Last week I attended a short course as part of London Craft Week. I only did one event for this year’s Craft Week, compared to last year when I did something everyday. The programme didn’t have as many exciting workshops and the ones that did catch my eye were either fully booked or on at times that didn’t suit me. However, I did find the Couture Micro-Beading Embroidery class at West Dean London campus which suited me a lot!

The tutor was Giuseppe Savoca, an expert in couture techniques who has worked with many of the major fashion houses throughout his career. The aim of the one day workshop was to create a beaded brooch or bracelet using the technique of padded micro-beads. The class was small, only four students, so we were easily able to see the demonstrations that Giuseppe gave us and we each had plenty of one-to-one assistance throughout the day.

Everyone in the class decided to make a brooch. We began by sewing felt cut into our chosen shape onto organza. We used two layers of felt to start the padding process and sewed it down with small stitches around the edge to encourage the edge to become rounded.

The actual beading process took the longest time, from threading the beads onto the thread, to securing the beads to the felt padding using a couching method whilst ensuring that they were being attached in a neat rows. Giuseppe also showed us how to remove beads if we had added too many in a row and how to add extras if there were any gaps that needed filling. Last was finishing off by stitching in the edges and adding further padding before completing the brooch with a felt back and a pin.

It was such a lovely way to spend the day and the time just whizzed by! The facilities at West Dean college are really nice with modern classrooms and a common room where you can get tea and coffee and sit to eat your lunch. The course cost £145 and I booked via the West Dean website.