Couture Boned Bodice workshop, Sunday 19th October 2008, 9.30am - 4.30pm, £32
at Countess Wear Village Hall.

You can find an enrolment form here or on www.countesswearvillagehall.co.uk which you should print, complete and send with your cheque payment of £tbc to the address on the form. Please make cheques payable to Countess Wear Village Hall. Early booking is advisable as this workshop has been very popular and does get oversubscribed very quickly.

Following is a list of items that you will need to bring with you to the workshop;

• 3 Fabrics – outer fabric, bodice canvas and lining or poly cotton, a layer of thin cotton is a good idea as well if you are using a fine outer fabric ie; silk or poly dupion
• Pattern (but if you haven’t got one, don’t worry we can use one of mine)
• Sewing machine
• Sewing kit including glass or plastic headed pins, needles, scissors and threads
• Bias binding 3-4 metres
• Eyelets or fabric to cut to make rouleux loops and cord
• 5.5mm knitting needle if you have one (all will be revealed!)
• Packed lunch
• A cushion to sit on, the chairs are plastic and a bit hard!

Please note:
Only glass or plastic large headed pins may be used for this course for health and safety reasons.
Countess Wear Village Hall is in constant use by other groups including Yoga, Pilates and Dog Training Classes. Despite my efforts and those of the caretaker to ensure any pins dropped on the floor are picked up, pins have been found by others using the hall and as you will appreciate present a significant health and safety risk. If you do not have large headed pins you can buy a pack from me on the day for £1. Click here for a list of other haberdashery items available.

You will also need to purchase some boning from me as the Rigilene boning available in shops is not as strong as the one that I would suggest that you use. I will also bring a small stock of items that may get forgotten or that you might find useful to have in your workbox. Bodice canvas is very difficult to find and if you can't get it, don't worry, I will bring some to the workshop.

The pattern that I would suggest should be a seven panel bodice (four pattern pieces), three front panels and four back panels, as they are the easiest ones to be able to complete in the day, McCalls 5321, McCalls 4709, Simplicity 9466 or something similar, if you are a more confident seamstress Burda 8601 which is a nine panel bodice or the new Simplicity 2966 (which I have just ordered to road test it for you). If you have difficulty getting a seven panel pattern let me have your measurements and I will cut you one of my patterns before the workshop.

On completing the workshop you will be given detailed notes that will guide you through the construction method when you come to making a bodice again and I will also be giving you information on obtaining some of the items that you may need that are hard to find in the shops and hopefully, inspiration to do it again!

Let me know if you have any difficulty obtaining items that you will need, the Exeter Fabric Centre at Polsloe Bridge in Exeter stocks everything that you would need to get (including bodice canvas, they're very enlightened) to make your bodice apart from the boning. Donna, Kathy and Mel are experienced dressmakers themselves and will sometimes be able to offer advice on fabrics and linings, usually dispensed with a dose of humour to enhance your shopping experience. The shop opening hours are 9-30am – 5pm Monday to Saturday.

Tea and coffee will be available throughout the day.

This is an example of the style of bodice that can be made at the workshop click on the picture to enlarge

Sara
01395 263343