👗 Carbon Sewing – Clone Your Favourite Dress

8-Week Dressmaking & Pattern Cloning Course

Love the dress you already own? Learn to recreate it without taking the original apart!

Have a favourite dress that fits beautifully, but wish you had another one?

Join me at Lyndaz Kreative Klasses in Rooty Hill and discover how to reproduce a favourite dress by carefully transferring its shape, seams, darts and construction details into a reusable sewing pattern.

Over eight structured sessions, you'll analyse your original garment, create a cloned pattern, construct a test garment, make fitting adjustments and work towards sewing your very own recreated dress.

Your original dress remains intact throughout the process.

💜 Course Overview

• Class Schedule: Tuesdays, 6pm–8pm

• Course Duration: 8 sessions

• Session Length: 2 hours

• Total Learning Time: 16 hours

• Skill Level: Confident Beginner to Intermediate Sewist

• Major Project: Clone one suitable, well-fitting dress

• Location: Rooty Hill, Western Sydney

• Learning Style: Guided, practical and hands-on

Important: This is not an absolute beginners sewing course. Students must already be confident using a sewing machine and completing basic garment construction.

📚 What You'll Learn

WEEK 1 – Understanding Garment Cloning

Module 1: Garment Analysis

Learn how an existing dress can be translated back into individual pattern pieces.

Lessons include:

• Understanding garment cloning

• Choosing suitable garments

• Identifying front, back and other pattern sections

• Recognising seams, darts, panels and shaping

• Understanding grain direction

• Examining necklines and armholes

• Identifying zips, buttons and elastic

• Recognising facings and linings

• Assessing garment construction

Weekly Project: Complete a garment analysis and construction sketch of your chosen dress.

WEEK 2 – Carbon Transfer & Cloning Techniques

Module 2: Transferring the Original Design

Learn the foundation techniques used to copy a garment without dismantling it.

Lessons include:

• Preparing the dress for accurate copying

• Positioning garment sections correctly

• Using carbon and tracing materials

• Transferring seam lines

• Working section by section

• Transferring curved areas

• Recording darts and shaping

• Locating centre front and centre back

• Checking measurements against the original garment

Weekly Project: Begin cloning the main front and back sections.

WEEK 3 – Completing the Pattern Pieces

Module 3: Extracting Garment Components

Learn how to break a garment into manageable pattern sections.

Depending on the chosen dress, components may include:

• Sleeves and bodice panels

• Skirt and waist sections

• Yokes and pockets

• Collars and cuffs

• Facings and straps

• Waistbands and other design details

Weekly Project: Complete the initial cloned pattern pieces.

WEEK 4 – Creating Your Sewing Pattern

Module 4: Pattern Development

Transform your traced pieces into a usable sewing pattern.

Lessons include:

• Trueing pattern lines

• Checking adjoining seams

• Correcting curves

• Adding seam and hem allowances

• Marking notches and grainlines

• Labelling pattern pieces

• Identifying cut-on-fold pieces

• Transferring dart markings

• Checking measurements against the original dress

Weekly Project: Prepare your first complete Carbon Sewing Master Pattern.

WEEK 5 – Toile & Test Garment

Module 5: Testing Your Pattern

Learn why testing your pattern is essential before cutting your final fabric.

Lessons include:

• Selecting suitable toile fabric

• Economical pattern placement

• Accurate cutting

• Transferring construction markings

• Assembling the test garment

• Planning construction order

• Temporary sewing techniques

• Preparing for fitting

Weekly Project: Cut and construct a toile or suitable fitting sample.

WEEK 6 – Fit, Compare & Correct

Module 6: Pattern Adjustments

Compare your original dress, cloned pattern and test garment.

Lessons include:

• Identifying fitting differences

• Checking bust, waist and hip placement

• Evaluating shoulder position

• Checking neckline and armhole balance

• Assessing sleeve fit where applicable

• Correcting length and proportion

• Identifying gaping and pulling

• Making fitting adjustments

• Transferring corrections to your paper pattern

Weekly Project: Finalise your corrected reusable Master Carbon Pattern.

WEEK 7 – Cut & Construct Your Final Dress

Module 7: Garment Construction

Begin recreating your favourite dress using your corrected pattern.

Lessons include:

• Understanding fabric behaviour

• Choosing appropriate fashion fabric

• Pattern layout and grain placement

• Cutting accurately

• Transferring markings

• Planning construction order

• Sewing and finishing seams

• Inserting suitable closures

• Assembling major garment sections

Weekly Project: Cut and begin constructing your cloned dress.

WEEK 8 – Complete Your Carbon-Sewn Dress

Module 8: Professional Finishing

Bring your project together and assess the finished garment.

