One of the most important steps in fashion design is selecting fabrics and materials for your dress. Some fabrics are harder to work with than others, and some are more comfortable against the skin than other coarser materials. Schools like Penn Foster College in Scranton, Pennsylvania teach students about various fabrics and how certain sewing processes work with different textiles and materials. They also teach students how to prep the fabric for use and how to cut it. This is a common yet vital first step to dressmaking that students will learn in most schools.
Pattern cutting may sound easy, but it is far more complex than cutting out simple shapes. Most dressmaking schools teach beginning and advanced students how to take efficient measurements, select patterns and choose the best fabrics to work with. When cutting out a pattern, the designer must consider the decorative features she will be using as well as any embroidery or fasteners. Once students have mastered these skills, a dressmaking school will typically advance them to a course in which they learn how to construct their own custom patterns under the mentorship of a skilled teacher. Pattern cutting is an important course for those who desire to become tailors.
Sewing machines are just as vital to dressmakers as a set of knives are to a chef. Dressmaking colleges teach beginner students how to use sewing machines safely and efficiently while employing basic skills and performing important maintenance tasks. Dressmakers must learn the parts of their machines and how they operate. They must also learn to perform routine skills like winding the bobbin and threading the machine. Students will also learn how to clean and oil the machine to maintain its performance and life expectancy.
Most dressmaking schools will teach fashion awareness so students can learn to identify and predict fashion trends based on what people are wearing on the streets and on TV as well as on the works being produced by current designers. A dressmaking course offered by Stonebridge Associated Colleges in the United Kingdom, for example, covers fashion awareness in its curriculum by teaching the various color groups, body shapes, the accoutrements of a foundation wardrobe and the calculated articles that will become the primary accessories in fashion. When students are able to draw from these areas and apply them critically, the outcome should heighten their fashion sense.