Short course
Create your own Fashion Top for 11 to 15 Year Olds Short Course
Course description
Course overview
Step into the world of fashion design and bring your ideas to life in this exciting, hands-on course for budding young creatives. Across five immersive days, students will explore the full journey from concept to creation, designing and sewing their own unique fashion top inspired by the theme Future Catwalk: Designing Tomorrow’s Fashion.
Through mood-boarding, fashion drawing, collage-based idea generation and textile exploration, students will develop a strong creative direction before learning how to safely use a sewing machine and experiment with a range of sewing techniques. With guided support, each student will construct their own custom top, gaining confidence and practical skills in pattern preparation, fabric handling, and garment construction.
Taught through demonstrations, practical exercises, peer discussion, and individual guidance, this course offers an exciting introduction to fashion design. Students will finish the week with a wearable garment, a clear record of their design journey, and an inspiring understanding of how fashion is created from idea to final piece.
Who this course is for
- Young people aged 11 to 15 who are interested in fashion, drawing, creativity, sewing, design or making their own clothes
- Complete beginners as well as those who have some creative or sewing experience and want to build confidence working with fabrics and garments
- Beginners / early intermediate level
No experience is required as full instruction will be provided – enthusiasm is the only requirement.
Key information
Topics covered
- Fashion inspiration, mood boards and future catwalk trends
- Fashion drawing and experimenting with colours, textures and design ideas
- Introduction to sewing machines and safe studio practice
- Fabric preparation, cutting and construction techniques
- Garment making: creating a custom top from design to finish
Learning outcomes
- Generate design ideas using mood boards, collage and sketching
- Develop a fashion concept inspired by a theme
- Understand the basic steps of garment design and construction
- Thread and safely operate a sewing machine
- Apply simple sewing techniques such as seams, hems, decorative stitching, gathers or trims
- Prepare fabric, follow a simple pattern layout and cut fabric correctly
- Construct a wearable top from start to finish
- Document and present design development in a clear and creative way
- Receive a digital badge and certificate of attendance
- Develop an open-minded approach to art and design
- Experience art school teaching
For practical information about our kids and teens courses, take a look at our kids and teens information hub. This includes details of our policies on safeguarding, food allergies, learning requirements and online study.
Materials
Recommended materials:
- If possible, please bring a camera or camera phone to record the process of making work and the final outcomes
Everything needed to complete the course is provided, but please feel free to bring any current sketchbooks or materials you enjoy using.
Tutor
Penny Warner
Penny Warner is a highly experienced Fashion Designer and educator with a career spanning 40 years in the fashion industry and 16 years in education. She has a vast range of experience with many high profile businesses and has leveraged many students to the next step in their career.
Penny specialises in Womenswear, and as a fashion student of the early eighties, was heavily influenced by Vivienne Westwood and the punk movement. Her versatile background has seen Penny partner and collaborate with high profile industry names including; Jasper Conran, Matthew Williamson, Jenny Packham and John Rocha. She started her career in London's West End and went on to work with Pepe Jeans, Monsoon, Marks & Spencer, ASOS, and Boohoo, to name a few.
Penny has been teaching since 2008 as an Associate Lecturer for; LCF: BA (Hons) Fashion Pattern Cutting & BA (Hons) Fashion Design/Development, UCA Epsom: BA (Hons) Fashion Atelier and Tailoring, and UCA Rochester: BA (Hons) Fashion Design for 15 years.
Penny nurtures a relaxed and creative environment in her classroom. The lectures and workshops she facilitates are carefully constructed to inform and inspire students to be as creative as possible, and she is passionate about making design accessible for all.
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