Birmingham City University MA Fashion Show . 13th July 2017

I always enjoy revisiting my postgraduate university to see the yearly MA Fashion show. There was a lovely mix of contemporary womenswear, tailoring, jewellery, accessories and interiors on show both on the catwalk and in the static exhibition. The work the students produced was amazing!

Take a look at the wonderful creations of the MA Fashion and Textiles group on their instagram page: @mafashionbcu . You can always follow the hashtags #MAfashionbcu17 and #visionforthefuture to see more images. 

It was also lovely to see one of my former students presenting her final interiors collection, Encompass Interiors. Take a look at her fabulous collection of interior furnishings and her amazing laser cut screen in the picture below.

Promotion Posters
Some of the collection listings for the catwalk



















The start of the fashion show


The finale



















My former students final interiors collection
Encompass Interiors
(Look at the amazing laser cut screen!)
See a video of the finale of the Catwalk show below on my instagram feed:

A post shared by Sian Riley (@sianrileystudio) on

Lets talk about Pattern Cutting!

Pattern Cutting can be one of the most difficult things to understand as a new sewer.

To break down the complexities of this subject, I run a course at MAC Birmingham to introduce the particulars of pattern cutting in an easy to understand and simple way. Over the course of the 2 days, you create a personalised pattern from your measurements, complete a fitting and create a final make.

There are still places left on my Introduction to Pattern Cutting course this weekend (8th and 9th of July) and you can book your place at this link

To follow my teaching adventures and see the wonderful things my students create, follow @sianrileystudio on Facebook and Instagram.


New Courses Countdown


New Autumn course dates for MAC Birmingham will be released on July 1st!


Stay tuned for new course listings on my courses page or on MAC Birmingham's website
on July 1st to book your place.

Let the countdown commence!

Summer Adventures

Since the last set of courses, I took a little break and went travelling.

On my adventures, I visited Valletta in Malta, Dubrovnik and Zadar in Croatia, and Venice in Italy.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik was very picturesque. The city walls and the old town are definitely worth a visit if you're travelling in Croatia. Don't let the dark tones of the photograph fool you-It was 30 degrees here!

Venice, Italy
Venice in Italy was truly beautiful and probably my favourite place to visit on this trip. A friend had recommended a number of places to see on my short stop here and I enjoyed seeing all of the landmarks. I really enjoyed taking a vaporetta through the Grand Canal as you can see everything better from the water. Lorenzo Quinn's exhibition 'Support' is also definitely a must see.

Zadar, Croatia
Zadar in Croatia was a beautiful town that appealed to my inner creative as there were lots of craft shops and artisan stored selling handcrafted gifts and momentos.

The mode of transport: P&O Cruises . Oceana
You may have wondered how I got to visit all of these places in such a short space of time. This lovely ship became my temporary home for a week and sailed smoothly around the Mediterranean showing me some fabulous sights along the way.

Valletta in Malta
The final stop of the holiday was Valletta in Malta. Having visited this city a few years ago, it was nice to see how it had developed. One of the key changes is the development of the new parliament building by Renzo Piano. The food is also makes the visit worthwhile as it's amazing. If you're passing through, a visit to Rubino's is a must! Their food is superb :)