been sewing since she was a pre-teen and her mother got tired of her increasingly elaborate costume requests. She focuses on garment sewing, especially in the plus size category. She worked as a sewing tutor for the past 5 years before moving from Los Angeles to Western Massachusetts.