Tunic top sewing workshop

Learn to sew this versatile wardrobe staple, creating the pattern from your own measurements. This tunic has short sleeves, a bias-bound neckline, a flattering central pleat, and 2 big patch pockets, or in-seam side pockets. You will take home a finished made-to-measure tunic, as well as your pattern so you can make many more at home!

Available dates: 

Friday 29th Sept 10am-5pm

Sunday 8th October 10am-5pm

Location: Nim Burgin Studio, 27 Murray Street, M7 2DX

Workshop cost: £50 including refreshments throughout

Please send an email to nim@nimburgin.com to book your place.

Workshop sizes are kept small to ensure a high level of personal tuition.

You will need to bring:

• Sewing machine (small number available if needed)
• Basic sewing kit (thread, pins, scissors, etc)
• 1 meter of fabric 150cm wide OR 2 meters of fabric 115cm wide (non stretch)
• fabric for pockets (non stretch)
• 1 meter bias binding to match your fabric

Please note, there is a minimum attendance required for this workshop to go ahead.

Hustling the bustle

The Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre's Costume Hire Department recently commissioned me to create this Victorian style corseted bustle dress in green duchesse satin. It is based on a costume that had been on their rails for 17 years was a very popular plus-sized pattern.

The dustle and draped apron front of this dress take up a lot of fabric, and the Victorians really liked all their trimmings and decorative touches and this dress is full of them. There is a velvet trim bordered with fringe as well as ribbon, and several feature buttons. The corseted bodice has satin covered piping at the seams and edges, and the sleeves have lace inserts and more buttons.

The lace-up back to the bodice means that it can be worn by people of a wide variety of sizes, which is very useful for Costume Hire as you never know who you'll be dressing.

The Costume Hire Department were thrilled with this revamped version of a favourite and have put in an order for another one in purple already!

Ruby's birthday frock

I was approached by Ruby to create her vision to knock 'em dead on the dancefloor for her 18th birthday. You only get one of those, so we sat down together and talked over her initial sketch to
work out the perfect design.

Ruby had already bought some red duchess satin and some gold oriental brocade from the local fabric shop, so I was able to get straight on with creating the perfect pattern.

The finished dress has thigh splits either side of the brocade panel, which is self-lined, and the flared sleeves are trimmed with a thin strip of the brocade also.

I had to be very careful when drafting the neckline, (there's a fine line between plunge and indecent!) and with some carefully placed darts in the bodice we made sure that there would be no scandalous 'wardrobe malfunctions'.

The finished dress really reflected Ruby's personality - bright and run and ready for a night of birthday fun, and there was definitely to be no mistaking who the birthday girl was!

Circle skirt making workshop

Learn how to make your own made-to-measure,1950's style circle skirt in a day!
You will learn essential sewing skills including how to turn your measurements into a simple pattern, how to hem a curve, how to create a comfortable waistband with button fastening, and will leave wearing your very own custom-made, fabulous skirt!

Whether you are an advanced beginner or have never sewn before, I will talk you through every step of making a circle skirt in detail to leave you with skills that will help with your future projects.

Sunday 19th March 10am-5pm

Location: Nim Burgin Studio, 27 Murray Street, M7 2DX
Workshop cost: £40 including refreshments throughout the day

Please send an email to nim@nimburgin.com to book your place.
Workshop sizes are kept small to ensure a high level of personal tuition.

You will need to bring:

• Sewing machine (limited number available if needed)
• Basic sewing kit (thread, scissors, pins, etc)
• 3 meters of your chosen fabric (non-stretch)
• A button (small range available from me at no extra cost)

Circle skirts

Ice Cream Sundae

I managed to finish my latest 1950s style dress in time for my birthday celebrations! It's the same dress I mentioned in my previous 'Drafty' post. I was really pleased with the cute little cap sleeves - the printed polycotton was just the right stiffness for it and although I was right about the pattern matching being a bit of a nightmare (horizontal bands of pattern), it was just about possible.

The drafting process wasn't too hard, though it took a while to get the sections to be gathered just right, I was really pleased with the fit of the final piece.

I really didn't have a great deal of fabric to work with, and I used every spare inch that I could while keeping the stripes level.

The sweetheart neckline was created with a centre front gathering, and the whole of the upper front panel was faced with the same fabric. The back was faced with an interfaced crescent. I decided to insert a side zip rather than a centre back one in order to keep smooth lines.

Sadly for the blog photos my friends decided to cover me with tacky birthday badges and a sash at the very start of the evening! (Bless 'em!)

Drafty....

Once all the festivities of Yuletide had calmed down I sat down to some long evenings of drafting. There's a few things on the pad at the moment, including my everlasting pursuit of the 'perfect' french knicker pattern. I'm getting close, but lots of Christmas cheer has made for a bit of a fluctuating waistline which is slowing things down a bit!

I'm also working on yet another 50's style dress, this one with small cap sleeves and a gathered sweetheart neckline. I've got some fabric in mind for this which is a bit on the pink side and might turn into a bit of a pattern-matching nightmare, but will look super cut if it all goes well.

I've also done a pattern for a friend who wanted a yoked blouse with bishops sleeves with a capped top which I can't wait to see. I was so annoyed with myself when I found out I'd drafted it to the waist and not the hip, but it's (hopefully!) easily fixed and I won't make that mistake again!

I'm still working on my tailoring skills too, though it's a slow process! I'm still ploughing through the 1945 tailoring book I found, though I'm having to stop and google every 5 minutes as the language is occasionally foreign to me! I've made some 1940's trousers for me though which I'll get some pictures up of soon.

Happy belated New Year! xxx