22 Free Online Craft Classes to Say Goodbye to 2021

Learn to craft with textiles, ceramics, paper, and more with this huge range of free classes

In the age of social media, it has never been easier to share hobbies and interests with fellow creatives. And in the last two years, crafting has exploded onto the scene, inspiring people of all ages to pick up a needle and thread or a paintbrush. As many of us spend more time at home, decorating our spaces and finding exciting new hobbies is a great way to feel more creative and mindful.

And with the new year just around the corner, we have not one, not two, but twenty-two amazing free craft classes to inspire you.

Many of the creators below have told stories of stumbling across a new craft, and it becoming their whole career. You never know what might happen when you pick up a new tool and discover the possibilities.

Read on to discover top tips curated from a range of our Craft courses, covering home decoration, embroidery, accessories, furniture upcycling, ceramics, and paper craft. Whether you want to open an Etsy shop in the new year, make customized gifts for your friends and family, or simply find a new hobby, there will be something for you on this list.

To access each class, click on the title highlighted in red. These classes will be free until December 19, 2021.

Decoration Classes

Free Class: Make a Basic Pom-pom

It’s hard to think of a more colorful or adorable way to accessorize your home than a decorative pom-pom wreath. And Christine Leech (@sewyeah)—author, designer, and pom-pom lover—wants to help you do just that. Her projects for brands such as LoveCrafts and Oasis include everything from pom-pom bees to licorice to robins. “Everything I look at,” she says, “I just want to know if it can be made in pom-pom form”.

In this class, you’ll learn how to use a pom-pom maker for a simple design. Christine also shares some top tips and secrets to speed up the process and perfect your technique.

Free Class: Building a Frame Loom

The textile art technique of tapestry, which involves weaving thread onto a frame called a loom, can be traced back to ancient times. But even now, artists like Marion Weymes (@marionweymes) can innovate and produce something fresh. Her strikingly contemporary and abstract tapestries are a translation of interesting places and people she sees around her.

If you want to warm up your space and create a woven wall-hanging with abstract forms, you’ll need to build a frame to work on. Using simple materials, Marion will show you how in this free lesson.

Free Class: Dos and Don’ts, Tips and Tricks for Flower Arrangement

While ancient tapestries can survive thousands of years, on the other hand is ephemeral art—the kind that will only be around a short while. Floral arrangement is the name of the game for Graeme Corbett at Bloom and Burn (@bloomburn), who creates contemporary arrangements for customers and brands. There’s so much to think about when arranging flowers, from color and layout to seasons and sourcing.

Getting into floristry is easy, Graeme tells us, but there are a few tools you’ll need and some tips to keep in mind when it comes to photographing and sharing your creations, as you’ll see in this free class.

Embroidery Classes

Free Class: Transferring Your Design onto Fabric for Embroidery

For those with an itch to stitch, Courtney McLeod’s (@dearest_q) course on fashion embroidery and needle-felting is a must. Her clean lines and minimalist compositions are perfect for illustrating favorite clothing pieces. Fusing illustration and '90s pop-culture vibes, her work will make you want to grab your needle and thread and get stitching wall-hangings at home.

In this class, Courtney shares how to neatly transfer an illustration onto your prepared embroidery fabric, with the right tools to ensure a professional-looking finish when you begin stitching.

Free Class: Mastering a Cross-Stitch

Cross-stitch is the ultimate cozy and therapeutic embroidery form. Needlework designer Emily Peacock (@emilyp) has been central to the resurgence of this craft in the UK, with her intricate yet bold designs that celebrate typography and color. She explains her passion as “painting, but with threads” in her course on creating a cross-stitch portrait.

If you’ve always wanted to try cross-stitch but feel a bit intimidated by this detailed work, this lesson is for you. Emily explains the easiest and neatest ways to make eye-catching cross-stitch art.

Free Class: Basic Embroidery Stitch Technique

Many artists use the natural world as inspiration, and Yulia Sherbak (@mossandfeather) is no exception. But her embroidery has a twist: it’s in miniature! Tiny ladybirds, flowers, mushrooms, and more adorn her jewelry pieces, from pendants to pins.

To get started making your own woodland-inspired jewelry with embroidery techniques, check out this beginner-friendly lesson on the basic stitches that will create color, movement, and texture in your pieces.

Free Class: Methods of Attaching Flowers to Embroidery

As if embroidery was not an enchanting enough art in itself, you can also incorporate some of nature’s artwork into your creations. Olga Prinku (@oprinku) is an embroidery artist whose work has been seen in fashion collections such as Swarovski, and it’s easy to see why. Delicate tulle is woven with thread and real flowers, to make truly magical embroidery hoops, clocks, and other designs.

