The Two-Week Intensive Hand Sewing Course provides students with a practical foundation in the traditional hand-sewing techniques used throughout bespoke tailoring.

Over ten days, students begin with the correct use of the tailor’s thimble, needle and thread before progressing through the principal stitches used in the construction and finishing of bespoke garments. Particular emphasis is placed on developing accuracy, consistency, control and, with practice, speed.

Students will learn techniques including basting, mark stitching, backstitching, felling, cross stitching, prick stitching, pad stitching and hand finishing, before progressing to more advanced exercises such as sewing buttons, bar tacks and traditional hand-sewn buttonholes.

This course is designed both for beginners wishing to establish strong hand-sewing skills and for those with previous sewing experience who want to develop the traditional techniques required for bespoke tailoring. It also provides an excellent foundation for students intending to progress to our trouser, waistcoat and jacket-making courses.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €40 | Accommodation price starting at €50 per night

Pocket Making two week intensive

The Two-Week Pocket Making Intensive is designed to introduce students to the fundamental machine-sewing and pocket-construction techniques used throughout bespoke tailoring.

For students with little or no experience using an industrial sewing machine, the course begins with the essentials: threading the machine, adjusting tension, winding the bobbin and learning to control the machine accurately. Students practise sewing seams at different depths before progressing into pocket construction.

Over ten days, students work through a carefully structured series of pocket-making exercises, beginning with the hip and back pockets commonly found in trousers before progressing to the more advanced internal and external pockets used in waistcoats, jackets and dinner jackets.

Students will learn slanted and straight hip pockets, welted and double-jetted back pockets, in-breast and ticket facing pockets, double-jetted cross pockets with cloth facings and flaps, and the traditional welted breast pocket.
The course places particular emphasis on accuracy, machine control and clean construction. Students learn how to mark and reinforce pocket openings, prepare jets and welts, construct pocket bags and facings, control seam allowances, and use pressing throughout the making process to achieve a professional finish.

As many of these techniques are repeated throughout bespoke garment construction, the course provides an excellent foundation for students wishing to progress to our trouser, waistcoat and jacket-making courses, while also offering experienced sewers the opportunity to develop and refine their pocket-making skills.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €60 | Accommodation price starting at €50 per night

Production Style Trousers Two Week Intensive

This intensive course focuses on the efficient construction of a pair of trousers using predominantly machine-sewn techniques.

Working from an established block pattern, the trousers will be cut to a size and style agreed with each student and constructed progressively over ten days.

The course concentrates on the practical making and construction of the garment rather than individual pattern drafting, measuring and fitting, which are covered separately in our Bespoke Trouser Making programme.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €120| Accommodation price starting at €50 per night

Production made waistcoat

The Two-Week Waistcoat Making Intensive teaches students how to construct a complete waistcoat using an efficient production-style method similar to those found in Made-to-Measure and high-quality Ready-to-Wear tailoring.
In order to complete the garment within ten days, the course combines traditional tailoring skills with modern construction techniques. Rather than using a traditional canvas, the waistcoat foreparts are fused, while fusible tape is used to stabilise the front edges and armholes in place of the bias lining used in bespoke construction. The foreparts are then bagged out, with the lining predominantly sewn by machine.
Importantly, many of the fundamental making skills remain directly transferable to bespoke tailoring. The welted pockets are constructed using the same method found in a bespoke waistcoat, while the back is made using traditional bespoke techniques. Students therefore develop an understanding of the garment and its construction while learning a method that allows a waistcoat to be produced efficiently.
The course is particularly suitable for students who want to develop practical garment-making skills without initially undertaking the longer bespoke process. Students wishing to progress further can then use our online Bespoke Waistcoat Making video series to learn the additional canvassing, hand-sewing and construction techniques required to transition from the production method to a fully bespoke waistcoat.
The course focuses on the making and construction of the waistcoat. Individual measuring, pattern drafting and fitting are not covered as part of this two-week intensive.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €95| Accommodation price starting at €50 per night

Jacket Drafting Two Week Intensive

The Two-Week Pattern Drafting for Bespoke Jackets Course is an intensive programme devoted exclusively to the principles and practice of drafting bespoke men’s jackets.

Pattern drafting is about considerably more than following a set of measurements and instructions. A competent cutter must be able to assess the individual, recognise posture and figuration, and understand how these characteristics affect the balance and proportions of the finished garment.

Students begin with the 6-inch-drop jacket and progressively adapt the drafting system through 5-inch, 4-inch and 3-inch drops. With each successive draft, additional elements of the complete jacket pattern are introduced, including sleeves, the neck dart, undercollar, facing and styling of the forepart.

During the second week, the course progresses into the more challenging areas of bespoke cutting, including figuration, shoulder angles, balance and the drafting of portly and corpulent figures. Students ultimately learn how to draft for clients whose waist measurement equals or exceeds their chest measurement.

By the end of the course, students will understand not simply how to reproduce a jacket draft, but how and why that draft must change to accommodate the individual figure.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €30| Accommodation price starting at €50 per night

Trouser Drafting Two Week Intensive

The Two-Week Pattern Drafting for Bespoke Trousers Course is an intensive programme dedicated entirely to the cutting and drafting of bespoke men’s trousers.

A well-made pair of trousers begins with a correctly drafted pattern. Throughout the course, students learn how to take measurements, assess the figure and identify the different leg configurations and postures that influence the way a trouser pattern must be cut.

Rather than relying on a single standard block, students learn how the drafting system can be adapted to suit the individual. Particular attention is given to leg configuration, seat angle, posture and the relationship between the waist, seat and leg.

Beginning with the straight-leg draft, students progress through closed-leg, bow-leg, pigeon-toe and duck-foot configurations before moving on to portly and corpulent figures, slim-fit trousers and pleated styles.

By the end of the two weeks, students will have developed a practical understanding of the bespoke trouser drafting system and the confidence to adapt it to a wide variety of figures and styles.

Tuition Cost: €900 | Materials Cost: €30| Accommodation price starting at €50 per night