Sewing Patterns, Fitting Advice and Retreats with Izzy from Izzo Sew Studio

In this episode, Izzy shares her inspiring journey from a career in landscape architecture to launching her own sewing business, Izzo Sew Studio. 

She talks about how her passion for sewing grew into a platform that helps others build confidence in making and fitting their own clothes. 

Izzy discusses the power of sewing as a form of self-expression, a more sustainable approach to fashion, and a way to connect with a supportive creative community.

We also dive into her approach to garment fitting and pattern drafting, along with practical insights that can help sewists better understand their bodies and achieve clothes that truly fit. 

Izzy shares what inspired her to start hosting sewing retreats, workshops, and socials, and how these events bring people together to learn, share skills, and enjoy sewing in a welcoming environment. 

Whether you're just starting out or looking to develop your sewing skills further, this episode is full of inspiration, practical advice, and encouragement for anyone interested in making their own wardrobe. 🧵✨

Key Takeaways:

• Izzy began her sewing journey in Nepal in the foothills of the Himalayas 
• She qualified as a Landscape Architect but now runs her own business as a Pattern Designer and Fitting Expert
• Izzy runs Izzo Sew Studio with her husband Tim
• They run several retreats across the country including The Lake District, The Peak District and Ascot.
• Izzy feels that making your own clothes is a reflection of who you are and repeatedly wearing your handmade wardrobe makes it sustainable.

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Guest Details: 

Instagram - @izzosewstudio

Website - https://www.izzosewstudio.com

Facebook: Izzo Sew Studio

New Beginner Bespoke Dressmaking Course: https://www.izzosewstudio.com/learn-to-sew

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Izzy and Izzo Sew Studio

00:43 Izzy's Sewing Beginnings

02:37 Career Transition to Sewing

08:26 A Day in the Life of Izzy

10:33 Benefits of Learning to Sew

14:32 Sewing Retreats: A Creative Escape

18:03 Personalised Guidance and Fitting Techniques

22:31 Sewing Social Days: Community and Connection

22:48 Sewing and Sustainability: A Perfect Match

24:17 Exciting Upcoming Events and Workshops

28:56 Fun and Games: This or That?

31:49 Outro

Transcript

Gemma Daly (00:11)
thank you for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast and welcome to the show.

Izzy (00:16)
you so much Gemma, thanks for having me today. Sure, yeah, hi, so yeah, my name is Izzy. I'm the owner of Izzosew Studio and I just love teaching the art of sewing your own clothes. I love empowering people to create a wardrobe that reflects who they actually are on the inside, out and one that is beautifully fitted and that they can just go outside in and just be a wonderful.

Gemma Daly (00:18)
You're welcome. I wondered if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.

I love that. And we're definitely gonna dig into all of those details throughout the chat. But I believe you had quite an interesting start to your sewing journey. Are you able to share that with us?

Izzy (00:57)
Yeah, so in terms of how I learned how to sew or yeah, okay. So when I was a kid, I grew up in Nepal, is in between India and China, literally in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Gemma Daly (01:00)
Mmm.

Izzy (01:09)
And so when, if I wanted a new piece of clothing, I literally had to go to the bazaar with my mom, pick some fabric and then go to the tailor's and then, you know, sketch out what I wanted and the tailor's would then sew it up and next week pick it up. my relationship with clothes right from very beginning has always been an expectation of a bespoke fit and something that you can design. I mean, why wouldn't it be?

Gemma Daly (01:33)
Yeah.

Izzy (01:33)
But,

you know, as we moved and also then my mum started to teach me how to sew as well. think a lot of your listeners that's going to resonate with I think a lot of learning how to sew is often passed down through the generations, isn't it? I've got lots of fond memories of, you know, summer holidays spent sewing circle skirts and, you know, going to the fabric shop and picking a pattern and fabric and just giving it a go, you know.

And my mom and dad always really encouraged me to be creative and it's something that I've just really enjoyed. Yeah, so that's how I started.

Gemma Daly (02:07)
Lovely and if you don't mind me asking how come you grew up in Nepal?

Izzy (02:12)
Great question.