Lessons include:

• Final garment assembly

• Neckline finishing

• Sleeve and armhole finishing

• Hemming

• Pressing during construction

• Finishing seams

• Final fitting adjustments

• Quality checking

• Comparing the finished dress with the original

Final Project: Present your original dress alongside your newly cloned version and reusable master pattern.

Project completion depends on garment complexity, individual progress and any practice or construction completed between sessions.

👗 Choosing the Right Dress

Suitable Garments

For this course, choose a relatively straightforward, well-fitting dress such as:

• Simple day dress

• Shift dress

• A-line dress

• Basic fitted dress

• Sleeved or sleeveless dress

• Simple panelled dress

• Straightforward woven design

Garments Not Suitable for This Course

• Fully boned formal gowns

• Heavily gathered dresses

• Complex pleated garments

• Tailored jacket-style dresses

• Highly structured eveningwear

Your selected garment must be clean, in good condition and suitable for your current sewing skill level.

👜 Student Supply List

Bring From Week 1

Original Garment

• One suitable, well-fitting dress

Pattern-Making Equipment

• Pattern paper

• Dressmaking carbon or tracing paper

• Tracing wheel

• Clear ruler and long ruler

• French curve

• Measuring tape

• Pencil, eraser and sharpener

• Paper scissors

• Sticky tape or masking tape

• Coloured pens or pencils

Dressmaking Equipment

• Fabric scissors

• Thread snips

• Pins or sewing clips

• Hand-sewing needles

• Tailor's chalk or fabric marker

• Seam ripper

• General-purpose sewing thread

Bring From Week 5 – Test Garment

• Calico or suitable inexpensive test fabric

• Zip, buttons or elastic if required for accurate fitting

Bring From Week 7 – Final Dress

• Suitable fashion fabric

• Matching thread

• Zip, buttons, elastic or other closures as required

• Interfacing if required

• Lining if required

• Suitable trims and notions

✨ Skills You'll Develop

Throughout the course, you'll develop skills in:

• Garment analysis

• Non-destructive pattern cloning

• Pattern tracing and transfer

• Understanding garment construction

• Pattern drafting and refinement

• Seam and hem allowances

• Toile construction

• Garment fitting and alterations

• Fabric selection

• Dress construction

• Professional garment finishing

🌸 Who Can Join?

This course is suitable for learners who already have practical sewing experience and would like to develop their pattern-making and dressmaking skills.

Blended age groups • Gender neutral • NDIS participants welcome

Individual guidance is provided throughout the course.

Prerequisite: Students must already know how to operate a sewing machine, sew basic seams and undertake straightforward garment construction.

Basic machine setup and introductory sewing skills are not taught in this course.

📅 Class Schedule & Flexible Attendance

Tuesdays: 6pm–8pm

Choose your preferred learning frequency, subject to availability and suitable class arrangements:

• Intensive – Consecutive Days, where specifically arranged

• Weekly

• Fortnightly

• Monthly

• Flexible / FIFO – Arrange My Schedule

Students should allow additional time for practice, pattern work and garment construction between classes where needed.

💳 Course Fees & Payment Options

Pay Per Session: Pay individually for each scheduled two-hour session.

Pay Upfront – Full Course: Pay for all eight sessions together.

Applicable fees are displayed in the booking options.

Accepted Payment Methods

• PayID

• Direct Bank Transfer

• Afterpay — full-course upfront payments only

Afterpay is not available for Pay Per Session bookings.

Cash payments are not accepted.

PayID: 0423 088 671

Payment must be received at least 3 days before your scheduled class date to secure your place.

Full-course payments are required upfront. Individual session payments must be received before each scheduled session.

Please note: Afterpay checkout restrictions are still being configured, so payment eligibility may require manual verification.

Booking & Cancellation Policy

Please review the applicable course booking and cancellation terms before enrolling.

Change-of-mind refunds are not offered, subject to your rights under Australian Consumer Law.

📝 Enrolments & Bookings

Step 1: Complete the online enrolment form:

https://lyndazkreativeklasses.com/pages/enrolments-bookings

Step 2: Select your preferred class schedule, learning frequency and payment option.

Step 3: Place your order and complete payment.

Step 4: Your booking is secured once the required payment has been confirmed.

📍 Class Location

Lyndaz Kreative Klasses
Rooty Hill, Western Sydney

Conveniently located just off the Great Western Highway, M4 and M7, with public transport nearby.

💜 Bring the Dress You Love. Learn to Recreate It.

Discover how to turn a favourite garment into a reusable pattern, develop your fitting skill