Attaching flowers can be done via weaving or gluing, as Olga explains in this free class. Watch for her top tips and tricks to ensure a secure attachment.

Accessory Design Classes

Free Class: Choosing Yarns, Colors, and Tools

Anyone interested in fashion and accessories will tell you that crochet has resurfaced in a big way, thanks to social media and growing interest in handmade craft. But how do you make your crochet stand out in a sea of creations? Molla Mills (@molla_mills) creates pattern collections for yarn houses and has her own yarn line, with striking graphic designs based on grids. In her course she shares the process for conceptualizing original designs, that can be turned into bags and other practical items.

In this lesson, Molla prepares you for the world of crochet by choosing the right yarn type, color, and tools, to build up your collection and start making your own signature bags and accessories.

Free Class: Clay Pattern Techniques

Instagram and TikTok seem to create trends overnight, and one recent success story has been polymer clay jewelry. This clay can be sculpted and then baked, to fix the design into shape. From earrings to necklaces to pins, it’s never been easier to create your own jewelry line with the colors and patterns of your dreams. Plus, they make the perfect small gift that says a lot!

Rachael from Made by Maeberry (@madebymaeberry) turns art into wearable, statement pieces. She loves the flexibility and accessibility of this technique, where anyone can quickly get started with a new kind of self-expression. If you want to make original patterns with your polymer clay, watch the lesson below, where she explains how to form marbling, stripes, and terrazzo effects.

Free Class: Making Your Own Mold for Resin

Another recently popular material for jewelry-making is resin. This sticky substance can be mixed with colors, glitter, and more, before adding a hardener to ‘set’ it in shape. Mia Winston-Hart (@miawinstonhart) connects with clients via Instagram and Etsy to craft amazingly diverse resin jewelry. Adding pigments, dried flowers, sequins, and more, she creates unique but coherent collections that tell a story.

Of course, if you want to make truly original jewelry, you’ll need to break the mold...and make a new one! In this tutorial, learn how to create your own custom molds to pour resin into.

Free Class: Design for a Leather Handbag

Working with leather creates functional and durable designs. Lili Storella (@wenglili) tells wearable stories through her signature handbags, and unsurprisingly her brand Mila.jito is popular around the world. With her 3D sculpture method, Lili creates bags to connect with each client’s personality.

In her free lesson, you will learn about the design process. Lili explains the fundamental parts of a handbag, and how they are attached together, so you can design with functionality in mind.

Furniture Design Classes

Free Class: Painting Techniques for Furniture

Upcycling is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to add a touch of freshness to your home in the new year. If you find a piece you love but doesn’t match your other furniture, why not try reviving it with paint? That’s exactly what furniture artist Chloe Kempster (@chloe_kempster) advocates in her course. Chloe uses Etsy and Instagram to share vivid, reinvented furniture, with blended ombre effects and botanical illustrations.

This lesson goes into detail about three techniques you can use to decorate furniture, beginning on scrap wood with chalk paint, and advancing to other techniques.

Free Class: Finding Inspiration and the Creative Process

If you want to reinvent an object that people usually consider “mundane” or “predictable”, inspiration will be key. Take Piergiorgio Robino from Studio Nucleo (@studionucleo) for example. By experimenting with new materials, and collaborating with designers and makers, he and the studio craft one-off furniture pieces and artwork that have been displayed in galleries worldwide. And which material did he choose for his course? Resin, which in his words “makes the impossible possible”.

In this free class, you’ll learn how to source inspiration via everyday life, Pinterest, and more, observing how light and color interact with objects. Then, throughout his course, you can turn your inspiration into a unique prism design lamp using resin.

Free Class: Experimenting Techniques for Upcycling Furniture

Have you ever looked at a cabinet or wardrobe in your house and thought, "that would look so much better in pastel colors with polka dots"? You might just be the perfect candidate for this free class from Joanne Condon (@joannecondon). Joanne brings old pieces to life with bold color combinations and a range of patterns, to instantly liven up a room.

If this sounds like the perfect way to spend a cozy weekend, check out this class to learn creative ways to accent your furniture designs, such as gold leaf and marker illustrations.

Ceramics Classes

Free Class: Pinch Pots

According to ceramist Lilly Maetzig (@mae_ceramics), “we’ve molded clay with our hands for thousands of years” and it’s an activity “we understand innately”. From an unassuming ball of clay, we can build anything from simple cups and plates, to elaborate vases and sculptures. And all this can be done in an afternoon—perfect for a creative day off over the holidays.