And so my dad is a surgeon and he went out there to do pro bono work and basically just took the entire family. So yeah, he worked in a hospital in Tansen it's a little village and yeah, the whole family just went out with him. So that was for seven years that we did that. I was two when we went out and know, sort of eight, nine when we came back. But yeah, so was very much the formative years of growing

Gemma Daly (02:28)
amazing.

how lovely. Now I believe that you've had quite a big career pivot in your time, so you started as a chartered landscape architect, is that right? Can you talk us through how you got to where you are today?

Izzy (02:44)
Yeah. Yeah. Good to hear.

Yeah, I'd love to. Yeah, thanks for the did we start? I've always loved sewing and that's always been part of my DNA, you so I've grown up. And it's something that's continued on throughout, you know, everything, every phase of life, but to different levels of, you know,

engagement. But when I was thinking about what to do and what to become, what job did I want to do? I definitely knew I wanted to do something creative and something that was designing in 3D. And landscape architecture just seemed like a really nice fit. And so I studied landscape architecture, became chartered, did a career for 15 years, like some amazing businesses in Sheffield and in the north.

I designed a lot of schools and lots of public works. That was really fun. And I've always loved designing in 2D for a 3D result. And I think my brain has just been trained really thoroughly in that process of designing, know, having a concept, sketching it out, and then thinking about how that could be created in 3D and then actually seeing it built or seeing it made. And I think that that...

Gemma Daly (03:47)
Thank

Izzy (04:00)
understanding of how to sew your garments probably fed into that initially, know, that appreciation of 3D design. And then as I, you know, of evolved, I think it was sort of like 2018, I started to really get into sewing again, you know, the real passions that every evening wants me to sew. And, you know, at that point, I think that whole, training of the landscape architecture really then started to play into the sewing skills and

Gemma Daly (04:15)
You

Izzy (04:26)
being able to design 2D for a 3D result. You know, just having that eye for it was really helpful at that stage. So that was the landscape architecture, history, background. Yeah, basically 2018 started to really get into sewing. I did some pattern drafting courses here in Sheffield at Nottingham Trent Uni and then just really got into that whole, yeah, pattern drafting side of things.

Gemma Daly (04:33)
Absolutely.

Yeah, so your hobby sort of took over in a way, is that right?

Izzy (04:55)
I think one of the things that made it really simple for me was obviously having that brain that kind of just loved that way of thinking. But also a lot of the natural skill sets of designing in landscape worked really smoothly and this really smooth transition into designing garments. So for example, as soon as I did my first block, I drew it up in CAD, which was the software that we actually now use to create our own patterns, our own pattern range.

And like those skills of how to use that computer program already there and really transferable and things like Adobe Illustrator, you all of those skills that and tools that we use across both trades. that was a really easy transition for me in terms of, you know, kind of seeing how the business could And I think what's question? How did we move into setting up the business? Is that what you're asking? Yeah. Yeah. So then.

Gemma Daly (05:44)
Yeah, let's go into that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Izzy (05:48)
Basically, trained myself up a lot. And then I remember one evening just sitting down and chatting to Tim my husband and just saying, you know what, I'd love to set up a sewing business. I'm really passionate about this. I love sewing my own clothes. I love pattern designing. And I'd love to become a pattern designer, formally give it a go. So together, the two of us decided, let's do this. And at the time I was working, you know, part-time four days a week, as a landscape architect for one day after. And my husband, you know, was saying he's an architect.

So we both kind of dedicated a bit of time to designing our first pattern, which was the Rivlin ruffle dress. I'm going to refer to my notes and check out when it actually designed that pattern. So that one, I can't remember when it was, like four years ago, five years ago. But we didn't want to, so I wanted to become a pattern designer and that was where I was at mentally, but I didn't, I wanted to set up the business in such a way that it was really sustainable. So in order to fund the...

Gemma Daly (06:27)
That's fine.

Izzy (06:42)
process of creating a pattern, know, paying for professional pattern graders and getting all the products printed and all of that. We wanted to fund that. So I started to teach beginner and learn how to sew classes. And I just discovered I loved teaching and that's, you know, how the business sort of started to evolve the very first few years, five years ago. always mentored people professionally and I've always really enjoyed that. that sort of teaching people and showing people how to do something is something I

love. yeah, so then it's just basically evolved. So the business now, we have a range of, you know, four sewing patterns, which we just do one a year. They're an absolute joy to create the sewing community. And then we also, I also spend a lot of time teaching. So I did some further teaching courses as well to make sure I was leveling up those skills. But yeah, I teach in Sheffield, but teach a lot of pattern drafting because I love pattern drafting. And we also host about 10, maybe 11 sewing retreats across the country.

as well which are fabulous and teach online as well and we do social sewing days in Sheffield. So we just love creating space for the sewing community to learn, to grow and also just to connect with each other.

