FOURWAYS, JOHANNESBURG · PLANNED START 2027

DRAW IT.
TEST IT.
CUT IT.
MAKE IT.

Practical fashion design education, crafted around you.

Learn Pattern Making, Garment Construction and Design & Visual Communication through structured, hands-on learning pathways at our studio. Start throughout the year, choose how often you attend, and progress at your own pace with expert guidance through each stage.

BE PART OF
WHAT COMES NEXT.

OUR LEARNING PATHWAYS

Build real skill through hands-on learning and expert guidance, in a studio environment designed for making.

EXPLORE OUR PATHWAYS >

Each pathway contains 40 guided studio sessions / 120 contact hours, organised into four progressive stages of 10 lessons each.

PATTERN MAKING

Understand how clothing takes shape. Learn the principles of pattern cutting, manipulation and garment development through progressive practical work.

GARMENT CONSTRUCTION

Learn how garments are constructed. Build practical skills in machinery, seams, finishes, components and increasingly complex construction techniques.

DESIGN & VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Learn how ideas become resolved clothing. Develop research, drawing, visual communication and design thinking through practical design projects.

HOW TFDS WORKS

You'll learn in a flexible, studio-based learning system built to fit your life. Start throughout the year, choose how often you attend, and progress at your own pace.

CHOOSE YOUR PATHWAY
Start with Pattern Making, Garment Construction, or Design & Visual Communication.

CHOOSE YOUR PACE
Attend from 1 to 4 studio sessions per week.

BOOK YOUR STUDIO TIME
Choose from available 3-hour studio sessions using our online booking system. Sessions are limited to 6 learners max.

PROGRESS AS YOU LEARN
Work through your pathway step by step. Complete one stage, then activate the next when you're ready.

LEARN AT
YOUR PACE

Choose how often you attend. Your learning pathway stays the same - you simply complete it faster or slower.

Need to miss a week? Simply book your next available session. Want to move faster? Attend more frequently. Your learning pathway stays the same - you choose the pace.

FEES

CLEAR. FLEXIBLE. STRAIGHTFORWARD.

R24,000
PAY UPFRONT
Complete the full 40-session pathway and save.

R6,500
PER STAGE - PAY AS YOU LEARN
Pay for your first 10 sessions, then activate the next stage when you're ready.

R500
ANNUAL REGISTRATION
Paid once per year, regardless of how many TFDS pathways you study.

FOR EXAMPLE...
WANT TO START PATTERN MAKING AND PAY AS YOU LEARN?

Registration + first 10-session stage = R7,000 to begin.

Attend once a week and your next R6,500 payment would be approximately 10 teaching weeks later. Attend four times a week, and you could progress to your next stage after about 2½ teaching weeks, with your next payment due then.

MORE WAYS TO LEARN

WORKSHOPS

Not ready for a full pathway? Try TFDS first with our Introduction to Sewing workshop. Learn to use a sewing machine, practise essential techniques and make something to take home.

3-hour workshop: R850

Maximum 6 participants.
No experience needed.
Materials + machine use included.
No TFDS Annual Registration required.

More Workshops coming soon.

ADVANCED COURSES

Go further with focused specialist learning in areas such as tailoring, corsetry, draping and advanced garment development.

Coming soon. For learners with the required foundational skills.

OPEN STUDIO

Already have experience? Develop your own projects with access to the TFDS studio and guided support.

10 sessions: R6,500 / valid 3 months
20 sessions: R12,000 / valid 6 months

PRIVATE TUITION

Work one-to-one with an experienced fashion designer and educator on a specific skill, project, or area of development.

Single 3-hour session: R3,500
5-session package: R15,000 / valid 3 months

LEARN PRINCIPLES. NOT RECIPES.

At TFDS, we don't believe fashion education should be about copying a set of steps to reproduce one predetermined outcome.

You'll learn the principles behind what you're doing, why a pattern behaves the way it does, how construction choices affect a garment, and how design decisions can be tested and developed.

Studio sessions combine independent practical work with demonstrations, discussion, and individual guidance. The aim isn't simply to complete the exercise. It's to understand so you can apply what you've learned to something new.