Which Hinterland Dress Course is Right for Me?

Sophia wears a white Hinterland Dress

Because the Hinterland Dress pattern is an ideal canvas to use as you deepen your creative sewing skills, we have developed TWO sewing courses based on it. These online courses work in tandem to ensure everyone can take their creative sewing as far as they want.

Learn to Sew Your Clothes: Fit and Sew Bodices with the Hinterland Dress

An online course for beginning to intermediate sewists who want help with bodice fitting, as well as those looking for expert guidance while sewing a Hinterland Dress.

Take the overwhelm out of making a beautifully fitted dress while learning skills you can apply to any pattern.

The Creative Hinterland: Patternmaking for Mindful Sewists course logo

Learn how to bring your creative vision to life and hack any sewing pattern! In this one-of-a-kind online course, we’ll teach you foundational patternmaking skills by walking you through 12 mouthwatering hacks of the Hinterland Dress.

For intermediate to advanced sewists. 

Need help choosing the right online Hinterland Dress course for you?

We have two fantastic online sewing courses featuring the Hinterland Dress: Learn to Sew Your Clothes: Fit and Sew Bodices and The Creative Hinterland: Pattern Making for Mindful Sewists. Each class guides you along a different part of your sewing journey. Here, we help you decide which is right for you.

Fit and Sew Bodices: The Hinterland Dress might be for you if 3 of these are true:

  1. You would describe yourself as a confident beginner or intermediate sewist.
  2. You are interested in learning more about fit and fitting adjustments.
  3. You would like a detailed Hinterland Dress sew-along.
  4. You are ready to build new skills, such as buttonholes and setting in sleeves.

Fit and Sew Bodices is an excellent course if you have made a few garments, but are still looking to learn more about fitting, common adjustments, and sewing skills such as gathers, buttonholes, and setting in sleeves.

Are you a complete novice or new-ish beginner? Check out our Learn to Sew Your Clothes course series and get a few projects under your belt before you hop into Fit and Sew Bodices!

If you prefer to sew with the benefit of a video sew-along, this course is perfect as it takes you through every single step in detail. If you have been wanting to make a Hinterland Dress but have felt intimidated or overwhelmed, Fit and Sew Bodices can help give you the confidence to tackle this sewing pattern. It is also a great next step after the Nocturne Pajamas and Studio Tunic courses, but if you haven’t taken those, that is okay. 

The Creative Hinterland might be for you if 3 of these are true:

  1. You have made one or more Hinterland Dresses, maybe modifying or hacking them a bit, or thinking about doing that.
  2. You are excited about a handful – or all – of the 12 Hinterland Dress hacks shown here.
  3. You would describe yourself as an intermediate to advanced sewist.
  4. You are fairly confident you could figure out how to sew any sewing pattern successfully.
  5. You interested in learning not just sewing skills, but pattern hacking and drafting skills, to take your creativity to new heights.

The Creative Hinterland is geared towards intermediate and advanced sewists. Most likely you have made one or more Hinterland dresses, understand the basics of fit (but the course will include a fitting guide), and are confident in your ability to tackle most sewing patterns you encounter. An adventurous spirit and willingness to learn and make mistakes are also helpful.

This course includes lots of sewing, but it is not a sewing instruction class. It is primarily a course for pattern hacking and drafting basics, and our hope is the skills you learn will translate beyond the Hinterland Dress and empower students to create, hack, and change patterns as they like. You should have a familiarity with fit muslins, general order of operations in sewing, and desire to take your sewing to a new place of creativity. It is intended to empower sewists to make clothes that fit their bodies and styles, and to take risks in altering patterns. 

These two courses can also be thought of as a series. Once you have completed Fit and Sew Bodices you are well prepared to take The Creative Hinterland. It is not a prerequisite, exactly, because if you have already made several Hinterlands you can dive right into the hacking and drafting of the Creative Hinterland.

Meg wearing a garment sewn for our Hinterland Dress courses

If you are feeling a little nervous about pattern hacking or want more practice with fitting, then you will want to start with Fit and Sew Bodices. If you are adventurous and ready for a new challenge, and are unafraid of making mistakes, then The Creative Hinterland is for you.  A sense of adventure/curiosity, and a willingness to play and make mistakes are definite prerequisites for The Creative Hinterland!

Both courses provide detailed instructions, community support groups, and will result in a dreamy dress you’ll be proud to wear. 

Let us know your sewing level below, and we will send you the Hinterland Dress Fitting Guide as well as more information about the Hinterland Dress course that is right for you.

What is your sewing level?
Novice
Beginner
Confident Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

  1. I’m very excited about both of these courses but I can’t fit them into my schedule/budget right now. Are they available all the time (i.e., I’d do the course individually following along with the pre-recorded lessons at a time of my choosing) or do they run in sessions (i.e., I’d do the course as part of a group at a pre-determined time)? I want to plan out when I’m going to take them in the future 🙂

    1. Hi! This is a great question. They are available all the time, and you can start whenever you’d like. You will have access to all the videos and materials forever, so you can go completely at your own pace.

  2. Hello,
    I’m trying to figure out which course would be best for me. I have never sewn clothes however I would consider myself an expert quilt maker. I have been sewing and embroidering for 25 years. I have made a handful of small bags so I am familiar with zippers and buttonholes but not collars. Any advice on what course would be perfect for me?

    1. Hi Janie,

      Apologies that it took me a few days to answer your great question. I have a few follow-up questions: are you familiar with taking your measurements? How about working with a garment sewing pattern? I’m sure your technical sewing skills are top notch, which is why I think I would start you with Fit and Sew Bodices. Another option, with a little more hand holding to help you understand the nuts and bolts of working with a garment sewing pattern, would be starting with Beyond Sewing Basics, which features our Studio Tunic pattern.

      Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions!

      Peace,
      Meg McElwee