Gemma Daly (07:54)
That's so lovely. And it's really interesting about, you know, you wouldn't necessarily put those two careers together. So, or I wouldn't anyway, but as it turns out, there's so many transferable skills, isn't there? Like you said.

Izzy (08:10)
Absolutely, yeah, 100%. I mean, as long as you've got that design flare in your head and understanding of how a design can evolve, it's really transferable. It is quite amazing when you think about it, but it's fundamentally very simple, isn't it? It's design.

Gemma Daly (08:26)
Yeah.

Izzy (08:26)
Yeah.

Gemma Daly (08:26)
So you mentioned that obviously you work with your husband Tim on the business. I was wondering what a day in the life looks like for you guys at the moment.

Izzy (08:38)
Yeah, so three years ago, I quit my landscape job. So that two years after setting up the business. I started working full time for myself. So a day in the life of is me working full time in my home studio.

and ⁓ we do prepping for events and also teaching online, filming video content, educational video content. And so I kind of head up that side of things, the actual doing and producing. And my husband, Tim, is amazing at keeping his eye on, he does all the graphics for us. So he does all the graphic design, all of the lovely booklets that we create for our patterns, they're all like, know, graphicked up by him.

He's amazing. And actually we work together incredibly well. We're very different and we have very different skill sets. So actually when we come together, it works incredibly smoothly. He's really got an amazing eye for detail. And yeah, he's very good with sort of sorting out all the accounts and doing all of that. Whereas I'm very much front of house designing and hosting everything. So it's a brilliant team. yeah, we have a meeting every Monday, sit down together and chat.

go through it and have like lists of things. Yeah, it's a really good team. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (09:50)
Aww.

Yeah, that's really lovely. You're actually the second husband and wife team I've spoken to recently. It was Yvette from Stash Hub. She works with her husband Doug, so that's really nice.

Izzy (09:58)
No. Yes. Yeah.

It's lovely isn't it? But it's worth saying as well, it's not just me and Tim. So we also have a lovely lady called Sarah who comes and works with me occasionally. And then Sophie is my sewing instructor that I work with and she's been with me right from the very beginning. So, you know, it's a good little team that we have here.

Gemma Daly (10:22)
Fantastic. Now I wanted to ask you, because obviously you teach a lot of people through your work, what do you think are the benefits of learning to sew?

Izzy (10:33)
Okay, well first of all, I think it's really good to be creative and I think it's an incredibly mindful hobby. So when you sit down and actually sew and you'll have experiences too, Gemma, that your mind is just completely taken off anything else that you're thinking about.

Gemma Daly (10:33)
Yeah, I know.

Izzy (10:51)
and you're literally able to sit there and focus on the thing you're doing. You can't think about anything else, it's wonderful. So I think it's really good just for like resetting your mind and, you know, just focusing on creating something physical. I know that for me, when I was working, you know, in that corporate job, being able to come home and start to physical rather than, you know, tapping away on the computer and, know, picking up emails and doing all of that and actually being able to produce something physical is really beneficial.

So that's definitely one. I think it's fabulous for expressing who you are. I mentioned at very beginning, I think the clothes that we wear have an incredible power to make us feel stronger and more representative of who we are. And so I think being able to sew your own wardrobe creates something unique that reflects who you are is a really, powerful statement. And I know...

Gemma Daly (11:27)
Mm-hmm.

Izzy (11:45)
If I walk into a room and I've got, know, a top I've made or a dress I've made, I feel so confident because I'm like, this is me, this is me. And a lot of the way people see us is, you know, it's visual, isn't it? So it's a really nice way to sort of say to the world, this is me, here I am. And I'm completely unique. And also I think for a lot of people, the benefit is that the fit, you know, you're creating clothes that fit your body and everybody's body is completely different. It's beautifully uniquely made.

And having garments that affect that and make you feel that's amazing. Having clothes that feel comfortable when you wear them. Because, and I think the other thing I see a lot is that people will say to me, in my body shape, changes and fluctuates throughout the day. And actually, one of the benefits of sewing is you can choose design features that address how you want to feel and what you know your body needs to, you know, accommodate, really.

