Fashion Antidote

London fashion week - buzzing with creativity

2012-02-15T04:36:00.001-08:00

With London Fashion Week just a couple days away, Londonis buzzing with creativity and design talent.

Throughout London, many established universities runrespected fashion degrees. Known for nurturing eccentric and ground-breakingtalent, London fashion students and graduates are some of the brightestdesigners in the industry.

However, degrees are expensive and not always a practicalor realistic option for learning the skills you need to make it in the fashionindustry. If you are self-funded, on low income, have dependents, are an adultlooking to change professions or have learning difficulties, a higher educationcourse can be out of reach.

At Fashion Antidote we aim to provide a solution to this,with an alternative method for fashion tuition. Our courses in fashion skillssuch as Garment construction, pattern cutting, design, illustration andbusiness are short, affordable and flexible, intended to bring industry levelskill based tuition to those who want to learn.

With stellar designer support schemes such as Topshop NewGen and Designer Fashion Fund, set up by the high rollers of the industry,London is a land of promise and opportunity for the budding fashion designer.You don’t have to have a degree to make it in fashion, just the practicalskills, knowledge and creative talent to set yourself apart.

Realise your fashion design talent with our design courses, or learn priceless pattern cutting skills and how to make garments. Joinus for a fabric knowledge class or sign up for one to one business consultancy.

Garment Construction & Dressmaking in London - Make a Spring Dress

2012-02-08T03:05:00.000-08:00

Despite the current below zero temperatures and flurries of snow, Spring is just around the corner, and what better to add to your new season wardrobe than a little spring dress.

Learn to make a classic shape dress in our Make a Spring Dress class at our cozy Brick Lane studio. Choose from 2 silhouettes and learn essential garment making skills such as how to sew seams and darts, make tucks, insert a concealed zip, attach a lining and hem. You will press and finish your dress ready to wear and be given the pattern to take home with you. All equipment and materials is provided, you just need to bring along the fabric to make your dress in. Why not this seasons must have pastel, or a bright clashing print?

Mothers Day Sewing Classes - The Perfect Hand-made Gifts For Dear Old Mum

2012-02-01T03:27:00.000-08:00

Show Mum you really care this Mothers day with a hand embroidered gift.

Just bring along a simple pillowcase, (or we can provide onefor £2) or a handkerchief and we will walk you through embroidering your mothers’initials onto it. A timeless handmade gift for Mothers Day that really showsyou care, no experience necessary.

Embroider threads will be provided, and you will choose atemplate and the colour of the embroidery thread to suit.

Embroider a pillowcase for Mothers day - 6 places

DAYTIME 10.30am to 1.30pm - 3 hours

Wednesday 7^thMarch

Price £45

EVENING 6pm to 9pm - 3 hours

Friday 9^thMarch

Price £45

Visit the website to book

We are also running a Cushion Cover course; create a keepsake gift in time for Mothers Day with ourcushion making class. The possibilities of cushion adornment are endless, soyou can be sure of the ultimate in hand made personalised gifts with thiscourse.

You will be shown how tolay a pattern onto fabric, pin, and mark and cut out. With this knowledge youwill be ready to cut and make a simple cushion cover in the fabric of yourchoice, and decorate with trimmings to personalise it.

No previous sewing skills needed, and we provide the patterns and cushion pad, just bring alongyour chosen fabric and trimmings, or choose from our selection of trimmings anddecorations.

Make a Cushion Cover - 6 places

DAYTIME 10.30am -1.30pm

Thursday 15th March

Price £45

EVENING 6pm to 9pm - 3 hours - 6 places

Friday 2^nd March

Price £45

Visit the website to book

Learn to sew in London - Make a Dress at Fashion Antidote

2012-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

The classic dress shape is a timeless garment, easy to redesign, edit and restyle to be fashionable no matter what the season, occasion or trend. At Fashion Antidote we can teach you all the steps to making a simple or fitted dress from scratch, ready to wear.

Our Make a Little Black Dress course is currently running on Friday, February 3 - Saturday, February 4, and on Friday, March 9 - Friday, March 16, and will be £149.00. The pattern we teach is a great classic shape, and of course can be the little orange dress, floral dress or indeed any fabric you desire. For more information see the website here.

All photography Plastered Pictures

Learn Fashion Design and Drawing with Fashion Antidote

2012-01-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Drawing and illustration is at theheart of any designers work. Every master piece collection, It Bag or sell outgarment started out life as a designers scribble in a sketchbook or a doodle onthe back of a napkin.

