9 Interior Design and Fashion Classes for Adults
These evening and weekend classes will teach you how to personalize your clothes, make jewellery and anticipate interior design trends
The fall itch to fill our brains by learning something new, picking up a skill or dabbling a little deeper in a hobby is here. Or, maybe we want to justify buying all of those “back-to-school” clothes and stationary supplies by actually going back to school.
In the absence of enrolling fulltime – because, really, who has the time or that much inclination – we have found evening and weekend courses in the areas of fashion and interior design. None of them have prerequisites. Some of them will help you knock out a project in a few hours while will others give you a foundation for more learning. All of them will help you major in being just a little more interesting.
Silkscreening on Fabric
Learn how to print single images for items like T-shirts or repeat patterns to create custom yardage of fabric. Upholstery fabric can be silk screened for when you want to give your old furniture a new custom look.
Mondays, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., October 21 to November 25 at Alberta College of Art + Design, $269. Register at acad.ca
Beginner Jewellery
ACAD has plenty of more advanced or specialized jewellery classes including forged bracelets and fine silver clay, but beginner jewellery is a good place to start. Over the course of 12 classes you will create jewellery from metal sheet and wire, and learn pattern layout, sawing, filing, sinking, soldering and finishing.
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., Sept, 16 to Dec. 9 or Thursdays, Sept. 18 to Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Alberta College of Art + Design, $534. Register at acad.ca
Make Your Own Dress Form
Chinook Learning Services offers a one-day Saturday course to make a dressmaker’s dummy in your exact shape and size, which will be useful when you begin sewing your own clothes. This one can get a bit messy. It’s not necessary, but it also helps if you sign up with a friend.
Saturday, November 1 at Viscount Bennett Centre (2519 Richmond Rd. SW), $129. Register at chinooklearningservices.com
Digital Design in 3D for Interior Decorators
This hands-on computer class that will teach you how to use Google Sketch Up, which is the program that lets you create computerized representations of rooms with furniture. The only prerequisite is some basic Mac knowledge.
Monday, Nov. 3 and Wednesday, Nov. 5, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Mount Royal University, $129. Register at mtroyal.ca
Interior Design Research: Finding the Tools
This one gets a little academic, but for serious interior design geeks or those who want a long career in the business, it is a new course that will take you a long way. Learn about the cultural behaviours as well as social, political and economic influences that shape design preferences. You’ll look at existing spaces and buildings and learn how to research new thinking in design.
Tuesdays, 7 to 9 p.m., Sept. 30 to Dec. 9 at University of Calgary Main Campus, $245. Register at conted.ucalgary.ca
Contemporary Residential Architecture
If you are in the market to either buy or build a contemporary home, or you just like that style of architecture and want to know more, this course is for you. It will teach you the basics of 20th century residential design including space, volume, form, massing and function – all those things you might have no idea about.
Thursdays, 7 to 9:30 p.m. at University of Calgary Main Campus, $145. Register at conted.ucalgary.ca
Creative Dyeing
The Fibre Optics Group will teach you how to design a scarf using Sharpies and a secret ingredient. The afternoon workshop takes place at six different Calgary Public Library branches.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Bowness, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Louise Riley and Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Saddletowne, Free. Register at calgarypubliclibrary.com
DIY Succulent Terrarium Workshop
Plant in Inglewood offers classes on how to make terrariums (those super trendy and succulent indoor plant arrangements). The DIY workshop gives you all the materials you need, a step-by-step guide to bring home so you can do it all again and snacks.
Wednesday, Sept. 10 or Wednesday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. at Plant, Unit C, 1335 9 Ave. S.E., 403-462-6230, $50. Register at plantterrariums.ca
Fall Container
The Calgary Horticultural Society will teach how to fill your outdoor plant and flower pots with cold weather-friendly items that look good too. Think grasses, kale, Chinese lanterns, mums and branches. This is a hands-on class that will have you filling a 10-inch pot.
Thursday, September 25, 7 to 9 p.m. at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, 2425 9 Ave. S.E., $74 for members and $64 for non-members. Register at calhort.org.
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