So for example, I had this amazing woman on a pattern drafting course recently and she said that every pair of trousers or waistbands that she puts in, she will always insert seven centimeters of elastic just at the side of the back over 10 centimeters of the waistband so that it gives her that flexibility to change. So waistband might change throughout the day. It reflects that and it accommodates that. I just think.

Gemma Daly (13:02)
Yeah. ⁓

Izzy (13:04)
Those simple little hacks of learning how to sew, learning what your body needs. Just amazing. Life changing.

Gemma Daly (13:10)
It is an amazing hobby, isn't it? And there's so much wrapped up in it. But I love the point that you make about self-expression because, you know, we've only got a few ways to express ourselves visually, I guess, haven't we? Our haircut, our clothing, you know, and it's such a big part of people's personality.

Izzy (13:24)
Yeah. Hmm

Gemma Daly (13:33)
Do you see people visibly change through your teaching? Like they come in as one person and maybe go out as another?

Izzy (13:43)
I see over time, so we've obviously been doing the business for five years now, and I've seen over time, our regular clients evolve their wardrobe to reflect who they are, absolutely. And also, it's been a real joy to see their skill set evolve as well, so they can take on more complex projects. Maybe they started just learning how to sew a dress in a day, and then suddenly they're making jeans, or they're making their own spoke garments.

Gemma Daly (13:45)
Mm-hmm.

Izzy (14:09)
And so I think rather than them changing, I think I'm seeing their wardrobe reflect who they are better now. It's beautiful. Yeah. no, that's a really good point. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (14:15)
Yeah, I think a lot of people's confidence does boost though, doesn't it, when you actually find things that suit you or fit you. So you can evolve in that way as well, I think.

A large part of your business is, like you mentioned, offering those sewing retreats and you've based them in some stunning locations. Tell us about where the retreats are located and what people can expect if they were to sign up to one.

Izzy (14:47)
⁓ yeah, sewing retreats are an absolute joy to host. So we host about 10 a year. We host them across the country because we understand people might not want to travel seven or eight hours to one of our retreats. So we host them in the latest rate for peace.

Gemma Daly (14:59)
Yeah.

Izzy (15:02)
peak district and also in Ascot near London, which is a new one for this year. It's really what can you expect? Two weeks before you get a one-to-one, well you get the offer of a one-to-one Zoom call with me. So we've got 20 minutes so we can just sit down. I guess that's what we're doing now. Sit down and just chat through your sewing goals and know, what you're wanting to sew. you're a complete beginner, then I'll advise you on patterns and fabric to pick. you're

you know, it's just good to get heads up on what people are trying to achieve throughout the weekend, because we really want to help people achieve their learning goals. And sometimes people come with very specific learning goals and they're wonderful. And other times people come and they're just like, you know what, I just want to relax and slow and really happy just to sew whatever they want. And that's also really wonderful. But we, know, we understand everyone learns differently and it comes to different reasons. So you like to offer this young call And then it's basically an all inclusive weekend.

where you can just come and stay in a lovely hotel set within beautiful grounds. We've specifically selected hotels that are set within nature because we acknowledge that it's incredibly relaxing and really good for your mental health to spend time outdoors and to have that visual connection with outdoor space. So that's been really intentional, picking good

Gemma Daly (16:18)
Hehehehe

Izzy (16:19)
when you enter the sewing room, it literally is just come and sit down and sew. You get a massive table and there's overlockers, irons, everything you could possibly need. And we have two sewing inspectors. So, you know, we're kind of wandering around the room helping people out when they need it. And, you know, it is a real joy. think one of the lovely things about our retreats, always get comments about how relaxing and how calm and how friendly, you know, the places are. We get a lot of people who come

solos that they don't know anyone else. And it's just lovely to see that sense of community evolving and, you friendships forming and advice being swapped around about, you know, where they've been fabric shopping or which patterns are, you know, good. And another wonderful thing is actually we always do like a show and tell at the end of like what everyone's created. And it is amazing actually to see a massive range of projects and

because you've seen them evolving over two or three days, we all share that like, well done, congratulations, that joy of making with each other, which is just, it's amazing and really, really inspiring. Yeah, so we're continually expanding the retreats because they're really popular and obviously, we love posting them. Yeah. Thank you.