You don’t need to be an artist tocreate fashion illustrations and designs – more important is inspiration andideas. For every aspiring fashion designer the skills to convey your ideas ontopaper are essential, and used throughout the research and design process. Our courses cover all the types of drawing a designer would need to do. They can bedone for pleasure, to help you get your creative ideas on paper or to puttogether a portfolio of fashion art for work or college.

They cover materials and media, sketching, design drawing, fabricrepresentation, creative illustration of clothing and accessories, technicaldrawing and portfolio presentation.

For beginners, looking to give fashionillustration a go we run a simple ‘BeginnersFashion Drawing and Illustration’ course, and a ‘ Beginners Fashion Design’ course. Perfect for that first forayinto design and drawing, all materials are provided and no experience isnecessary.

For those looking to tackle fashion design and drawing on aprofessional level, we run a ‘SpecificationDrawing for Fashion’ course, including all the basics of producingtechnical drawings otherwise known as "flat drawings" or"specification drawings" as used within the fashion industry. Producea set of templates and learn techniques of how to draw a variety of styles andshapes for a range of different garments and details such as collars, buttonwraps, frills and folds, great for helping you get your design ideas on paperif you are not adept at fashion sketching.

And for more professional level of training, we run a ‘Fashion Drawing and Design – industry levelskills’. This course is a full compliment of fashion illustration skills,covering an intro to fashion industry and the fashion design process, and modules in Sketching, Design Drawing, Specification Drawing, Design development / Range Planning, andLine up and Specification Drawing.

See the website for more information on the courses we offer, or give us a call to have a chat about which course would suit you best.

Sew Those Blues Away...

2012-01-16T05:11:00.000-08:00

So today is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing dayof the year. Not the most inspiring thing to read on twitter on the train towork, on a grey and freezing cold Monday morning.

If anything in hard times, we need a bit of positivity inour lives. A bit of a push, encouragement to achieve more, get where we want togo or just do more things that we enjoy. 2012 is set to be an inspiring year,Olympics and all that, a time to be proud of what we’ve got and what we do. Sonone of this Blue Monday stuff please, unless we’re referring to working in astudio with no heating…

Learn a new skill for 2012; get ahead in your career or intothe university course you want.

Learn to sew, make alterations and garments, or get businessconsultancy for your small fashion business.

Fashion Design for the Catwalk - with Alternative Fashion Week

2012-01-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

January & February courses

2012-01-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Featured Student - Olu

2011-12-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Olu is an illustrator, who joined Fashion Antidote recentlyfor our Garment Construction course, a part of our Skills Training Programme. She has so far completed the Skirt, Shirt, Dress and Jacketsections of the course and is well on her way to becoming an accomplishedseamstress. Olu is an illustrator and joined us to broaden her skills and withthe idea of expanding her illustrations into making objects and garments.

This is the dress she made at the studio, a fabulous choiceof fabrics bought from her local market.

Do you want to learn to make garments like Olu? Why not sign up to a course in the new year. See here for our calendar for January.

The January Skills Training Programme - NEW SKILLS FOR THE NEW YEAR

2011-12-08T04:06:00.001-08:00

NEW SKILLS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Our successful Skills Training Programme starts again for January, offering a comprehensive schedule ofintensive, essential, industry level fashion skills.

Learn to sew from scratch,to draft your own patterns to specific measurements, to make garments such as shirts,skirts, dresses and trousers. See HERE for some of our previous students onthe Programme, their THOUGHTS on the course and what they ACHIEVED during the course. For more info onbooking and payments see the WEBSITE.

Are you a Budding Designer?

The programme is theperfect alternative to a fashion design degree, covering all the necessaryfashion construction skills and knowledge to make your own clothes andcollection.

Dreams of Dressmaking?

If you want to be anexpert on Pattern Cutting or Garment Construction, or want to learn all the insand outs of making your own clothes from scratch, then the Programme is theperfect choice. You can tailor which elements of the course suit you best, andthe delivery that fits around your schedule; daytime, evening or weekends.

Nurturing Entrepreneurs

With a full course of technical, industrystandard skills and techniques, followed and supplemented by a business courseand one to one advice and support, the Programme has everything you need to getstarted as a small fashion business.

Want a resolution you can stick to? Come and learn with Fashion Antidote.

2011-12-08T03:25:00.001-08:00

NEW SKILLS FOR THE NEW YEAR

We know how it is. WithChristmas fast on the approach, everything else gets left on the backburner.Yoga classes can wait, scrap the pricey no-carb-only-green-and-eco eating regimeand don’t even think about that recycling pledge. The pressures of Christmascan be a bit daunting, and tend to take over our lives at this time of year.The result of which is a rather jolly, indulgent few days, but inevitably arather slimmer bank balance, slightly tighter belt and that vague air of guiltover what we’ve forgotten or neglected.

