Why You Should Take a Sewing Class Taught by Experts

Teacher Kenneth King fits Laura's dress on her in class. Laura bought that stunning fabric at Lace Star; cosmetics heiress Aerin Lauder wears a dress made of the same material in the latest InStyle magazine.

Dear readers, I am here today to tell you that if you've never taken a sewing class from the masters, this is something you should definitely add to your life list.

I'll admit I hesitated before signing up for the "Sit and Sew" hosted by Susan Khalje and Kenneth King. Even though it was being held in NYC and I could skip airfare and hotel, this is still an expensive class. But I haven't taken an extended sewing class since I was 15 and I felt it was time for some hands-on help. So I mailed a check and decided that I would make a strapless dress for my daughter Annie, complete with a boned bodice—something I've never sewn before.

After four days of intensive learning and lots of sewing, particularly hand sewing, I emerged with a dress that's on its way to being beautiful and a head exploding with knowledge. Susan and Kenneth are excellent teachers, dear readers. I mostly worked with Susan on my dress, as she is a couture sewer extraordinaire and could probably bone a dress blindfolded. She patiently guided me every step of the way, always speaking to me and my classmates in a gentle voice, like a nursery school teacher soothing a room of cranky four-year-olds. (That's Susan in the orange jacket.)

And Kenneth is the King of Fit. I wish I had brought along a muslin or two just to have him work it over on me. He has a four-part article on fit appearing in Threads soon and I am eager to read it. And don't let those serious head shot photos of Kenneth you've seen around fool you: The man is a hoot! He dispenses anecdotes as quickly as he can spot a poorly drafted sleeve cap. My classmates and I loved seeing pieces of his fun and funky vintage wardrobe and the fur jackets he made (left).

I still have a lot of work ahead on Annie's strapless dress, but I'm confident about what I have to do next and feel like I could easily tackle a couture little black dress. In sum, these are the benefits I experienced from taking this class:

• Seeing live how things are done. It's one thing to read a Threads article or watch a video, it's something completely else to observe firsthand. For example, picked zippers always look so hard to accomplish, but then Susan conducted a mini-lesson on them and we were all amazed at how easy picked zippers actually are.

• Getting immediate assistance and guidance from two sewing pros. I never felt lost or unsure of myself because Susan and Kenneth were always available to point us in the right direction.

• Seeing and learning from what my classmates made. As we were tightly packed into the sewing studio we couldn't help but watch and learn from each other. Two women were making ball gowns and it was interesting seeing those take shape. Laura was working on achieving perfect fit through a sloper, and Joanne and Ann were wrestling with expensive lace while Kristine (left) quilted her Chanel jacket. It was all so...interesting!

• Broadening my knowledge by watching mini-lessons from Susan and Kenneth on a variety of topics. I lost the paper where I wrote down all the tutorials the two gave, but here are a few I remember: inserting a picked zipper, making a Chinese boullion knot, attaching a couture lining, shaping lace, working with trim, inserting a gusset, and boning a bodice.

• Shopping for fabric and trim with a pro. Susan took us on field trips to Lace Star and M&J Trims and showed us what she thought was fabulous. Now I pride myself on having a decent eye for trims but I pale in comparison to Susan. She made some knock-em-dead trim and button choices for Kristine's Chanel jacket.

If I can swing it and it doesn't interfere with taking Annie off to college, I'll definitely take this class again with Susan and Kenneth. Have I convinced you to join me there?!

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Coming soon at Lindsay T Sews: Reviews of Lace Star and Sew Fast, Sew Easy, my completed Butterick robe, hand-embroidering a monogram, the making of a strapless dress, and why I'd rather pay $30 a yard for fabric than $6 a yard. Have a great Labor Day weekend (U.S.) and I'll be back next week!