Get started making something from nothing by molding a pinch pot in this class. Using a simple motion, you can form a small bowl or cup with just a few steps.

Free Class: The Techniques of Mosaic Making

Mosaics are one of the oldest art forms in history. This intricate and beautiful medium takes patience, adding piece by piece until your work tells a whole story. Gary Drostle’s (@garydrostle) workshop is a rainbow of colors, and his award-winning pieces bring sculptures, furniture, and murals to life.

There are several ways to make a mosaic, each with its pros and cons. In this free class, Gary explores these techniques and explains which work best for hobbyists and beginners.

Free Class: How to Paint, Tips, and Corrections for Ceramic Tiles

When it comes to tiles, it’s hard to match the vibrant colors and picturesque patterns of azulejos, or Portuguese ceramic tiles. Marisa Ferreira and Alba Plaza of Gazete Azulejos (@gazeteazulejos) are on a mission to celebrate this icon of Portuguese heritage. Their work can be seen on restored buildings, and in colorful homes!

In this free class, grow your confidence before painting your own tiles. Learn about pigments, brushes, and how to sketch directly onto a tile.

Paper Craft Classes

Free Class: Carving a Stamp

Do you want to create artwork that can be expanded upon and played with for years to come? Jeanne McGee (@jeanne_5) is an artist and printmaker who shares her work to over 30,000 followers on social media and at art shows, and her colorful designs are created with handmade stamps.

"Sketchbook stamping" is the method she uses to get started with a design. By experimenting with a set of stamps in a sketchbook, she builds out ideas before moving onto final artworks—from pillowcases to paper prints to fabrics. With this class, you can carve your own stamps, while learning about positive and negative space, and how to use them to make varied designs.

Free Class: Future Log in Your Bullet Journal

Popularized by 'Plan With Me' content on YouTube, Pinterest, and TikTok, these aesthetically pleasing journals are often made with dot or square grid paper and can transform your organization and mindfulness skills. Annie Weir (@a_journal_by_annie) combines lettering and illustration to create envy-inducing spreads, with delicate flowers and other natural elements.

Your Future Log tracks future events and is a great place to start bullet journaling. In this lesson, Annie will show you how to set up your journal layout for success.

Free Class: Paper Maching

Are you ready to tear, pulp, and paste? A great activity for all ages, with the help of artist, author, and teacher, Sarah Hand (@the_sarah_hand) you can craft all kinds of creations using paper mache (papier-mâché).

Having exhibited in solo exhibitions and written a book about the technique, Sarah has now created a course on paper mache sculpture. Paper mache has been around since just after paper was invented, so by creating with this material, you’re part of a millennia-old tradition...even if you’re just making a hat!

In this lesson, Sarah goes over which papers you can use, how to create an effective paste, and how to start creating a playful character from paper mache.

Free Class: Playing the Accordion (with paper!)

When it comes to making art, it doesn’t get much simpler than a sheet of paper and some scissors, but that’s all you need for the art of paper cutting. Don’t underestimate this medium, however: Karishma Chugani (@karishma_chugani) uses paper to create work with vibrance and depth, such as the paper theaters featured in her course.

One of the ways you can quickly create a banner, or several repeating images, is to use the "accordion" technique. In this free class, Karishma shares her tips for this folding method.

Free Class: Basic Paper Techniques for Set Design

Sarah Matthews (@sarahlouisematthews) uses paper to make stunning 3D work for clients such as Selfridges and Pandora. Her paper craft decorates shop windows, highlights products, and creates a story. In fact, 3D papercraft structures can be very detailed, and include complex shapes such as curves, to sculpt almost anything you can imagine.

In this free class, Sarah introduces the fundamentals: cutting, scoring, folding, and attaching, using easy-to-find tools such as a scalpel and metal ruler.

These classes are free to follow until December 19, 2021. If you’d like to watch the classes after this date, sign up for the relevant Domestika course to get unlimited access to these online craft lessons and many more.

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- The Community’s 22 Favorite Free Downloads in 2021
- Free Pattern Guide: How to Crochet a Granny Square
- DIY Tutorial: How to Make a 3D Paper Butterfly
- 10 Online Floral Design Courses to Try at Home
- Polymer Clay Jewelry Design for Beginners Course, course by Rachael, Made by Maeberry
- Creative Furniture Upcycling for Beginners Course, course by Joanne Condon