And the appropriatesolution to this post-Christmas slump is full set of sturdy New YearsResolutions, thought up with the best intentions, but all too soon forgotten aslife gets in the way.

So how about a resolutionthat you can stick to. Something that will not only take the sting out of theafter Christmas guilt but also provide you with lifelong skills and a newtalent, maybe to help further your career, to get ahead at uni, to start yourown business, or even save you a few pennies.

Come to Fashion Antidoteand learn to sew. Save money by learning to make alterations, or make your ownclothes, and unleash your creativity on your wardrobe. If you’re after a careerin fashion we have professional level technical courses in Pattern Cutting,Garment Construction, Styling, Design and Business. Add these skills to your CVand get that job, or progress from an amateur dressmaker to having your ownsmall fashion business.

Want a resolution you canstick to? Come and learn with Fashion Antidote.

BE TOP OF THE CLASS with Fashion Antidote

2011-12-08T03:10:00.001-08:00

We all know the fashionindustry is a tricky one, and incredibly competitive. Having a stand out CV,full of extra experience and skills makes all the difference when starting thatjob search, and an excellent portfolio will take you far.

Start 2012 off on a goodfoot and take a short course at Fashion Antidote; learn to sew ahead of your course, join a short course inPattern Cutting or Garment Construction to add to your skill repertoire, ortake a fashion business or portfolio consultancy class to get you ready for thenext step.

Give us a call to find outmore about what we can offer you, or send us an email and we’ll work out what’sbest for you. Have a look at our January Calendar of events for whats coming up in the New Year.

Featured class – Garment Construction

2011-11-29T04:58:00.001-08:00

On a dreary and rather windy morning on Brick Lane, I arriveat the busy Fashion Antidote studio to the whirr of machines and chitchattering of voices. Today is the Garment Construction course, a part of ourskills training programme, and the girls on the course are in the midst ofmaking tailored jackets in calico. We’renearing the end of the course now, with the jacket the final garment, afteralready completing a skirt, dress, shirt, and a pair of trousers, and its greatto see the students flying through with Nina’s guidance, confident in their ownabilities now.

In todays class the girls are here for a rangeof reasons. Olu, an illustrator, is learning to make clothes to fit her ownparticular shape, Tracy wants to make clothes for herself also, as a hobby andpastime, as is Inga, although Inga also hopes to one day have her own labeltoo. Sarah is looking to go to uni to study fashion design, she thinks shewill probably go into knitwear, but has come to us to learn all the necessaryknowledge to make clothes before she goes, to be one step ahead.

Finished Jacket

Calico Jacket

A very friendly and chatty classroom today, the studentsspurned on by Nina to successfully tackle ever daunting sleeves, surviving with no casualties and only a broken needle or two, amongst the discussion of sweaty yoga, spinning and energetic dance classes. Great to have you with us guys, hope to see you again soon.

If you fancy coming to learn garment construction yourself,whatever your reason, the course starts up again January. Have a look at thedates here, we’d love to have you.

Our Fabulous Students

2011-11-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

At fashion Antidote, we're immensely proud of all our students and what they achieve in such a short time with us. One such student is Raj Dhami, who studied with us on our Garment Construction and Pattern Cutting courses, as a part of our Training Skills Programme.

Since the course Raj has made some beautiful garments, and is pictured here in the dress she made during the course, which she now wears to work. An excellent, dedicated and enthusiastic student, Raj is often back for one to one tuition and further courses.

Have you completed a course with us here at Fashion Antidote? If so, we want to feature you, send us over a photo of a garment you've made, your drawings or designs, or even just let us know what your upto, wed love to hear from you!

Sewing skills all the way to the Antarctic

2011-11-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

At Fashion Antidote we pride ourselves on being able to provide bespoke teaching programmes and training courses. As in independent sewing school, we can tailor make our courses to all sorts of peculiar requests and specific needs, and one such request came recently from the British Antarctic Survey.

Sanna Kallio - Antarctic Field Assistant

They sent 4 of their intrepid explorers over to our Heneage Street studio to brush up on their sewing skills, and we put together a course especially for them focusing on all the techniques they’d need to maintain and repair their tents whilst out on expeditions.Working with Sally Henry from their Human Resources team, we helped get them prepared for keeping cosy and safe down in the cold. The session included zips, hems, rips and tears and reinforcement.

It was great to have them in the studio and to be able to teach them practical skills that will help them as field assistants in the Antarctic, best of luck out there guys!

We've got that vintage feeling!

