British Savile Row Bespoke tailoring

Savile Row Coat Making

Structured, precise, unmistakably English — the discipline that built the reputation of Savile Row itself. Over 16 weeks you’ll take a coat from a blank sheet of paper to a finished garment: measuring, drafting your own pattern, cutting the cloth, building the coat by hand, fitting it, and finishing it in the Savile Row tradition.

British tailoring is the art of structure. Hand work goes where it shapes the coat — the canvas, the chest, the collar, the buttonholes — and the build is clean, firm and exact. The result is a coat of balance and authority that holds its line for years. You’ll learn not only how each step is done, but why — so the skills carry over to every garment you make afterwards.

What You’ll Learn

Foundations

• Tools, materials and cloth: what a tailor uses, and why
• The essential hand stitches, with focused hand-sewing practice
• Making pocket samples

Drafting & Cutting

• Taking body measurements and reading posture
• Drafting your coat pattern by direct measurement and refining it into a full-scale master pattern
• Preparing the materials needed for making a coat
• Laying out, marking and cutting with the allowances needed for fittings

Construction

• Basting the coat together for your fitting, reading it and marking corrections
• Making and setting the canvas and chest piece for a structured front
• Making the pockets and the front construction
• Making and setting the collar, lapels and sleeves

Finishing & Pressing

• Pressing and moulding the front, shoulder and lapel roll
• Lining the coat, hand-sewn buttonholes and button setting
• Final pressing and shaping
• Presenting your finished coat

Skills & Techniques You’ll Learn

How You’ll Learn

Hands-on, from the first day. You’ll work on your own coat, with an instructor trained on Savile Row guiding every stage and fitting you as you go. Each new technique is demonstrated, then you practise it yourself until it is clean. Because tailoring is learned with the hands, the studio stays open until 17:30 each day for independent practice.

Two traditions, two ways of making a coat. Neither is better than the other. Choose the one that suits how you want to make and wear a coat, or learn both.

Who It’s For

Aspiring tailors, career changers, designers, and serious makers who want to learn a coat properly, from first draft to final stitch — whether you’re starting out or already sew. Tell us about your experience when you register and we’ll guide you on what to expect.

Where It Leads

A Coat Making course is the foundation of the AASE pathway. Complete the suit with Trousers & Waistcoat, study the cutter’s side in Pattern & Cutting, or compare the Italian tradition. Once you’ve completed a Coat Making course, our Master Courses open up — see all courses.