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!

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

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

1950's for the younger generation!

Recently a friend of mine asked if he could employ my services for his daughters 13th birthday present of a handmade dress. He wanted her to choose the design and the fabric, and plenty of space for it to be let out as she inevitably shoots up over the next couple of years!

The new teen in question is really into her rockabilly style so I dug out some of my 50's patterns and she chose the one I'd made for myself back in January (as seen here.)

In terms of design it was perfect for modifying for the young lady's needs: I turned the neck straps into a tie halter for easy adjustment, and the gathers on the bustline and the sweetheart line over the lining panel give it just the right amount of femininity without being too revealing for a 13 year old!

I made the dress with 1 inch seam allowances and a 4 inch hem that should keep her in it for a good while yet! I've never made anything for someone quite so little so I had to measure her every single dimension but it fits really well, and with the petticoat underneath she looks ready to rock and roll!

16 pieces of fabric for a skirt?!

Yeah I didn't really consider the complexity of this skirt before I decided to make it. I bought the pattern from some dodgy market stall years ago after which I completely forgot about it. It came to the top of the pile recently and when I saw this bold print 100% cotton I felt inspired to make it.

To be honest, I think something more synthetic would have been better as it creases a LOT which is tricky in terms of keeping the pleats in place. It's got a static-free lining which makes it quite warm too, not exactly the cool, summery skirt I was after for this hot weather!

The pattern was for the wrong size so I had to scale it up, but it's still a little tight which makes it just a smidge too short. Hopefully by winter I'll have slimmed for it!

Pretty though!

1954 Halter Dress

January's effort has been to make myself this dress.

I found some lovely dark navy cotton with a small and busy cream paisley pattern that I picked up for a song. (I'm trying to branch out beyond black, red and white!) It's really light and floaty - perfect for dancing in! I've faced it with some plain navy sheet-weight cotton.

The wide halter straps are really flattering and I like the modesty of the insert behind the sweetheart neckline. The bust and strap sections were quite fiddly but will be much easier when it comes to doing them again I think.

I've pretty much finished except for hemming and some finishing touches. I'm still trying to decide whether to add the featherbone stays the pattern calls for at the front, though it definitely needs the ones at the back to stop it rolling down...

One thing I did not expect was how true to the picture it would be! The insanely waspie waists of the illustration were merely artistic licence thought I - not so! Good job I'm not averse to a corset as the hip/waist/bust ratio is a bit extreme! I love a dramatic waistline as much as the next woman, but I will be modifying this for future incarnations of this dress.

I hope to finish it tomorrow and I'll post pics asap :)