The Dressmakers Ball 2023
at The City Rooms in Leicester
on Saturday 23rd September 2023
from 6.30pm - 12am
This decadent evening will include a drinks reception, two course hot buffet, live band, cocktails, a catwalk show (which you can be a part of!) and the opportunity to sew yourself a glorious gown, garment or accessory.
The idea of Dressmakers Ball came about after we were pondering the lack of opportunity to sew and wear a ball gown or formal wear. We decided to throw a party and sew something special to wear, and we thought everyone should be invited!
So, don your finery and join us at the City Rooms, Leicester, for a spectacular evening of creativity, heritage and glamour!
Please let us know any dietary requirements in the notes when you order your tickets
Your order confirmation acts as your ticket, you will not need to print these for access to the event.
For more information about the event including accessibility please take a look at our FAQs page
Find more information about the past balls on our blog
Workshop levels explained
You will find our workshops categorised in to levels. These are to help you know which workshops are suitable for you based on your current amount of experience behind a sewing machine.
Our levels are designed to help you choose a project that isn't too difficult for you, but we encourage you to be brave and try something new too. Talk to us if you need further advice about which level is suitable for you.
Children aged 11+ and teenagers are welcome to attend workshops with an accompanying adult , providing they have either come to our Start as you Mean to Sew on workshop, or a suitable level of experience at home or school.
This covers our Start as you Mean to Sew on workshops, which is designed to build your confidence behind a sewing machine. This workshop is ideal for absolute beginners and those whose sewing skills may be a little rusty.
We also list any other skills workshops suitable for beginners under Level 1, including Rag Rugging, Macrame and Crochet.
Skills building workshops are designed to build your confidence and introduce you to new skills, such as inserting zips, working with bias binding and basic patchwork. They are suitable for people who have completed our beginners workshop or have some recent experience sewing independently.
These workshops are aimed at more confident sewers, who have completed a few projects previously, and also includes our Introduction to Dressmaking workshop. This level is suitable for people who have some experience behind a sewing machine, and want to branch out and try something new.
Our workshops are aimed at people with some dressmaking experience, who may have completed our Dressmaking for Beginners course, however, this isn't a necessity. These workshops will cover more challenging dressmaking skills, while aiming to demystify them and build your confidence.
Experienced Dressmaking
These workshops continue to build on previous dressmaking experience and will offer larger challenging projects with the support of a experienced teacher. Level five workshops will include garments such as jeans, swimwear and coats.
