To many of you Summer ‘23 may seem like a long way off, but when one runs a business, one must always plan ahead.
When the development is complete, I will be re-introducing our 12 week courses and wanted your opinion on what this course should contain.
Last time we hosted this I offered a four week drafting course, four weeks of trouser making and then finished off with four weeks of coat making.
Experience tells me 8 weeks makes for a really good coat making course. But is this too limited?
This will be the first time we will have a video series, so students applying with have a level of experience no student has had before.
So I put the question to you, if you had the opportunity to train we me for 12 weeks what would you want to cover?
Maybe there should be a beginner course and a course for those who have taken your online classes or have sufficient experience. As a beginner I would like to start out with drafting, figuration, sewing skills, and trousers. That is what I am doing with your online courses. I plan on building my skills up working on trousers and maybe waist coats before attempting a jacket. It seems like a jacket and fitting issues could be a whole 12 week course on its own. But I also don't know much yet so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Thank you Elly and Martin for the conversation and input. It seems spot on to me.
Elly wrote:
I was hesitant to say this because Rory has such great ambitions for his students, but I also think that learning to draft, fit, and make up a nice pair of trousers is a sufficient undertaking for many beginner students and some intermediates.
I'm the kind of person who likes to learn things thoroughly so I would be happy spending 12 weeks on a coat. Drafting, fitting, and sewing require a number of techniques. One is not going to master coat making in 12 weeks but that's time to develop some decent skills. I assume there would be time to make more than one coat and there would also be time, based on the level of the student, to study more advanced techniques such as pattern matching or how to work with more difficult fabrics such as velvet -- maybe one could make a 1/2 or 1/4 scale coat as a sample. But that would be a supplemental project.
If I were to…
You can read my mind, Elly, that woud be perfect!
Hi Martin
Even now I find I get six good hours of work out of a day and the final two are sluggish. I think what you said about figuration and fitting is a really good idea. I would add measuring into that too. Perhaps if there were some sample garments that can be put on, that specifically don't fit, a student could start gaining experience in how to identify where the problem is and how to rectify it. It could only ever be a taste of experience, that sort of thing takes years but it would be a great foundation.