This online course follows the complete creation of my Rose Jumpsuit — from choosing the garment and developing the idea to making the fabric roses, planning their placement and incorporating them into the finished piece.
The starting point is Elsa Schiaparelli’s famous evening coat created in collaboration with Jean Cocteau. I use this historical reference to develop a completely different contemporary garment, while exploring how dimensional fabric roses can become an integral part of its design.
It was meant to be my Studio Uniform, but it became much more than that.
The result is a jumpsuit that can be worn for an exhibition opening, a cocktail party, an evening event — or simply whenever you want the garment itself to make a statement.
From a historical reference to your own rose-covered garment
This course is about creating handmade fabric roses and using them as part of a garment rather than simply adding individual flowers as decoration.
The main project is my Rose Jumpsuit. I show the complete process behind it: choosing the garment, working out where the roses should sit, deciding when they need to be added during construction, making the roses themselves and completing the final composition.
The course also includes the making of the jumpsuit, but it is not a full sewing course. The sewing process is included because the construction of the garment directly affects the placement and attachment of the roses.
The main focus is the roses, their composition and their relationship with the garment underneath.
You will learn how to make dimensional fabric roses specifically for garment decoration, including how I vary their size, shape and construction.
You will learn how to plan a rose composition across a garment, taking into account shoulders, back, seams, proportions and the overall silhouette.
You will see how I plan the order of work: choosing the garment, sewing the main sections, adding roses at the appropriate stages and completing the composition after construction.
You will learn how I use additional roses to cover attachment points, connect different areas of the composition and make the flowers feel like part of the garment rather than something simply placed on top.
The course includes video lessons covering:
Choosing suitable jumpsuit or garment patterns
Preparing the idea and visual reference
Sewing the jumpsuit as the base garment
Making handmade fabric roses
Planning rose placement across the garment
Adding roses during construction
Finishing the garment with additional roses
Adapting the idea to smaller garments or accessories
You will also receive guidance on materials, fabric choices, scale, and possible ways to adapt the project if you do not want to make a full jumpsuit.
No. The jumpsuit is the project I created for the course, but it is not your only option.
You can use the same rose-making and composition methods on another garment or on a smaller project — for example, a jacket, blouse, collar, shoulder panel, detachable piece, bag or textile sample.
The jumpsuit allows me to demonstrate the process on a large wearable surface and to show how the roses interact with garment construction.
You can follow my project closely or take the parts of the process that are relevant to what you want to make.
For people interested in textile flowers, garment embellishment and fashion-inspired making
This course may suit you if you already sew garments, customise clothing, work with textiles, study fashion or want to develop a more ambitious embellishment project.
You do not need specialist couture training.
Some previous sewing experience will be useful if you intend to make a garment from scratch. If you prefer to use an existing garment or another textile base, you can concentrate primarily on the rose-making and composition sections of the course.
This course is not a beginner sewing course
It is not a detailed jumpsuit construction course, and it is not focused on fitting, pattern drafting, or teaching domestic machine sewing from scratch.
It is also not a quick “make one flower in ten minutes” tutorial. The project is about building a more considered rose surface for a garment.
The starting point for this project is the famous evening coat designed by Elsa Schiaparelli in collaboration with Jean Cocteau.
What interests me most about the coat is the use of roses on such a large scale. They are not a small decorative detail: they define a significant part of the garment and completely change its appearance.
I wanted to take that idea rather than reproduce the original coat.
My version uses a different garment, different materials and a different rose construction, but keeps the central question: what happens when flowers stop being an accessory and become one of the main elements of the garment itself?
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The aim was never to reproduce the original Schiaparelli coat
I wanted to take one particular idea from it — the dramatic concentration of roses across the upper part of the garment — and see how it could be translated into something completely different.
That meant choosing a new silhouette, developing my own roses, working with different materials and deciding how the flowers should interact with the construction of the jumpsuit.
The course follows that process from reference to finished garment, so you can see not only how the roses are made, but how an inspiration can be developed into your own project.
By the end of the course, you will understand how to make handmade fabric roses and use them to build a rose composition on a wearable surface.
You may choose to follow the jumpsuit idea, adapt the roses to another garment, or create a smaller rose-decorated piece.
The aim is not to copy my garment exactly. The aim is to understand the method and use it for your own textile or fashion project.
You will need fabric for the roses, a base garment or garment project, sewing thread, needles, scissors, pins or clips, and basic sewing equipment.
A domestic sewing machine is useful if you plan to make your own garment base, but it is not required if you choose to embellish an existing garment or prepared textile piece.
Detailed material guidance is included inside the course.
The course will take you through the complete Rose Jumpsuit project — from the original Schiaparelli reference and garment choice to making the roses, planning their placement and completing the finished composition.
No. Sewing is shown as part of my garment process, but the course focuses on handmade fabric roses and garment embellishment.
No. The jumpsuit is my project example. You can adapt the rose technique to another garment or smaller textile piece.
It is suitable for patient learners who are comfortable with handwork. You do not need couture training, but you should be ready for a detailed textile process.
No. The Schiaparelli coat is the inspiration, not the pattern to copy. This course is about developing your own rose-decorated garment idea.
Possibly. The offline version would be smaller and simpler, focused on making a rose composition in the Pimlico studio rather than sewing a full jumpsuit.
If the Rose Jumpsuit course made you want to explore textile flowers further, this course takes you in another direction.
In the Textile Rose Choker tutorial, you’ll learn a different method of creating a dimensional fabric rose and turn it into a finished statement necklace. It’s a smaller project, but with a very different construction, shape and character.