I love sewing but I have A LOT to learn. There are so many projects I avoid because I’m not sure how to do them or just certain parts of them.
Being a Mum I don’t have much time for taking classes amongst all the other responsibilities I have so when I found Craftsy a couple of years ago, I was hooked.
Craftsy provides online video classes in all kinds of crafts including quilting, sewing, stitching, drawing, cake decorating and even photography. The classes I have done so far have been very professionally made and easy to follow with logical sections and plenty of great footage of what the instructor is actually doing to back up their verbal instructions. There is also the opportunity to interact with other people taking the class – or even those who have taken the class before you – in the comments area. You can ask questions and the instructors will help you and you can share pictures of your projects as well as see what other people have made. You can log into the classes on any of your devices with a browser so they are easy to watch anytime.
I have often bought classes when they are on special because once you have paid for the class you have access to it forever. All of the classes are self-paced which means you can go back and view sections over and over to practice them or skip sections that you feel you don’t need to see – not that I’ve skipped sections as I need all the help I can get! There are also some great free classes which I have enjoyed.
For Christmas, my sister-in-law and I decided to buy each other classes on Craftsy. She received a couple of cake decorating classes – her passion – and I got a couple of quilting classes in the hope of learning some new skills this year.
I wanted to tell you about the classes I am currently signed up for in the hope that it will make me pop in there more often and work on them this year. Click on any of the pictures or titles to visit the class on Craftsy and find out more details.
Beginner Serging – I got my serger (or overlocker as we call it here in Australia) over a year ago now and while I have used it, I know there is more that it could be used for. So this class is my hope of building my skills and using it more.
Sewing with Knits – I’ve got this class waiting for me to finish the serger class and apply my new found skills to making some wardrobe basics for myself. Too often I seem to sew for the children and not myself but I want to change that.
Dot-to-Dot Quilting – I’m always drawn to the quilting classes and being a self taught quilter I ‘m keen to watch someone else quilt and see what I could be doing better. This class sounded like the perfect way to get quilting new designs without spending hours marking my quilts so I’m looking forward to watching it.
Piece by Piece: Quilt-As-You-Go Techniques – I’ve started using the Marti Michell templates in the Farmer’s Wife Sew Along so when I saw she had produced a Craftsy class I was intrigued. Not that it uses her templates but quilt-as-you-go is another time saving technique that I haven’t used much but would like to try.
Pre-Cut Piecing Made Simple – I’m a big fan of Camille Roskelly so these next two classes are really about me fangirling. I’m also a fan of pre-cut fabrics which allow me to get creative without spending hours cutting so I can’t wait to look closer at this class.
Playful Piecing Techniques – This class is one that I have partly completed and in fact was the inspiration for my Mini Spool Block Tutorial. It shows you how to make some lovely quilts plus some clever tips for cutting and piecing.
Creative Quilting with you Walking Foot – This class is one that I have actually watched all the way through although I haven’t tried all the techniques yet. I use a Pfaff sewing machine with a built-in walking foot so it makes sense to me to learn more ways of using the tools I already have to create more lovely quilts.
Cut To It Strategies for Smarter Quilting – Finally, a class to look at strategies for cutting smarter and quicker and more accurately. I don’t especially enjoy the cutting stage of quilt making so this will help me make it shorter and get to the fun sewing stage quicker!
Have you taken any Craftsy classes?
I’d love to add your favourites to my Wishlist so let me know which ones you have enjoyed and why so we can all be inspired.
Craftsy is great! I’ve done cooking, weaving, sewing, photography, spinning and my daughter has done a drawing class. The delivery is really professional. I usually buy classes when they go on sale.
Me too Kelly – they seem to come on special quite regularly so I often put them on my wishlist until they are cheaper
You tutorial and the way u introduce them r great!
Thank you, Zareena!