2011-10-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

Being so ideally located in Brick Lane, right by Spitalfields market and the ever busy Truman Brewery, at Fashion Antidote we're always surrounded by an inspiring mixture of contemporary and vintage fashion. With our Vintage fashion weekend just round the corner we dipped our toe into the amazing selection of Vintage wares around, get us in the mood.

The Shop

The Shop is one of Brick Lanes longest standing Vintage Stores, and offers an unrivalled range of beautiful vintage fabrics alongside rare and quality vintage garments.

Blitz Department Store

Blitz Department Store is a huge five room Victorian warehouse transformed into an all-encompassing department store. The store is a joy to walk around with so much thought put into the beautiful decor, and every vintage need is catered for, from huge selection of clothes, accessories, furniture and homeware.


Spitalfields Market

Spitalfields is just round the corner from us, and a great influence and inspiration for us and our students alike. Thursday's Antique Market is a collectors and vintage hunters dream, with everything from jewellery, apparel, military paraphernalia, furniture and the odd stuffed animal.

Join us on our Vintage Weekend and we'll take you around all these places and more, in between learning some priceless sewing knowledge and creating your very own vintage inspired skirt in our studio.

See the website for more info and for our other sewing courses!

Calling All Vintage Lovers...

2011-10-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

Fancy a spot of sewing, and a vintage forray into East London, armed with all the expertise and know-how of a vintage expert?

Roam the unbeatable selection of vintage and retro shops and markets Spitalfields and brick Lane has to offer with our vintage fashion expert as your tour guide, and then head back to our nearby studio to learn how to make your own vintage inspired garments.

Over the two days shop, sight see, stitch and sew to make a beautiful dress ready to wear and take home.

The perfect retro weekend, great as a gift especially with christmas just round the corner!

To book, and for more info check out the website.

Great new shape - Make a Pencil Skirt

2011-10-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

The pencil skirt is in this season - classy and feminine, all very 40's - and we've worked in a special pencil skirt class to our garment construction courses to keep your sewing projects bang on trend.

Our make a pencil skirt class will show you how to use a commercial pattern, lay, mark and pin pattern to fabric and cut out. You will sew seams and darts insert a lapped zip, attach a waistband, make and attach a lining, hem and press and finish your skirt ready to wear. This workshop is a good follow on from our learn to sew courses and enables you to put your newly learnt skills into practice. Learn some life long skills and leave with a beautiful pencil skirt.

Fresh New Courses

2011-10-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB IN FASHION?

2011-09-07T03:27:00.000-07:00

Whether you are a graduate with a fashion related degree, already working in the industry but not sure what to next or want a change of career and considering fashion - this course will give a real insight into the business and show you what you need to make your next move. Whether you are looking for your first or next job we will set you on the right path and help you get into the fashion industry.

How to Get A Job In Fashion

The course runs over 3 Monday evenings in 2 hour sessions, includes a C.V and portfolio review, and costs £85.

After 25 successful years in the fashion industry our tutors will give you commercial information vital to any career, to help you stand out against the competition and increase your chances of successfully finding employment, as well as supplying you with key contacts to help you on your way.

Contact info@fashionantidote.com, or call 02073753235 today to secure your place.

Autumn/Winter Program Dates

2011-08-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

The dates for our Autumn/Winter program are now up, starting from the first week in September.

Our last Programme was a complete success, with some very talented and bright students graduating with a whole new set of skills.

Our Fashion Skills Programme is a complete schedule of Garment Construction, Pattern Cutting, Fashion illustration, Design and Business; everything you need to get skilled and get ahead in the fashion industry.

We run the Programme in options of daytime or evening, to suit your needs and fit around your schedule, and all classes are taught by experienced, professional tutors.

We run each topic separately, to make it easier for you to gain the skills you want. For more information on the programme and for dates, see our website, and check out our previous students, and what they have said about us.

Fresh New Courses

2011-08-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN A NEW SKILL?

We've got lots of new dates and courses up on the website, everything from sewing skills to business classes.

We've got new Garment Construction dates; pop into our studio to learn to make a skirt, dress or shirt from a commercial pattern. We've also made a new Bring your own project class; come and use our studio and top facilities, including cutting tables, machines, over lockers and mannequins and get some experienced help with a tricky project.

There are lots more, check out the website for a full listing, and we're also on HotCourses.

Fashion Antidote at Vintage at Southbank

2011-07-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Pop down and see us at Vintage festival this weekend!
Tickets still available here.

Fashion Skills Programme Graduates!

2011-07-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely time with our first group of students on our Fashion Skills Training Programme, a very dedicated and bright bunch of students, great fun to work with, and we cant wait to see what they create with their new found skills.

Best of luck sewing guys!

We hope to see you all again soon!