Gemma Daly (17:20)
Yeah.

That sound amazing. When's

the next one you've got coming up?

Izzy (17:34)
In a week and a half. Yes,

they were up in the lakes, literally on the shores of Ellswater. was a lovely hotel with its own private jetty out onto the lake. to come to swim times, You'll be very welcome. Yeah, they're wonderful.

Gemma Daly (17:45)
I'm very jealous. I will, I will. Thank you.

So on the retreat then, do you offer like teaching and fitting advice or are people largely doing that on their own?

Izzy (18:04)
so it's not a formal workshop. that's not the case. But I'm definitely, I spend most of my time fitting and helping techniques. So often someone will get to a certain point and maybe they've tapped it together or they've sewn up a twirl and then we'll spend 20 minutes in front of a mirror and we'll be changing things and pinning things. And then once we've done that and made the alterations to make it fit beautifully, I'll then sit back down with them.

Gemma Daly (18:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Izzy (18:31)
one-on-one and just talk through all the alterations required for that pattern. So it's a very clear process and I always try and make sure that people leave that whole section of their journey knowing what they've done, why they've done it and how to do it again at home. Because, know, fitting and pattern alteration isn't that difficult. It's just knowing what you need to do and how, and once you've got that confidence with one or two adjustments.

it's very easy then to continue to learn how to do that and keep refining your fit. So no, think one of the most common things I get asked for is how do I sew an invisible zip? That is like the most every single retreat I can guarantee there's going to be an invisible zip and a mini workshop. And if there's enough people that want to do it, then yeah, we'll sit down and do a formal workshop. But otherwise it is all, you know, one on one as people need it. your hands up watching this helpful video. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (19:24)
Yeah, that sounds really great because I think knowing why you're doing something is so important, isn't it? Because then, like you say, you will carry that on in the rest of your practice. Because sometimes, well, I still come across things and I'm like, what do I tackle first? It's really hard to deal with when you don't have that advice on hand, but it sounds amazing.

Izzy (19:29)
Yeah, it's really hard. Yeah.

Yeah, and also I think helps the, you know, pinning. People find it really difficult to fit their own, you know, especially with the back.

Gemma Daly (19:52)
Mmm.

Izzy (19:54)
the sides or, you know, we just go back to the thing. I always say to people, fit the thing that is the biggest issue first, because then, you know, if it's just generally too big, it all in, because quite often that will resolve the, or, you know, a few of the other things at the same time. So it's not necessarily that there's a set, you know, process is the most important thing is sorting out the apex location. You know, it's what's the biggest, where, where do you see the biggest problem is fit that first and then work down from there.

Gemma Daly (20:21)
That's a good tip. I'll remember that one. So you also run some sewing social days, don't you, in Sheffield? Tell us about those ones as well.

Izzy (20:31)
Yeah.

Thanks, Gemma. Yeah, these are a joy to host. So we started these probably about five years ago in Sheffield. We hire out a big church hall and we get usually between 40 and 50 people coming and we do them six times a year.

It's a wonderful space, it's a really big space and it's warm and it's light which I think is essential for sewing isn't it? Especially when you're sat down all day, like you really need to get a sew. Yeah absolutely so it's lovely yeah so nine days to four thirty we sew. We do afternoon tea which is know cake and prosecco at three thirty and that's to encourage everyone to actually just get up and start chatting because it's social as well isn't it.

Gemma Daly (20:55)
Optimum conditions.

Izzy (21:14)
And then we always end the day with an hour of beginner friendly, relax, stretch and breathe Pilates. And we've done that right from the very beginning. And it's not an extra, it's part of your day. Because I think so often you can be hunched over our same machine all day and actually just to then just let our shoulders relax and to stretch our body out and just to honor our body as much as we've been honoring our mind in our creative journey.

Gemma Daly (21:14)
Mm-hmm.

Izzy (21:39)
just to finish the day, just stretching out again is really good for our bodies and for our minds. So we've really done that and it just, you can see the transformation, people go, you know, upstairs into the the pilates space, they'll come back down, they're just like, it's a really nice, yeah, so it's a wonderful, wonderful time and we love hosting the socials

Gemma Daly (21:55)
Yeah.

it sounds delightful and I will luckily be joining you in May, which I'm very excited about. Yeah.

