​I've been sewing and pattern making all my life. Growing up in Sydney, I was inspired by my Mother, a talented clothes-maker who started me on a lifetime of creating beautiful clothes and learning as much as I could about techniques.

Later, while living in New York, I trained at the Manhattan campus of the ​Fashion Institute of Technology (part of New York State University) and worked in the New York fashion industry. Deeply inspired by European fashion design and techniques, I also trained through, and have professional standing with, the ​Centro Internazionale Alta Moda Sartoriale, Rome, Italy.

Approach

I love helping students to achieve their sewing or pattern making goals whatever their skill level - and to have a thoroughly enjoyable, personalised and productive experience along the way.

I especially love imparting my knowledge of design, pattern making and fitting techniques which have been honed over many decades. 

My approach has three main parts: first, I get a good understanding of each student's skill level; second, we set achievable goals; and third, I work one-on-one with the student to impart the skills and techniques that enable them to achieve their goal.

For example, some students decide to develop a perfectly fitting bodice or pant pattern (block) to use as a basis for pattern making or overlay on commercial patterns. In this way, they learn the skills they need to make and adapt clothes in their particular size well into the future.

Rhonda Babington
​The Fashion School