Making frocks with the Summer School

2011-07-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

The studio is full today and our Summer School is now in full swing, students busy pinning, sizing, cutting and sewing. Today they're focusing on the make a dress section of the garment construction package, cant wait to see the results!

All the skills you'd ever need for professional fashion... Fashion Antidote Summer School

2011-07-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

Places are filling up fast for our Summer School - a condensed program of professional fashion skills, spread over 7 weeks spent in our studio just off Brick Lane.

Go the whole hog and spend the whole 7 weeks with us, gaining priceless knowledge and skills in all areas of fashion design and garment construction, or pick and choose what area suits your needs, with packages spanning Pattern Cutting, Garment Construction, Fashion Design, Fashion Drawing and Fashion Business.

See the website for more details.

Fashion Skills Programme

2011-06-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

See our website for further information

A complete programme of professional fashion skills, from pattern cutting and garment construction to fashion design and business skills.

Fashion Skills Training Programme

2011-06-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

We're now in full swing with our new fashion skills training programme here at Fashion Antidote.

We’re really excited about this new edition to our courses; a comprehensive full programme of skills for the fashion industry, covering garment construction, pattern cutting, drawing and design and marketing aspects. Students on this course will learn all the skills they need to design, cut and make a commercially viable collection and to analyse their place within the market. This is the first time we have run such a full comprehensive course, and our current students are flying through, finishing next week

Want to become a fashion expert?

The course will be expanding in September, but we are currently running the course as both a full programme covering all aspects of design for industry, and as individual sections, for those who want high quality tuition of industry level skills on a specific aspect.
By doing so, students can either gain a broad but detailed understanding of the fashion design industry as a whole on the full programme, or gain expertise in a specific skill through the smaller sections.
The sections are: Pattern Cutting, Garment Construction, and Design for a Fashion Collections, check out the website for more details.

Looking for something less extensive?
Simply want to learn to sew? Have a peek at our popular Learn To Sew classes. Running throughout the week including evenings and weekends they are flexible, affordable and fun.

Fashion Antidote Summer School

2011-06-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

For more information contact 0207 375 3235

Make the most of the sunny weather

2011-05-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Its another beautiful day on Brick Lane, why not get ready for summer with our Make a Dress workshop?

Spend the day in our Brick Lane Studio, learning all the skills you need to create a simple dress, and leave with your finished garment. Perfect for those just looking to gain a few more sewing skills, if you're interested in creating simple dresses, or even as a stepping stone if you're looking to embark on a career in fashion.

All equipment and patterns are provided, as well as expert one to one tuition, just bring your own fabric. For more info see here. We look forward to seeing you!

Rainy Day Knickers

2011-04-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

It's a bit of a damp and miserable day on Brick Lane today, so we're looking forward to the fun and frivolity of our next Knicker-making class!

One for the more established sewers, our design and make a pair of knickers class is the perfect way to spend a couple of Fridays with the girls. You will be taught the different styles of knickers to make, then design and make your own pattern to take away and make and finish your own pants to your design.

Definitley a class to brighten up a dull day!

The new programme gets under way

2011-03-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

This sunny weekend saw the long awaited start of our new programme, with the first of the Garment Construction tuition.

We’re really excited about this new edition to our courses; a comprehensive full programme of skills for the fashion industry, covering garment construction, pattern cutting, drawing and design and marketing aspects. Students on this course will learn all the skills they need to design, cut and make a commercially viable collection and to analyse their place within the market. This is the first time we have run such a full comprehensive course, and the first weekend saw a great turn out of eager students getting their teeth into some essential sewing skills.

Want to become a fashion expert?

By doing so, students can either gain a broad but detailed understanding of the fashion design industry as a whole on the full programme, or gain expertise in a specific skill through the smaller sections.

The sections are: Pattern Cutting, Garment Construction, and Design for a Fashion Collections, check out the website for more details.

A few places still remain on the individual segments, for more information please contact us on 0207 375 3235, or email to info@fashionantidote.com.

Do you dream of being a designer?

The Fashion Design - Design a Fashion Collection for a Target Customer segment will be running from Friday, June 3 to Friday, July 29. Focussing on the design process and analysing target customers and the commercial market, this block of classes will provide all the skills and knowledge a student needs to design a viable collection.

Taught by a team of experienced industry practitioners and tutors, the course covers a whole range of necessary skills and knowledge over 36 hours, perfect for to learn all the ins and outs of the fashion design world. Learn to create moodboards, analyse trends, and identify your target market; draw on inspirations and research to create a unique collection, and study the branding, costing and pricing and the technical drawings to realise it.

For a full break down of the extensive skills covered in the course, see the website here.

Looking for something less extensive? Simply want to learn to sew? Have a peek at our popular Learn To Sew classes.