Izzy (22:08)
Yes, you are, aren't you?

Yeah, yeah, I forgot to say as well, patterns unused patterns of and fabric swaps as well and me made garment swaps. I think sometimes people find they've sewn something up and then it's not quite what they imagined. And so it's nice to have an opportunity to give it to someone else who will value it as much having known the journey it's taken to make them, you know, make the actual garment.

Gemma Daly (22:17)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right. So sort of on that vein then, because you touched on it earlier, but I wanted to talk a little bit about sustainability and whether you think that sewing your own clothes does go hand in hand with sustainability.

Izzy (22:48)
Yeah, absolutely, 100%. know it's a really big word and a really big topic, but I think that if you are making clothes that fit you,

that reflect who you are, that you feel comfortable in, you're going to wear them. And if you're wearing your clothes, that's a sustainable wardrobe. So I know that there's a lot of sustainable topics you could talk about in terms of fabric and how it's sourced, how it's dyed, how it's created. But fundamentally, by filling your wardrobe with clothes you're going to actually wear, you're creating a sustainable wardrobe.

And I honestly think my wardrobe is much more sustainable now than it has ever been. But, know, because of that, and I think that's, I think a lot of would say the same. I spoke to an expert about this topic years ago, and I remember her saying to me, well, if you wear something, you know, more than 30 times, it becomes sustainable. And that's always struck me as a really liberating way to look at sustainability within our wardrobe.

Because, yeah, if we're wearing it often enough, it's yeah.

Gemma Daly (23:55)
Excellent, really good insights there, everybody has a different take on things, don't they? And like you say, it's such a huge topic, but I agree, if you're wearing things you love over and over again, then it is sustainable.

Do you have any exciting plans that are imminent for yourself or the business?

Izzy (24:17)
I do, I do. So

when this podcast goes out, when it airs, I will literally be on a train going down to the Stitch Festival in London for the first time. I have not been there before and I'm hosting nine pattern drafting workshops. Really exciting, over four days. We're doing like one hour mini they approached me to ask did you want to do some workshops?

Gemma Daly (24:27)
Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Izzy (24:40)
what would be helpful? You haven't got all day and I'm used to teaching workshops that go on for three days. So kind of thinking about what can I do in an hour was a really good challenge. so I was thinking, are the problem areas? Where do people struggle? What could I help them with? And I was thinking, I get a lot of people come to me at retreats and they say, I've got my block. I went to a course, know I've drawn it up. I've got my dress block. I've got my trousers up.

Gemma Daly (24:43)
Hmm

Mm-hmm.

Izzy (25:09)
sleeve block, skirt block, but I actually don't know what to do with it now. And that's something I hear quite a lot. People seem to have the blocks but not the confidence to know how to design with it. So what I've chosen to do and what I've developed is four separate mini workshops all one hour long, and each one addresses a different block and just shows you a couple of different ways, a few different ways of how to alter that block to create different patterns.

And I'm really excited about this because I genuinely think it's going to like, we're going to get those like, know, like click moments for people. I love that moment. And, know, just showing people how to do different methods with like slashing spread or gathering, changing the block to add volume. It's going to be like, not going to be revolutionary, but it's going to be amazing.

Gemma Daly (25:58)
It will be revolutionary for some people. Yeah.

Izzy (26:01)
I hope so. Yeah, I hope it's really inspiring.

you know, they're going to go away with a couple of new techniques and having, you know, experienced it, you know, with someone who knows that they're doing it and, you know, they're going to go away with loads of confidence. And, yeah, those were sold really well. So I think that's hit the, I think it's responded well to the market demand. So that's really exciting. And then, yes, we are literally next week. So we will already have done this by the time this podcast airs

We're launching a brand new series, which is teaching people how to sew their own clothes. And it's like a whole video series. There's about 30 little videos ranging from like three minutes to 10 minutes.

so we wanted to help beginners learn how to sew and also learn how to create a bespoke wardrobe right from the very beginning. So we're like taking away all the stigma associated with pattern drafting and we're just saying right from the beginning you're going to create your own wardrobe based on your own body dimensions. So the very first project is a tote bag, I've not got it here, but we're literally getting like a notebook and saying measure the notebook.

