Fashion school supplies and tools showing return to formal fashion education and garment construction training

WHY I WENT BACK TO FASHION SCHOOL

For years, sewing sat quietly in the background of my life. I had learned the basics at school in the UK, made clothes as a teenager, and later tailored all of my work suits but over time, life took over. Moving to the US, raising children, and building a career meant that making became something I remembered more than something I practised.

During Covid, that shifted.

My social media feeds began filling with sewing videos makers cutting fabric, assembling garments, sharing small techniques that transformed simple projects into polished pieces. I watched them thinking, I can do that. But I also knew I wanted more than just sewing again. I wanted my work to look intentional and professional, not homemade.

Improving Sewing Skills

Initially, I wasn’t looking to return to formal education. I was really just searching for a garment construction class something practical that would refine my technique and improve finish. Pressing, sequencing, accuracy—the quiet details that make a garment look considered rather than improvised.

Sewing had been part of my education before, but pattern making had always felt unfinished. At school in the UK, continuing on to drafting required staying until age eighteen. At the time, I wanted independence, a job, and my own money  and like most of my friends, I left. Sewing was something I enjoyed, but it wasn’t the path I followed then.

Years later, with my children heading into high school and more time opening up in my days, the timing finally felt right to return to it.

That’s when I came across the Fashion School of Florida.

After speaking with the owner, I enrolled in Sewing for Beginners—a class I was hesitant about. I already knew how to sew, and starting at the beginning felt unnecessary. But it was required, and I approached it as a stepping stone rather than a destination. I've written more about the learning environment and teaching approach separately.

What surprised me was how much value there was in returning to fundamentals within a structured learning environment.

While attending Sewing for Beginners in person, I also enrolled in Garment Construction 1 and 2 online. Revisiting foundational skills while simultaneously moving into more technical work shifted how I understood garment making—not just how things are done, but why.

By the time the beginner course came to an end, I was fully invested. What began as a practical decision to improve the finish of my work became a deeper commitment to learning, discipline, and craft. That path eventually led me into pattern making for children’s wear, and far beyond what I initially expected.

This series explores how returning to formal training reshaped the way I make today.

Where I Studied

The skills and techniques discussed in this article were developed during my time at the Fashion Institute of Florida. Their comprehensive curriculum in garment construction, pattern making, and professional fashion practices provided the foundation that continues to shape my work today.

Continue the Series

This is the first in a seven-part series on returning to formal fashion education:

  1. Why I Went Back to Fashion School (you are here)
  2. Inside the Fashion School of Florida
  3. What Fashion School Taught Me About Construction
  4. Learning Pattern Making Changed The Way I See Clothes
  5. How Formal Training Shapes My Work Today
  6. From the Classroom to the Runway NYFW 2024
  7. My 2nd Season at New York Fashion Week

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