Join the Debate: Do you need a degree to succeed?

2011-03-28T06:35:00.000-07:00

A Twitter debate today, sparked by Stylist Magazine, raised the question once again of whether in the current climate a degree is necessary to succeed in a career. The recent developments in tuition fees and the over subscription of university places aside, in the current difficult job market is a degree the best way to get the job you want?

The Twitter debate showed a diverse reaction to the question;

@Kanizxx: “I'm proud of my degree I think it shows dedication, commitment. Also skills such as research,writing,analysing, presenting”

@hkayjay “Interesting that many women now change career in 30s/40s + set up own business unrelated to degree”

@alihax “Unless it's a requirement in the career you've picked eg. medicine or law, a degree is just a help - success is up to you!”

At Fashion Antidote we believe that, in the fashion industry at least, a degree is not mandatory to success, and is in fact one of the reasons Fashion Antidote was set up in the first place. We believe that fashion education leaves something to be desired, with many students we have encountered leaving degrees unsatisfied and in debt, having gone to University because they were unaware of other options.

In such a competitive, creative and ever-changing field, expert skills and motivation take precedent over a qualification. For some, a degree is the perfect way to gain these skills and get the foot in the door to the career they want, but not for everyone; vocational courses like the ones we at Fashion Antidote offer, or internships and work experience can be just as valuable and beneficial.

We want to provide an alternative, professional level fashion education without the debt or commitment of a degree. If you have a passion for learning, a need to gain skills and a desire to get into the fashion industry, you don’t necessarily need to embark upon a degree to get where you want to be.

What do you think? Follow us on Twitter, join the debate - @fashion_antidot @stylistmagazine #lunchtimedebate

Fashion Antidote success stories - Kirby Stebbing

2011-03-10T04:52:00.000-08:00

Another success story, this time in the form of the inspirational Kirby Stebbing. Kirby visited our upcycling workshop at the Ethical fashion event at the Museum of Childhood. In the workshop we ripped up old shirts and created great unique skirts, in a variety of colours and fabrics. Kirby rose to the challenge and created the skirt you can see from the pictures below.

Here’s what Kirby says about us: “The tutors at the Fashion Antidote skirt workshop were really helpful and I was glued to their sewing machine creating the skirt from men's shirts. When I looked at my watch we'd missed the Tatty Divine workshop, bummer! I was a bit gutted but I think you'll agree it was worth sticking to the skirt making.”

Kirby was recently involved in an unfortunate road accident, and whilst being on the mend she has been dabbling in craft and creating beautiful handmade ditties, check out her blog, Kirby Jane crafty. As Kirby says in her blog review of the ethical fashion event, such a life changing experience has drastically changed her body image and given her a ‘life’s too short’ mentality. “I've never been much of a skirt wearer, I wish I'd had my legs out more before my accident but going through such a life changing experience and having my body image changed so dramatically has made me appreciate my body more. I didn't think twice when I started making this skirt the other night. I'm going to wear it with leggings and probably boots but I'm going to be proud of my body and the first skirt I've ever made!”

We’re so pleased to of been a part of Kirby’s inspiring story, we hope this is the first hand-made skirt of many!

Fashion Antidote at the Papered Parlour event at the V&A

2011-03-10T04:49:00.000-08:00

Samples from our Garment Construction workshops

Last Thursday saw The V&A Museum of Childhood team up with The Papered Parlour to hold "Ethical Fashion in the Age of Austerity" event. A mini festival of fair trade celebrating slow fashion.

There was a selection of London's finest crafty types, with workshops, talks and live performances throughout the night. Fashion Antidote had a stall and work shop there, to make a skirt from mens shirts. It was a great success, and those who took part were really pleased with the outcome. Including Kirby Stebbing, who then blogged about her experience. It was a heart warming story for us back in the office Monday morning, more about her to come.

From our 'make a pair of knickers' workshop

The workshop in full swing

Other stalls included Tatty Devine, Shoreditch Sisters, and many others while there was live music performances and talks happening including paper dress exhibits. The one I did happen to catch was Katie Antoniou who showed off some vintage styling.

Paper dresses

The event was part of Time Outs first Thursday's with an expected crowd of 400, 900 turned up, so it was a great success.

Fashion Antidote success stories - Vanessa Moore

2011-03-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

At Fashion Antidote, our main aim is to equip our students with the skills and confidence to put their sewing or design talent to use; whether that means creating their own business or achieving the job or the career they want to. Nothing makes us smile more than a student who is doing well, and Vanessa Moore is one such student.

