CAFA | courses & contact
02 9449 1450
cafa@couturearts.com.au
Address
Suite 7, Harvard House
859 Pacific Highway, Pymble NSW 2073
CAFA 2025 TERM DATES
Term 1: 20 January - 5 April 2025
Term 2: 14 April - 28 June 2025
Term 3: 7 July - 20 September 2025
Term 4: 29 September - 13 December 2025
All skill levels welcome!
SEWING CLASSES
We have more than twelve specialised sewing classes for all skill levels.
DRESSMAKING COURSES
Learn to sew with our beginners dressmaking class or build on your skills with our intermediate course.
PATTERN MAKING
Learn to draft your own patterns, together with the sewing skills to complete your garment
FASHION DESIGN
Choose from our Diploma of Fashion Design & Garment Production or enrol in single units including Fashion Drawing.
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We’re located at 7/859 Pacific Highway Pymble, on Sydney’s upper north shore.
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Yes! We pride ourselves on teaching the same high standards to both home sewers and professionals. Our students have very different skill levels and we believe in teaching sewing the right way from the beginning. We have beginners, intermediate and advanced classes and cater to everyone.
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Our classes run for blocks or terms of 11 weeks. We have four terms each year. You can choose weekly classes of 2.5 or 3.5 hours per week or a whole day per week. Our workshops are shorter - usually one or two days and run for the whole day. The workshops are a great way to learn a specific skill and give you a sampler of the CAFA studio.
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Absolutely not! Many couture sewing techniques (that are used in the world's famous fashion houses) can be applied to almost every sewing project. Most of all, couture is about the right fit - making a garment that is appropriate and flattering for your own body type.Item description
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All of our beginners classes and workshops are bookable online. For our advanced classes, we recommend that you call, email or visit us in the studio so that we can work out the class and teacher that best suits your needs.
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We certainly do. What better gift is there than the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning a new skill?
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Parking is available at the rear of our building. When you book a class, we will provide more detailed information on the parking arrangements.
TEACHING HOURS
Monday: 8.30 am - 9.00 pm
Tuesday: 8.30 am - 9.00 pm
Wednesday: 8.30 am - 9.00 pm
Thursday: 8.30 am 9.00 pm
Friday: 8.30 am - 4.00 pm
Saturday: 8.30 am - 4.00 pm
Sunday: 9.30 am - 4.00 pm
OFFICE HOURS
Tuesday - Saturday
9.00 am - 4.00 pm
BOOKINGS
Please feel free to call Leonie:
(02) 94991450
where to find us
What We Offer AT CAFA
Couture Arts Fashion Academy (CAFA) is located in Pymble on Sydney's leafy upper north shore – a short eight minute walk from the train station. Our philosophy is to promote the skills of design and sewing to both professional and non-professional students, allowing anyone with an interest in sewing to make quality fitted garments for their figure type.
Professional Program: Diploma of Fashion Design
HSC Textiles & Design Workshops & Mentoring
Sewing Classes (Sydney)
Pattern Making Classes (Sydney)
Fashion Design Classes (Sydney)
Private Tuition
Fashion Business Consulting
Student Gallery
About Us
We're a fashion college and a sewing school teaching to both professionals and home sewers. Our philosophy starts with the classical techniques used in French couture houses, which we combine with cutting-edge, luxury ready-to-wear design and construction methods.
This blend of the old and the new offers our students excellent technical skills, with the college specialising in draping, couture construction techniques and fashion illustration.
We aim to inspire our students and equip them with the attitude, expertise and experience to stay true to their fashion vision while having the grounding to be commercially successful.
We recognise the pace of life today, so we offer a flexible timetable with courses run in the evenings and on Saturdays, as well as on weekdays.
To maximise learning, our class sizes are small and all students will receive instruction from teachers who are both talented educators and have excellent trade skills and experience. We are able to offer our students use of the latest industrial and domestic sewing machines and Adobe Illustrator pattern design software, in modern, bright workrooms. As an extra service, most of the equipment our students need may be purchased directly from us at very competitive prices (including some hard-to-find items).
Our Professional Fashion Program will suit those who want to pursue a career as a Fashion Designer, Merchandiser, Dressmaker, Pattern Maker, Manufacturer or Fashion Illustrator. This program is also designed to teach students modern costing and web-based marketing skills to be successful in the global business community they will enter upon graduation.
For those who love fashion sewing and the joy of a garment that is a great fit, we make all of our professional Sewing, Pattern Making or Fashion classes available to home designers and sewers. We teach students to make basic patterns for themselves as well as fitting and construction techniques to create beautiful garments. Our classes are run during the week, in the evenings and on Saturdays.
A range of HSC Mentoring courses is available for school students. Run in our shorter course format, students can have a program designed to teach illustration and sewing skills that are applicable to their chosen major work. Students who wish to pursue a career in design may learn pattern making and sewing techniques while producing quality garments for themselves or learn fashion illustration. Our high school students learn professional techniques that will give them an excellent grounding and a head start when they continue their design studies after the HSC. The program for school students is run in the evenings or on Saturdays.
Workshops (one or two days) are also available during school holidays and on weekends.
CAFA Founder & Director
Gaylene McCaw | Principal LLB/BEc
After a career in business, Gaylene trained in Fashion Design & Merchandising in Sydney and Paris and has been involved in fashion and fashion related industries for more than 10 years. Gaylene has qualifications in law, accountancy, and fashion. She has experience in fashion retail, small and large business strategic planning and management, training organisation management, fashion design and garment construction. Her special interest is couture clothing and construction techniques. Gaylene teaches Fashion, Business, Merchandising and Advanced Pattern Making.
Leonie News | Student Service & Administration Manager
Leonie has 25 years’ experience in administration and human resources management and provides student support services. The school prides itself on its flexible management designed to assist both full-time and part-time students to enjoy their study experience while managing the demands of life, work and family. Leonie assists our students with timetables, induction procedures, course information, sourcing materials and other general information that assists students with their study program.
CAFA TEACHERS
Our teachers are are not only highly skilled and qualified in sewing, pattern making and fashion design, but they also have deep industry experience and understand what it takes to run a successful business. Many have their own label.