CLONE YOUR CLOTHES

PATTERN CUTTING WORKSHOP

£145

GROUP WORKSHOP LOCATION: Made My Wardrobe, Bristol. Google maps link here.

SESSIONS: 1

DATE: Friday 5th June 2026, 10am-4pm with 1 hour lunch break (lunch not provided)

MAXIMUM PARTICPANTS: 6

LEVEL: Intermediate

HOW TO BOOK: Bookings through Made My Wardrobe website, click below.

BOOK NOW

TELL ME MORE

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 have finalised all pieces by the end of the session.

Please bring along something old and loved from your wardrobe or something vintage - we cannot trace recently purchased garments from the last 5-10 years.

TECHNIQUES YOU WILL LEARN

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

  • Discussing pattern cutting theory including seam allowance and grain lines.

  • Making some pattern pieces from scratch, eg. straight plackets, simple facings.

  • Add seam allowance, then cut out your paper pieces and add notches

  • Discussing order of construction

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE?

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

  • Course booklet to take home.

  • Tea and coffee.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?

  • Your favourite top, shirt or dress - send me a photo once you've booked of the garment you're thinking of making to hello@dotncross.com

  • I strongly advise you to bring something simple - with just a few pattern pieces, eg: front, back, sleeve and pocket.

  • Something in cotton or a sturdy-ish fabric will be best if this is your first time tracing. We wouldn’t recommend bringing a jersey or stretch garment, or a complex tailored garment.

  • Please bring along something old and loved from your wardrobe or something vintage - we cannot trace recently purchased garments from the last 5-10 years.

WHO IS THIS CLASS SUITABLE FOR?

This is an intermediate class, meaning you should have prior experience of working with bought patterns and be comfortable with basic pattern cutting terminology. You will get a lot more out of the class if you’ve already made up a few different garments before and got a good grasp of garment construction. We will cover all the pattern cutting basics with you, such as: seam allowance, notch, drill hole, grain line etc. If you are wondering if this is the course for you, don't hesitate to drop me a line to chat it through!

ABOUT YOUR TEACHER

Helen Shine is a pattern cutter and seamstress who has worked in the fashion industry in London for 10 years. She has cut patterns for several high-end designer brands, including Victoria Beckham, Mary Katrantzou and Karen Millen. She loves sharing the knowledge she has gained over the years with others, to help them on their sewing journey.

WORKSHOP LOCATION

This workshop is held at Made My Wardrobe in Bristol.

Address:

Studio 4,

27 Portland Square,

Bristol,

BS2 8SA

The class room/accessibility:

Our studio is in a grade II listed building which sadly we are not allowed to install a lift into. There is one flight of stairs up to the studio which is on the first floor. There are bathrooms on the ground floor which are in cubicles or a larger open plan bathroom on the third floor. The bathrooms are not gendered. If you have any other questions about access to the studio please don’t hesitate to drop us an email on lydia@mademywardrobe.com

TESTIMONIALS

TESTIMONIALS

I attended Helen’s workshop ‘Clone your Clothes’. It was a fantastic experience. I learned the basic of creating a pattern from a piece garment and feel confident that I can repeat the experience successfully on my own. Helen had the day well organized, she demonstrated a step and then we tried it while Helen went around to help out, explain some more and troubleshoot. It was a small group so it was easy to have help. All equipment provided was of very good quality, so we could just put our head down and work at learning. Thank you Helen! From your furthest away participant, Guylaine from Vancouver Canada!

Guylaine Desharnais - Clone Your Clothes

I was intrigued to find out about how the workshop would work. I have never tried to clone my clothes but the idea became reality. Helen patiently took us through the basic steps and all 4 of us progressed steadily. Helen is an excellent teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would highly recommend it.

Joanna Bedward - Clone Your Clothes

Thank you so much Helen for a most enjoyable day on your Clone your Clothes Course I attended in Helston this week. You made us all feel very welcome and it was great to share the experience with other sewers. I valued your expertise and clear instructions and your practical guidance has equipped me with new skills to create my own patterns from favourite items. I've also learnt some very useful tips on using tools and equipment to draft the patterns accurately onto Dot and Cross paper which I have not used before. Attending your course has giving confidence to craft patterns and create new items to wear. I can highly recommend your course. best wishes, Pat

Pat Bray - Clone Your Clothes

Recently attended a very enjoyable and informative workshop on garment cloning pattern techniques. Helen made us very welcome and gave us enough information and confidence and showed us all the techniques to copy our chosen garments. Thank you for a great new experience. Hopefully will be able to attend more in the future.

Felicity Moore - Clone Your Clothes

I had the best time with you on this course, thank you so much!! I learnt so much about patterns and garment construction, and also just had an overall nice time chatting about sewing, thank you so much! I will definitely be booking onto another course soon!

Chloe Crimmen - Trace a pattern workshop

Helen is a wonderful teacher, she listens to all her students and puts so much time and effort into her classes. (I loved the hand out booklet that Helen created which is just so easy to read, understand and great for future reference). Helen genuinely cares about her students and is always on hand to offer additional support and advice, professional and friendly, her classes are so informative, relaxed and a delight to attend.

Prior to attending Helen’s pattern tracing course I had very little knowledge of the skills and tools needed to effectively recreate an item of clothing. Helen spent lots of time clearly showing and explaining every step of the process, whilst carefully making sue all students understood and felt confident in what they were doing. We used tools I had never heard of or seen before, including a pattern master and a tracing wheel. The information and process of correctly laying out a garment to recreate its pattern, as provided by Helen was invaluable. I left the class feeling as though I had learnt so many new skills in a lovely and friendly atmosphere. I cannot recommend Helen’s classes enough.

Eleanor Kilby-Grainge - Trace a pattern workshop

I thoroughly enjoyed Helens easy manner and ability to convey instructions in an easily absorbed way. I am feeling confident to take a pattern off a favourite top. I’ll be back for more classes!

Sheenagh Gebhard - Trace a pattern workshop

I attended Helen's course in London to copy a top and came away with a pattern that I know I will make again and again. Helen is a relaxed and patient teacher and the small numbers attending the class mean she has the time to spend with each of the students. With a variety of garments chosen to copy, we also got to learn different techniques from each of the projects. The booklet Helen provides with the class is extremely useful and I've since applied the techniques learnt to more complex projects. I very much enjoyed the day and had the classes not moved to Cornwall I'd be enrolling for more in a heart beat!

Fiona Hampson - Trace a pattern workshop

HOW TO BOOK

Bookings are through the Made My Wardrobe. Click button below to go to their website.

BOOK NOW

CANCELLATIONS

Refund Policy 

If you can no longer attend a workshop please let us know as far in advance as possible. We can usually re-sell your place and give you a 75% refund, but we cannot guarantee this if you cancel at the last minute.

Please note: as Helen is travelling from Cornwall in order to deliver this workshop we need a minimum of five participants in order to make it viable. If you are visiting us from out of town please do not book your travel or accommodation until we have confirmed attendee numbers with you. In the unlikely event we have to cancel the workshop due to lack of attendees, we will proved a full refund to all those who have booked.

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