A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to do a full week of what I love – sewing! I signed myself up for one of RMIT’s short courses – Sewing Intensive to broaden my skill set. So this week I thought I’d talk a bit about the different kind of courses that I’ve come across that are out there for you to take advantage of.
A few years back I realised my sewing machine was sitting in the cupboard gathering dust and I really wanted to get it out and make something with it. I have to admit that since I’d purchased it I hadn’t really used it much and I’d really just been teaching myself how to sew from the internet. Although the internet is an invaluable source of information when you don’t know how to do something – youtube videos, blogs, tutorials – I basically lacked a bit of confidence with my sewing. So I signed myself up for a sewing class with a group based in Fitzroy called Thread Den. I did their sewing basics class which is run 1 day a week over a 3 week period. This course was really handy as it gave me more confidence using fabrics, sewing machines, installing zips and sewing button holes. I had a great time!
Since then I’ve been making bags galore, but I realised I wanted to make some clothing like skirts, dresses and jackets so I signed myself up to an online teaching website called Craftsy which is a great resource for people who don’t have the time or the money to do a physical course. You can go at your own pace and you pay for a specific project that you want to learn how to make. There are videos that guide you through the class and an online community that have made comments, given tips etc. I have heard from other people that they love Craftsy and it seems like an ideal place to learn if you want to learn a lot of different craft skills – knitting, baking, cooking – at an affordable price. I have to admit that I got half way through one of the classes and due to a lack of information in the course I lost the inclination to finish it (but that was just me – you might have a better experience).
That’s when I decided to sign myself up to RMIT’s – Sewing intensive course. They have an amazing range of short courses available – its really worth checking out! The class goes for a week and is a little bit pricey but in my opinion it’s well worth it. I really enjoyed taking this class. I got to learn a few new things like how to sew with an industrial sewing machine (totally different from using a domestic) and I now have a bit more confidence with using patterns, fabric pattern matching, installing zips and making clothes. Turns out it’s not quite as scary as I first thought! The teacher Vivien was lovely and it was really great to spend some time learning with other’s who love to sew.
So where to start? If you are a beginner sewer and just need a little bit of confidence I would definitely recommend doing the Thread Den course. It’s a lovely environment to learn in and it gives you the skills you need for sewing on a domestic machine at home. If you are comfortable using your sewing machine than maybe one of the RMIT courses is more for you.
Maybe sewing is not your thing and you’re into other crafts? There is this great website called We Teach Me that has all sorts of classes available around Australia. They have a massive range of classes like learning makeup techniques, baking, cake decorating, diy, jewellery making, pottery etc. I even saw a bee keeping class on there! Well worth checking out.
I hope this post has inspired you to learn something new! Take the next step. Maybe given you some ideas. Next week I’ll show you a couple of the things I made on the sewing course so stay tuned!
