I learned so much. I am thrilled not to be scared of sewing machines any more! I loved this class, I thought I wasn’t going to get as far as we did and I am happy/thrilled with the results and skills learned today.

Sometimes, going on a course whilst on holiday is a wonderful way to spend your time, especially if you go home with a new skill or hobby that enriches your life. With the idea of Cottagecore, the Great British Sewing Bee and ‘make do and mend’ being very much in the limelight now, what better way than to learn how to sew using a sewing machine?

I was greeted warmly by one of the shop proprietors, Jane, who welcomed me into her Aladdin’s cave of crafting goodies. Helen, our teacher for the day, also greeted me as we made our way to our desks. Helen is the founder of Dot N Cross, who hosts sewing and pattern cutting workshops across Cornwall. Having worked for the likes of Karen Millen and Victoria Beckham, she has spent 10 years working as a pattern cutter in the London fashion industry before relocating down to Cornwall. Safe to say, she knows a thing or two about sewing!

A course with Helen is a wonderful way to spend a day. Running an assortment of courses for beginners to experienced alike, from making a shift dress to mending existing clothes and crochet to knitting, there are a lot of courses to choose from, whilst there’s also flexibility to arrange your own private classes focussing on something specific, should you want to.

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Yesterday I attended a 1-to-1 Beginners Sewing course with Helen and I am absolutely delighted with the result. I bought along the sewing machine that I had inherited from a relative and Helen figured out how it worked and then proceeded to teach me how to use it. The objective of the day was to learn some of the basics and to make a tote bag. You can see the result yourself in the photo. I keep examining it and am so surprised how good it looks! Helen is an incredible professional with amazing skills and experience. She's also a lovely and accommodating person and I enjoyed her company as well as all the learning. I feel very lucky to have had her as a teacher. It is definitely my intention to return to continue to my journey of discovery.

The best thing I learned on the Introduction to Machines Sewing class is that I can sew!! After years of thinking I can’t. The lesson was very thorough, and I really enjoyed the day. Thank you.

I attended the Introduction to Machine Sewing class, I was just curious to give it a try and I had a really good day. I had a finished item to show for it at the end and I learned a lot. In future I’d like to learn to make a more complex bag.