Some of you know I was in London from the 1st to the 8th of january to attend a sewing course held by Thomas von Nordheim.
How I got the place and what did it cost
I got a place in the course about three weeks before it took place so it was very last minute. My friend Feli (@seamstressofmischief) told me that she was going to London for this course and she encouraged me to try to get a place. At first I was unsure if I really should participate, but well…in the end I couldn’t resist. Visiting London is always a good idea.
Thomas posts on his Instagram page (@thomas_von_nordheim) when he’s holding a course but you’ll also find the dates on his website.
When you’ve decided to participate you send him a message through his contact form on his website and if there still is a place available he’ll send you a confirmation with the payment details and all the other informations you need.
I paid £995 (about € 1100,- with all the bank fees included) for this 5 day course.
Since Thomas moved to a new atelier outside of London I don’t know if the course or other things have changed!
Bespoke Tailoring: The Couture Jacket
The course focuses on the making of couture jackets for ladies.
In this 30h course 3 lovley ladies and I made a full scale jacket half like you would sew a real couture jacket. We were shown all the techniques you need to use and also used them on our jackets.
It’s important to know, that this course is not suitable for absolute beginners. You need to know basic stitches and techniques because 30 hours are not much for a jacket and you need to work relatively fast if you want to finish on time!
On the first day we started with introducing ourselves to get to know everyone a little bit. Right after this we examined a few original couture jackets from Thomas and discussed and analyzed the materials and sewing techniques. It was faszinating to see how those jackets were made and how they solved ‚problems‘ I already came a cross while sewing.
We also started with the jacket on the first day and made a lot of the preparations you have to do like tailor tacking, correct stretching and shrinking.
In the next days we created the body of the jacket and learned a lot about correct pressing techniques, pad stitching, how to cut and fit a lining in a jacket, how to use ice wool and shoulder pads, decide what fabrics or which canvas to use to achieve the desired look and so much more.
In the end we all created beautiful jacket halfs we can be proud of!
This course involved a lot of hand sewing which I was a bit scared of, because I’m not the best hand sewer but now I feel way more confident with my hand sewing and I can’t wait to make a tailored jacket for myself with all the techniques I learned from Thomas!
Was it worth it?
Absolutley. I learned so much that I can use in my future and I feel a lot more confident with my sewing and my chosen career path.
Edit from 2026: I still use techniques I learned from Thomas instead of techniques I learned in fashion school because they make more sense to me.