Wendy recently posted about Tina's visit to the UK and how some of us (hello) met up with her. I must thank Wendy and her family for making this happen. Her brother seemed really happy to have us invade his house!

I'm very lucky in that Rhoda and I live in the same city and meet regularly and talk DS and fabric lots. We've helped each other with sloper problems, styles etc. She had to work a lot of it out for herself before I got the programme, which made life easier for me when I joined up. When the chance came to meet up with other DS users and Tina Ijumped at the chance. It meant leaving home at 7am, driving north for hours, staying overnight in a Bed and Breakfast, and driving back for 4 - 5 hours the next day (actually Rhoda did all the driving) but what we learnt was worth every mile!

Meeting Tina was worth it in itself! Kindness and enthusiasm and fun to start with. Her expertise with Dress Shop combined with the ability to teach clearly had us all moving from "Can't see anything wrong with that shoulder seam" to "umm, that's not right, too far back at the neck!" in only a couple of hours. Michelle was the first to be the model with her slopers and Tina took the time to talk us through the various points and measurements to get the best fit. She then went through it again with each of us that had brought our slopers. Each person being a unique shape required us to learn a bit more about measureing and again and again it became clear that shoulder seams and side seams were crucial and how much time can be wasted altering other measurements when it was these ones that were out.

I wore my bodice sloper number 5 and pants sloper number 3 and Tina has given me the confidence that a) the adjustments I'd already made were on the right(ish) track and b) that making my next slopers might be the last! The mystery of crotch breaks became clear and I found out what a 'tush' was, amongst other things! Any that I have a sway back which explained why my side seams were weird.

She was so generous with herself and her knowledge I lapped it up. The greatest gift I think I received is confidence. I realised that through reading the discussion board for months where there seems to be problem after promblem getting a good fit, or getting patterns to draft properly, and making sloper after sloper not knowing quite what to change, had drained my confidence in myself and the software. I know nothing is as simple as it first sounds but I feel I've got a head start now and know that soon I will be wearing clothes that fit and that I like. (If I can find some decent fabric!).

I also know that Tina is only an email away and as she said 'I know your body now and you can email me photos and ask for help' I'm ready to get sewing.

So thanks again Tina for taking the time and trouble to meet up with us and help us so much. Perhaps a User Group will come together. I hope so.

regards
Sue from Norwich UK