I followed another Craftsy class. This time the “Carefree fly-front coat” by Kenneth D. King. Need I say more? It is a great class with a wonderful teacher. He explains clearly what he is doing and why. He shows the result of a part of the jacket (the collar, the way the sleeve hangs for example) and then shows you how to get there. The camera work is excellent.
It’s more than only a step by step guide how to make the coat/jacket: it is an introduction in tailoring. It’s not a beginners class and even though I’ve made a lot of jackets, have done my share of tailoring techniques (though I admit to using fusibles, not the way mr. King does it of course!) I have learned a lot. I will re-watch this class again and make notes, which I didn’t do this first time round. I was hooked to my computer screen for the chapter of inserting a sleeve/sleeveheads/shoulder pads. He has his own method of defining the notches where the sleeve easing should begin and end. That sort of tips makes the course extra valuable.
A Vogue pattern is part of the course and at the start of the course some changes are made to the pattern to make the pattern for the coat Kenneth King is making. The original jacket only closes with a belt and mr. King adds a hidden button closure to the pattern as well as a princess seam in the front with pockets in the seamline. The changes are easy to follow. The little trick of shaping the collar so that inserting it later is easier was for me in the category “how clever, why didn’t I think of this”. But he does think of these sort of details. He said that the sharp corner is often found in European patterns and yes, that is what I have always known. I will adapt my pattern next time in the way he showed it.
The course has the following topics:
I truly loved this course and hope to sew a coat this fall using these techniques.
After yet another praise for a Craftsy course I want to stress again that this is a personal opinion. I bought this class in a regular sale and did not receive it for free.
I’m not as positive on all classes I have bought and even have written a negative review a while ago on one class on the Craftsy site (not a sewing class). You will not see that review on their site as they show you only the 5 star reviews as long as you have not enrolled to a class. I would like to read the less positive reviews as well prior to buying a class. I do understand why they don’t do that, but still. Also: when Craftsy started (or at least when I discovered it) you could preview a few minutes of the class. That way you could hear the voice of the instructor and the way he or she instructs. It was a good way to decide whether or not to buy a class. This preview exists no longer and is replaced by a little introduction by the instructor or by a general introduction, more a commercial, not by the instructor (as far as I have seen).
In general I would like to read more reviews on the classes, either on blogs or on Pattern Review (which has a section for reviewing classes as well) . It would be nice if we all could be a bit better informed about the contents and details of a class and why someone liked it or not. We all have different interests and levels of sewing and with more reviews we can decide for ourselves whether or not we want to take a class, based not only on Craftsy’s own advertising.
That said: if you are interested in tailoring: take mr King’s class!
