19/08/2026
A lady came to Queenliz Fashion Academy yesterday to make enquiries about our fashion training, and she asked me a question that honestly got me thinking.
She asked:
“For your weekly practical, do you really make students practice what you teach them?”
I asked her why she was asking.
She told me that where she previously learnt, they mostly watched their boss sew.
Whenever the boss was sewing, they would watch.
But they didn't really have enough time to practise what they had learnt themselves.
And I thought to myself…
This is one of the reasons some people spend months in a fashion school but still don't feel confident enough to sew independently.
At Queenliz Fashion Academy, practical training is not something we add when we remember.
It is a major part of our training.
After each lesson, our students are expected to practise what they have just learnt.
Why?
Because there is a BIG difference between watching someone sew and actually sewing it yourself.
You can watch your teacher draft a pattern.
You can watch her cut.
You can watch her join the pieces.
You can even watch her do it ten times.
But until you pick up your own tools and do it yourself, you may not truly understand it.
Sometimes, it is when you start practising that you discover:
“Ah! This is the part I don't understand.”
Or:
“Why is my own coming out this way?”
And that's actually a good thing.
Because now your teacher can identify where you're struggling and correct you immediately.
That's how learning becomes deeper.
For us as trainers, practical sessions also help us know whether our students have actually understood what we taught.
We don't want a student who can sit in class and nod at everything.
We want a student who can take what she has learnt and reproduce it with her own hands.
Because fashion training is practical.
Tailoring is practical.
You cannot become a confident tailor/fashion designer by watching someone else sew for six months.
At some point, you have to sew.
You have to make mistakes.
You have to unpick.
You have to try again.
You have to practise until your hands begin to understand what your eyes have been watching.
If you're looking for fashion training, don't only ask:
“How many months is the training?”
Also ask:
“How much practical work will I actually do?”
Because six months of watching someone sew is not the same thing as six months of actually learning and practising sewing.
Don't just watch your teacher become a good tailor. Learn to become one yourself.