Vanessa attended a business class with fashion Antidote in March of 2010, hoping to promote her bourgeoning business in jewellery and apparel. She says her time at Fashion Antidote helped her take her business further, and she now has a beautiful website, and her clothes are sold in boutiques in and around her home Montreal, and online on Etsy and Artfire stores.

Her unique jewellery designs are edgy and eye catching, with skull and spike motifs alongside precious stones and charms. For more of her pieces have a look at her website.

Make do & mend with Fashion Antidote and Cloth

2011-02-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

It’s no secret we’re all facing hard times, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all still look good, with a make do and mend attitude, and a little help along the way.

Classes in alteration from Fashion Antidote and online tips and projects from Cloth magazine are the perfect helping hand to restyling your own wardrobe. Our alteration and customising class is a great way to save money and prolong the life of your clothing, giving you all the basic skills to alter or repair your own clothes. Learn how to take up or let down hems, to lengthen or shorten a garment, how let out or take in seams to fit, and how to replace broken zips in skirts, trousers or jeans. You could also use this class to remake and restyle a favourite garment or vintage piece, and take away the skills to revamp your whole wardrobe.

Cloth is a smart and shiny magazine and website, offering inspiring, practical and easy-to-follow advice on dress making and sewing for any aspiring do-it-yourself-er. With online projects and sewing tips, and a dedicated magazine with events, products and things to do and make, there’s everything you need to get better at altering or reinventing your own clothes.

And don’t forget you’ll be helping the environment to, as what’s greener that saying no to fast fashion and hand embellishing or changing a garment? As Cloth magazine say, “We want to go back to the resourcefulness of our mothers’ and grandmothers’ generation where people would sew a button back on rather than throw something away.” Check out our alterations classes here, and cloth magazine online here.

Fashion Antidote Featured In Cloth Magazine

2011-02-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Those lovely people over at Cloth Magazine have featured Fashion Antidote on their website, click here to have a better look, and have a look around their site too.

Ethical Fashion in the age of austerity

2011-02-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

Fashion Antidote at the Ethical Fashion in the age of austerity event!

At the V&A museum of Childhood, 3rd March 6-9pm.

Garment making workshops - New Dates

2011-02-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Perfect for a follow on to our Learn To Sew course, or for anybody with a basic sewing knowledge. In our Garment Making courses you will learn how to use a commercial pattern, lay, mark and pin pattern to fabric and cut out. You will sew seams and darts, insert a concealed zip, attach a facing, make and set in sleeves, hem, press and finish your garment ready to wear.

Upcoming courses include:

Make a Dress, on March 20th
Make a Shirt, on March 27th
Make a Skirt, on April 7th. Check out the calendar on the website for more dates, or the garment construction section for all our current courses.

For something a little different, our Introduction to Corsetry course has a new dates, 12th-13th of March.Throughout the two day course you will learn to cut, construct and fit the corset to your own body, enabling you to gain some experience of bespoke garment construction, and leave with a made corset and your own pattern.

A peek inside our studio...

2011-02-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Based just off Brick Lane, our studio is an intimate, relaxed and friendly setting for all our courses. With all the equipment and facilities needed for all classes, from pattern cutting to design, business to alterations, our space is also used by fashion designers, pattern cutters, stylists and consultants.

Bright Young Things come to Selfridges

2011-02-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

The buying and creative teams at Selfridges have scoured the UK to find the most creative and exciting new names from the worlds of fashion and art. Naming them The Bright Young Things, they gave each a window in Selfridges and a chance to create pieces to go onsale in the shop.

Covering fashion and accessory designers, jewellers, milliners, set and prop designers, illustrators and an art collective, The Bright Young Things are a celebration of young talented individuals in the fashion industry, a theme close to Fashion Antidote’s heart too.

The New faces include:

Craig Lawrence, Sophie Stevens, Alex Noble, Patternity, Jessica Dance, Lee Roach, Little Glass Clementine, Martine Rose, Matthew Miller, Rhea Thierstein, New Power Studio, Yang Du, Chalie Le Mindu and Shao-Yen. Have a peek at their windows for Selfridges here.

Throughout Fashion Week some of these new faces will be holding workshops sharing their skills and craft, open to the public. From Craig Lawrences knitting workshops to Alex Nobles live Fashion Sculpture, these workshops allow us to see the artists at work and really appreciate their craft.

If the build up to London Fashion is already giving you the designer itch, of if you want to be the Bright Young Thing of the future, then why not enrol on one of our Garment Construction or Fashion Drawing and Illustration courses, and give it a go yourself?

Todays Sunny Learn To Sew Class

2011-01-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

Another full Learn To Sew class today; sunshine, calico, zipper foots and the whirr of many sewing machines.

