Course description

Always wanted to mend your own clothes, run up a pair of curtains or make something you can wear? This course teaches you to sew from scratch, step by step, from threading a needle to finishing a simple top on a sewing machine.

It's a full course, not a few quick tips. There are 10 sections and 52 step-by-step written lessons, each with clear numbered steps, measurements and a practical task. Every section has a practice pack of printable templates, diagrams, step cards and checklists. Throughout the course you follow a teaching assistant from Lincoln as he learns to sew with the help of his aunt, a retired dressmaking tutor, mistakes and unpicking included.

What you'll learn

• The basics: your sewing kit, fabrics, threads and needles, and a safe place to sew.
• Hand sewing: the essential stitches, buttons, hooks and press studs.
• Your sewing machine: threading, bobbins, tension, straight lines, curves and simple fixes.
• Accuracy: measuring, reading patterns, cutting out and pressing as you go.
• Seams and fastenings: neat seams and hems, zips, buttonholes, elastic and drawstrings.
• Mending and alterations: tears, patches, darning, shortening trousers and replacing zips.
• Making things: a tote bag, a pouch, cushion covers, curtains, an apron, a skirt and pyjama bottoms.

Two final projects

You'll make a set of matching pieces for one room of your home, then make a simple top from start to finish, including a test version to get the fit right.

Who this course is for

• Complete beginners who have never used a sewing machine.
• Anyone who wants to mend and alter clothes instead of throwing them away.
• People who want to make cushions, curtains and gifts for their home.
• Anyone dreaming of making their own clothes one day.

How the course works

Read each lesson, follow the steps with the printable templates from the practice pack, then do the Try it task. You can start with hand sewing and a basic kit; a simple sewing machine helps from Section 3. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you need a reminder.

What will i learn?

• Choose the right fabric, thread and needle for a project
• Sew neat hand stitches and sew on buttons, hooks and press studs
• Thread, use and look after a sewing machine, and fix common problems
• Measure, cut out and press accurately, and read pattern markings
• Sew and finish seams, curves and hems that look professional
• Put in zips, buttonholes, elastic and drawstrings
• Mend tears and holes, shorten trousers and take in seams
• Make cushion covers, curtains, bags and simple clothes from start to finish

Frequently asked question