Intermediate Sewing: sew a stretch jersey top

The fabric that beats most home sewing machines

Jersey trips up more home sewers than any other fabric, not because it is unusual but because it needs a different approach entirely. The wrong needle skips stitches, the wrong foot stretches the material out of shape, and a seam meant to move with the body will snap the first time it is put under real tension. This intermediate day at New Brewery Arts is built around exactly that problem.

Tutor Lauren Holloway takes the class through pattern layout on jersey, the stitch and needle choices that hold under stretch, and finishing necklines and hems so they do not ripple after the first wash. It is aimed at sewers who already know their way around a machine and want to move from wovens into knitwear. It is one of several courses Holloway runs at New Brewery Arts this term, alongside beginner and improver classes in the venue's craft studios.

There is a finished top to take home by the end of the day, not just a folder of practice seams.

Friday 11 September 2026 · New Brewery Arts, Brewery Court, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1JH · Starts 10:15am