If you would like to book your place on our next learn to sew course, click here and pick the best day for you. Already know the basics? Then why not try garment making, a skirt, pyjamas, jeans, there's plenty to choose from.

The Vintage Pattern Lending Library

2011-01-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

We came across this site on the $25vintage blog, and love their selection of original vintage patterns. Based in america, you can purchase patterns, or just have a browse through for some inspiration. We love this Vogue Paris original.

Brush up on your sewing skills - last minute places

2011-01-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

There are only 3 places left on our one day intensive learn to sew course for tomorrow, click here to get in quick and book your place!

Learn to sew is a great introduction to sewing skills, giving you a great basis to start your own sewing projects, to alter your own clothes or to progress onto any of our other courses. Feel free to call the studio on 0207 375 3235 if you have any questions.

Fashion Drawing and Illustration

2011-01-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

For all inspiring fashion designers, illustration and drawing is an integral part of the design process. More than a process though, fashion illustration is an art form, and one being celebrated at current in exhibition and print.

Amelia of Amelia’s Magazine, long-time illustration enthusiast, has recently published her own Fashion Illustration Compendium. The book is both a celebration of incredible fashion illustration and of new ethical designers, a landmark publication for responsible fashion.

Amelia says, “The book offers inspiration to aspiring fashion designers, illustrators, art directors and anyone who is interested in ethical fashion design. It features interviews on the design practice of the chosen 30 illustrators alongside nearly 50 boxout profiles of the very best in ethical fashion design, including clothing, footwear and jewellery.”

Featured ethical designers include Ada Zanditon, Beautiful Soul, Christopher Raeburn, Dem Collective, Edun, Fifi Bijoux, From Somewhere, Goodone, Henrietta Ludgate, Joanna Cave, Lu Flux, Minna, Nina Dolcetti, Partimi, Prophetik, Romina Karamanea and Ute Decker to name but a few.

The Design Museum is also celebrating fashion illustration, with its exhibition Drawing Fashion. This unique collection contains iconic images from Chanel, Dior, Viktor & Rolf and McQueen to name but a few, works that “define the fine art of illustrating fashion”, and are displayed alongside film clips, music and photography to instil a sense of the time they came from.

“The exhibition showcases fashion illustrators at their creative heights: Lepape at the beginning of the century, Gruau in the 40's and 50's, Antonio throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, to current artists Mats Gustafson, Aurore de la Morinerie and Francois Berthoud.”

Given you the fashion Illustration bug?

Then our Fashion Illustration and Drawing course is definitely for you. If you’re unsure if fashion design is for you, want to refine your style, or gain a better understanding of the design and illustration process, this course is designed to give you confidence and skill. The course provides an overview from the designer’s standpoint, of how a garment is designed following all the various stages from initial sketch, through working drawings to finished presentation illustrations.

In this class you will learn how use a variety of different media to draw the fashion figure and develop a set of poses. It will show you how to draw the body and face in proportion, to draw and render garment details and textile simulation and to produce a portfolio of fashion art suitable for college/university entry, for marketing or to enhance your employment opportunities. For more information, and to book your class, click here.

Drop in sewing sessions!

2011-01-11T08:11:00.000-08:00

Our drop in sewing sessions start tomorrow, and every Wednesday evening for 4 weeks. Pop along to the Brick Lane studio with any patterns or alterations you want to do, for a bit of guidance and one to one support. This is the perfect step after completing the Learn To Sew course, for those who want to develop their own sewing projects with help on hand.

New Course Dates 2011

2011-01-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

What better time to take up a new hobby than the new year?

Our first classes of 2011 start this week, with a few spaces left on the Thursday evening Learn to Sew session. Click here to find out more and secure your place. Though this saturday session is fully booked, there are more to follow, so keep your eyes on the blog, twitter or facebook to keep upto date.

Welcome to the Fashion Antidote Blog

2011-01-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Fashion Antidote is a small independent fashion school and studio, with an emphasis on fashion based, technique and skill building short courses. Placed in East London just off Brick Lane, Fashion Antidotes’ courses are affordable, professional and fun. Whether you are furthering existing fashion and textile skills, learning to alter and adjust clothes, or want to start sewing from scratch, come and get a real taste of the fashion industry, and find the course for you.

What we do...

For the beginners out there, our Learn to Sew courses offer tuition on all the basics of a sewing machine. With all the materials and facilities provided, you'll have everything you need to get to grips with basic sewing skills. Courses run in evenings, daytime and at weekends, so always working around your schedule.

For more the experienced of you, courses such as Garment making, Introduction to corsetry and Making jeans will further those existing skills, and for those who want to take their skills further into building a business, Fashion Antidote also offers business consultancy, to help get you started.