Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews on anything related to sewing

Classes, Resources, Reviews

Class and Learning Options Outside the Guild

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Courtesy of research by Tory and Marcia…

Guild Classes

The Guild had just announced our classes for 2014-15. These two are guaranteed, plus other potential ones to be determined.

  1. Pocket Techniques, with Anneke Henderson (Oct 4, 2014)
  2. Making a Body Double, with Josée (Nov 15, 2014)

However, there are many other options for classes around the Halifax area, as well as online. There are also many other learning resources besides classes, where there is no interaction involved but just instructions. The following list of sewing related resources might interest you.

Local Classes (Halifax area)

You might consider these local options for classes in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Nova Scotia area:

Continental Classes

If you were willing to travel for some classes, treating it as either a serious trip or vacation, you might want to consider these options:

Online Classes and General Instructions

These sites offer classes and/or general instructions online:

There are also plenty of other YouTube channels you may want to search for to find instructional videos. For video instruction, you might actually be better off searching from the YouTube site, rather than using a search engine like Google, Yahoo or Bing.

Blogs

Blogs tend to be are more personally produced instruction, compared to business or professional like instruction, although some blogs are quite phenomenal. They also tend to be more a mish mash of topics and may not be as well organized to find specific items like sewing instruction videos. But those things can add a personal touch and connection business sites tend not to have, and be more entertaining with a real life touch to them. It really depends on what you like. Here are some Guild Members like a lot:

When you read blogs, be sure to look around, often on the side, for links to the authors’ favourite sites, blogs and such. Some will likely be related to sewing and they can serve as your lead to find out more of what is out there! If you liked the authors’ blog, chances are, you’ll like his/her taste for other enjoyable and/or useful blogs, too!

Share Your Favourite Sewing Resources with Us!

If you know of great class and/or instructional resources not mentioned here, please do let us know. We will update this post, as well as our Classes page on this site. Thank you.

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Reviews

Does Anyone Know Anything About Covet Fashion – The Game App for iPad & iPhone?

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Sample Covet Fashion Design
Sample Covet Fashion Design

Update: LeeAnne has had a quick look and provided a few comments in case listed at the end of the post, so you may want to look at them before deciding if you want to have a look. Thanks to LeeAnne!

I happened across this free app for iPad and iPhone that looks like a nice little design game, called Covet Fashion version 2.7.1. However, I have neither an iPad nor iPhone to try it. Does anyone know anything about it? Or if you care to download and try, can you show me it sometime?

Supposedly, it’s a bit of a game because people vote on designs, though someone said hardly anyone votes. I can see that as it’s probably a pretty niche audience. However, if it’s anything like a real good version of Wild Ginger pattern design software in terms of designs (rather than patterns), I think I would LOVE it! That’s because the previews in Wild Ginger are absolutely horrible! Their user interface is, too!

But if Covet Fashion were anything like I think it might be, I could use it as a design preview before going to Wild Ginger for something close given all the style options available in Wild Ginger. At least the key thing is I’ll know what I’m wanting before I design it. In Wild Ginger, I’m not really sure what I’m getting by choosing certain options cause the preview is that bad.

I hope some of our iPad addicts can tell me. Thanks.

Resources, Reviews

Foundations Revealed Site for Corset Making

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A friend in the costume studies program at Dalhousie University recommended some content from this Foundations Revealed site to start learning about corset making before the NSCAD class begins in mid-October which was written about in the previous post. The site is only partly free. I don’t know enough about it to recommend paying for it or not, but there is still some pretty serious stuff that is free regarding corset making.

My friend specifically pointed out this PDF called The Corsetmaking Revolution, the New Corset Pattern Drafting Masterclass. She said it was really helpful when she started out, even though she’s tailored her techniques and methods from it with experience and personal preferences.

For those of you taking the class, or just interested in corset making, you might find it and the Foundations Revealed site interesting. Enjoy and tell us how you find the rest of the site!