And then we're going to create pattern and tote bag. It's your notebook. So I'm not saying, you know, this this tote bag is going to be 20 centimeters by, you know, 40 centimeters. I'm saying, what size do you want it to be? And I'm going to show you how to create a tote bag pattern based on just measuring something really simple. Project two is doing a really simple gathered skirt, a tiered gathered skirt with an elasticated waistband. So literally just nice rectangles, really simple to put together.

Gemma Daly (27:20)
Yeah.

Izzy (27:37)
And then project three is this jersey top actually. So learning how to measure your bust and your waist and then creating something that just fits really easily. So we're totally demystifying that whole thing of like, pattern drafting is only for experts And just saying, right from the beginning, just start designing, just go for it. And I'm so excited about this course because I think it's really going to unlock a lot of creativity for the community.

Gemma Daly (27:52)
Yeah.

That is really exciting and how different as well, like bravo!

Izzy (28:09)
It's been

really fun to film actually, I really enjoyed the process of thinking like what's going to be helping people and how is this going to fit into their wardrobe and what's a nice easy win. I purposefully tackled one jersey project and one woven project because I want to demystify and take away that, you know, I don't like sewing with jersey or jersey's too hard to sew with.

Gemma Daly (28:27)
Mm-hmm.

Izzy (28:34)
It's not, it's just having the right tools, isn't it? So we're going to teach you how to do that, it's very exciting. You're always with me, you're always lovely. It's the real joy to have a job where you can, you know, do sewing and do what you love doing and help people do that too.

Gemma Daly (28:37)
That's right. It is very exciting. Excellent. So lots of cool plans on the horizon. You're going to be very busy. Yeah.

So just to tie up the interview Izzy, I like to play a little game of this or that. Is that okay with you? Yeah? Okeydokey. So an organised stash or creative chaos.

Izzy (29:03)
Yeah, let's do it.

Organized stash. Mm-hmm, got lots of boxes sorted with lots of nice fabric in its labels, yeah.

Gemma Daly (29:13)
I feel like I could tell that was gonna come, you're very meticulous.

Very good. ⁓

Bold prints or classic plains?

Izzy (29:29)
and actually go towards bold prints. This is obviously a classic chain though, so I feel like I said the wrong thing there. But no, definitely drawn to prints, yeah.

Gemma Daly (29:38)
Tea or coffee?

teaching or designing.

Izzy (29:44)
teaching people how

Gemma Daly (29:47)
Yep.

Knits or wovens.

scissors or rotary cutter.

Izzy (29:56)
it's scissors all the way, 100%. meal out, yeah, definitely. Yeah, wear all the clothes and that's, yeah, someone else cook just be in a nice environment, like, yeah, 100%. and summer, I love summer. Love with it, sunshine. I we're all feeling it right now, aren't we?

Gemma Daly (29:58)
A meal out or a takeaway? You can wear all those nice clothes.

Yeah. Yeah. Spring, summer or autumn, winter?

gosh, yeah, please spring. Come on.

instructions to the letter or improvise.

Izzy (30:29)
I improvise a lot more now. Yeah. Yeah. my gosh. Always pre-wash. Always. What? my gosh.

Gemma Daly (30:32)
you're experienced isn't it so yeah and the last one pre-wash fabric or live dangerously

Yeah, I know I'm the same.

Izzy (30:48)
As soon as I buy fabric and come home, it's straight in the washing machine and then it's iron and pressed and it's ready to go when I feel the vibes. Yeah, definitely.

Gemma Daly (30:52)
Yep.

I'm trying to weedle out those ones that live dangerously with that question. There are.

Izzy (31:03)
You know, there are a few and I think they get by

with it because they've got the personalities that can just go for it. good for them. Yeah, so please do visit our website. It's izzosewstudio.com and we're also on Instagram, izzosewstudio as well and Facebook. So yeah, do give us a follow. We'd love to welcome you into our little community, our little corner of internet. ⁓

Gemma Daly (31:08)
Those reckless, you know, just go for anything. So where can people find you Izzy?

Perfect. And obviously I'll link all of those details in the show notes, but I just want to thank you for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast today.

Izzy (31:39)
Thank you, Gemma It's been a joy speaking to you today and yeah, hear your story as well a little bit as well. Thank you. Gemma, ciao ciao.

Gemma Daly (31:44)
well you take care.

Bye.