The Sewing Place

Jeans masterclass with Heather Lou of Closet Case patterns

Sewingforfun

At the New Craft House in London. Not cheap, but it sounds amazing. See here.
Dancing too much and trying to remember sewing is for fun! Used to be CarolC.

doesntworkonwood

Re: Jeans masterclass with Heather Lou of Closet Case patterns
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2019, 19:51:43 PM »
I've done the online class that she offered and it was pretty good. She's not the most articulate person to be honest, but she's a good and encouraging teacher and a lot of the reviews of her in person classes are really good (but I don't know if that's a true reflection or just bloggers being a bit starry eyed).

To be honest, unless you expect you'll have a lot of fitting issues I'd probably go with the online class. It's about 4 hours worth of good content and about a tenth of the price. Her video expanations are so good that I could just follow along and I didn't make any mistakes or have to rip out any of my stitching. Plus there's a comment feature so you can ask questions and upload photos and she's always replied. Unless you're going for the experience, then I'd go for the cheaper option

Catllar

Re: Jeans masterclass with Heather Lou of Closet Case patterns
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2019, 22:05:07 PM »
Hmm, had a look at the class preview photos - not impressed with the "fit" of the jeans - lopsided smile lines at the crotch and the calves are too tight - well they are creased too. I think I'd look twice at my £400.
If life gives you lemons, add to gin and tonic !

Morgan

Re: Jeans masterclass with Heather Lou of Closet Case patterns
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2019, 11:11:59 AM »
Often this sort of class is about demo and handholding for the techniques, process and assembly order with a little bit of tweaking for fit.


as for the Custom-Fit part, perhaps it would be advisable to ask beforehand what that means and how it's achieved.  For a true custom fit with trousers/jeans/pants etc, there's really only one way and that's to fit a toile, adjust the pattern and then make the real thing. It's a 2 day workshop so it's possible for example toile & fiting on day 1 and making the jeans on day 2. 

doesntworkonwood

Re: Jeans masterclass with Heather Lou of Closet Case patterns
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2019, 11:37:03 AM »

as for the Custom-Fit part, perhaps it would be advisable to ask beforehand what that means and how it's achieved.  For a true custom fit with trousers/jeans/pants etc, there's really only one way and that's to fit a toile, adjust the pattern and then make the real thing. It's a 2 day workshop so it's possible for example toile & fiting on day 1 and making the jeans on day 2. 

The listing says that she expects you to have cut and basted the fabric before you come in, so I expect that a fair amount of time will be spent on fitting.

That said, with stretch denim at least, you're not going to know how they really fit until you wear them for a day. That was my experience anyway. I basted my jeans together, and they looked and felt fine. Once I finished sewing them up I realised that the fabric really bags out throughout the day so they're not as tight as I wanted them and there are more wrinkles than I thought. The zip also comes down whenever I sit down, and the yoke is too big, and the crotch length is too small and the rise is too short and I've got a bit of a sway back. Some of that is because of the fabric, and making a toile wouldn't have helped unless it was out of the exact same fabric. Some of that is just the learning curve of making my first pair of tightly fitted trousers. They look like jeans though, and I'm very proud of them. I enjoyed the experience so much that I know I'm definitely going to make another pair, but probably from a different pattern.

I don't expect anyone to come out of that workshop with a pair of amazingly fitted jeans. The only way that would be possible is if they were all using the exact same fabric that the teacher knew well enough to know how it behaves, but they're not. I don't personally think paying £400 plus fabric and travel costs for a pair of jeans that aren't going to fit you perfectly makes economical sense. But that's just me, and I know that I've spent money on things that don't make sense to other people, so I can't really judge I suppose.