Wednesday 6 July 2016

Open Day

OPEN DAY INVITATION


Over the last few weeks I have been busy getting everything ready and would like to invite you to my open day.


It would be lovely if you could come along for a look around and a cup of tea.
There is a full programme of workshops to choose from including my Autumn Focus, this year on independent pattern designers. You can see them all on my website 

www.claire-tyler.com


 

Bloomsbury Square Fabrics, which is in the same building, will be open on the day with lots of beautiful fabrics for you to browse - you may have met Victoria at The Textile Space and she will be there to give help and advice.

I am also very excited that Francis Tobin from The Maker's Atelier will be attending the open day.  I am running a series of workshops using kits from The Maker's Atelier - they are beautiful designs and the workshops will include the pattern and fabric to make your choice of garment.  Francis will have a selection of sample garments, patterns and kits for you to have a look at.

                

I do hope you can make it and I look forward to seeing you

Thursday 16 June 2016

New Beginnings

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks - all very exciting!

After nearly six years running dressmaking workshops at The Textile Space in Charlton I am now moving classes to my new sewing room in Midhurst.  Well it is just an empty space at the moment (here is a sneak peak) But in a week or sew it will be up and running.



A full timetable of workshops is now available for you to see on my on-line store Claire's Yarns.  

Earlier this year I was asked by Wendy Gardiner to help with The Great British Sewing Bee book.  I designed and made many of the garments as well as writing the instructions to go with the patterns that come with the book.  It was a very exciting time even though the deadline was very tight!  

For anyone who has the book and would like to make one of the garments I have put up a couple of workshops, over the 2 days I will show you how to choose your size, trace the pattern and make up the garment.







These are just some of the garments I made for the book

So I am now off to get the room furnished and plan an open day - more news soon

Claire xx




Saturday 31 January 2015

Inspiring Couture

New York is a great city to visit if you love fashion and sewing.  Going during the Festive Season means you get to see the amazing store windows which are inspiring, here are a couple from  Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue






After a visit to the wonderful Mood Fabrics (where I was very restrained!!) we found ourselves at the Fashion In Textile Museum which has a fascinating exhibition called Faking It.  This exhibition showed originals, copies and counterfeits of designer outfits, from Chanel to Yves St Laurent.  Well worth a visit if you are in New York before the end of April - here is a picture of a Chanel Suit from 1966 and a licenced copy from 1967




Straight back to work on my return but a visit to the V&A museum with some students was a lovely day out.  We went to the Wedding Dress Exhibition which is on until 25th of March and is also well worth a visit.  Lots of historical detail in the dresses from 1775 to present day - here is a beautiful Norman Hartnell dress from 1933





I taught lots of workshops this month from Wrap Dresses to Skirts, Overlockers to Seams and Hems as well as deciding on what workshops I will be teaching for the rest of the year. Some very exciting ones coming up and lots of samples to make.



I saw this video online the other day and thought I would share it, it is amazing to see the work that goes into couture garments  - and why they cost so much!!



So much inspiration this month, I am determined to take what I have seen and put it into my work as well as showing students how to create beautiful garments with original detail.


Monday 22 December 2014

Christmas & Steampunk!!

One of the best things about being a seamstress is the variety of things I get involved in.  At the beginning of the month I was asked to make some Elf costumes for The Goodwood Actors Guild - the costumes had to be smart as it was for one of the Christmas Parties at Goodwood House.  I used cotton velvet and a bit of tartan for trimming - very smart elves :)


Later in the month I was invited to the Goodwood staff party, the Goodwood Actors Guild were welcoming the guests and we had to dress up in Steampunk costumes - it was great to get a chance to were the corset I made a while ago, I love corsetry and will be making more and running more workshops in it soon.


Workshops for the end of the year included making a tie (not as easy as you might think!) and bra making - this is alway a great workshop and students work with lovely fabrics and are always amazed when it all comes together and they create beautiful bras



Christmas is nearly here and then I am off to New York to visit my daughter - looking forward to a bit of fabric shopping in Mood Fabrics :)

Sunday 30 November 2014

Harrogate & Tailoring

Harrogate is a lovely town and the show was amazing - I met some lovely people on my workshops and bought some beautiful wool/cashmere fabric from M Rosenberg & Son, perfect for the new skirt workshop I am planning for next year here is a sneak preview :)


I also bought some lovely tweed and my daughter Amy bought a vintage pattern from Til The Sun Goes Down - I always have to stop myself buying more of the fabulous silk from this company - my students love it and I will put up some pictures of their work asap.


Back at The Textile Space workshops this month have included Jeans & Trousers and The Chanel Style Jacket - great work by all students





The jacket above was made using fabric from Mood Fabrics in New York - lots of my students talk about this fabric shop - I am going to New York in January to visit my youngest daughter Alice who is at Columbia University - I will definitely be paying Mood Fabrics a visit :)

I have been doing lots of alterations this month so not many pictures of my work at the moment, I will be making samples for new workshops soon so lots of sewing coming up :)

Friday 31 October 2014

October - Ally Pally

October sees the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace - a great show where you can find everything you need for sewing, from patterns to fabrics, haberdashery & gadgets

There is also a workshop area and I was teaching 3 different workshops this year, Lacey Knickers, a padded zipped bag and a simple shoulder bag - here I am teaching students in the Learning Curve Workshops





I also ran lots of workshops at The Textile Space this month, students made elegant skirts  with beautiful linings and Hong Kong binding on the facing



Silk Lingerie with lovely lace edging




I also ran a workshop called Copy It, Make It - on this workshop students bring a favorite garment and I show them how to take a pattern from it and make a calico toille - here are a couple examples of their work 



On our Half Term Sewing School Students made a Chanel Style Jacket and a jacket from a Marcy Tilton pattern V9035 in a fabric that the student ordered from Marcy Tilton too



Lots more sewing and workshops next month and I will be teaching at The Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate :)

Tuesday 30 September 2014

September - Goodwood Revival

This month has been mostly taken up with Goodwood Revival - this great event is a mix of vintage cars and fashion.  Part of the event are the Goodwood Actors Guild who provide entertainment during the three days of the Revival.  My job is to help with costumes for the 200 actors - some need alteration or repair (many of them are original vintage) and some are made from scratch.  


On the Saturday night there is a Gala Ball, each year is a different theme - this year it was 'Atlantis' 



These are some of the costumes we made - these dresses were originally white, we painted them with fabric spray paint and re-fashioned the skirt by cutting slits and finishing the raw edges with a rolled hem on the overlocker.


At the Drivers Club there was a full scale model of Stone Henge - we made Druid costumes for the actors who stayed in charecter for the whole event!


Finished costumes on the actors who have been made up to be Sirens - drawing the guests at the charity ball into the Atlantis dining area


Me with my daughter Amy, I made both the outfits from vintage Vogue Patterns - my suit (V1019) is in a Matka silk with Bremsilk lining, both from Macculloch & Wallis and Amy's (V8788) in a tulip patterned cotton print from Fabricland


The end of a fabulous, if long, weekend as wardrobe mistress for the Goodwood Actors Guild, all pictured below



Lady March wearing a suit I made for her to wear at the event 


Some of the 250 tunics we made for the waiters at the Gala Ball


I did manage to teach some dressmaking workshops at The Textile Space as well this month, students learnt how to put in zips, tailoring techniques and how to use an overlocker - looking forward to next month as I am teaching at The Knitting & Stitching show at Alexandra Palace :)