13 Of The Best Online Craft Courses (Plus Freebies!)

As a pair of avid crafters, there’s nothing we love more than exploring or developing new skills and hobbies around our passion for crafting.

And the best way to do this? Online craft courses.

Even better — free online craft courses!

A good online course will take you from being a complete newbie to being truly experienced and skilled in your new niche.

As an example, we just completed an online course in metalsmithing jewelry. We’d never done anything like this before but we ended up totally loving it.

And now we’ve got some amazing statement jewelry to show from it!

That’s actually the reason we wrote this article. Because it turns out that there are tons of amazing courses online — some better than others — and some especially good ones for many different crafts.

So we picked out a few of our favorites for you. Some of these we’ve completed ourselves, some are on our crafting bucket list, and others are just highly recommended by fellow crafters.

Let’s get down to it.

The Best Craft Courses Online

Foundations in Metalsmithing: Statement Earrings

• Provider: Megan Auman, Creative Live
• Price: $59 (pre-order), $79 (full price)
• Start Date: 14 June 2017

Screenshot via Creative Live

This is another metalsmithing course, much like the one we mentioned above, available on Creative Live.

The course contains 2 HD video lessons with lifetime access, available on mobile, desktop and tablet.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• How to choose the right tools and materials
• Designing a pair of statement earrings
• How to saw and pierce any shape from sheet metal
• How to file and finish your pieces
• How to make ear wires to finish the earrings

How to Make a Comic Book (Project-Centered Course)

• Provider: Coursera
• Price: Free (audit), paid certificate upgrade available
• Start Date: 19 June 2017

This free online craft course will teach you how to create your own unique 4-page minicomic from a minimal set of materials.

It’s 6 weeks in total, and Coursera recommend 6 hours of study and 15 hours of project work for it.

Here’s an overview of the syllabus:

• Idea creation
• Writing comic script
• Thumbnails
• Penciling and lettering
• Inking
• Putting your comic together

Intro to Screen Printing

• Provider: Erin Dollar, Creative Live
• Price: $29

This is one of the most popular online craft courses right now, with around 3,500 students participating in it since its publication and sterling reviews from those that did.

Despite its comparatively low price, you get a really good deal with 13 HD video lessons, as well as exclusive bonus content and lifetime access.

Teacher Erin Dollar is an artist and textile designer and really knows her stuff. You can expect to develop the following skills when taking this course:

• Creating a design and transparency ideal for printing
• Choosing the best materials and tools
• Working with photosensitive materials
• Creating a dark room
• Best practices to prepare your screens for printing on paper

Hand Lettering 101

• Provider: Annica Lydenberg, Creative Live
• Price: $49
• Start Date: 14 June 2017

The art of hand lettering is enjoying a resurgence in the crafting world right now, with many people choosing to use these techniques in cutting and printing, as well as simply lettering for its own sake.

This course, run by Annica Lydenburg — a designer, illustrator and sign painter — is composed of 18 HD lessons with exclusive bonus content and lifetime access.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Understanding lettering
• The role of lettering in design
• Developing an arsenal of styles
• How to add embellishments to letter forms

How to Make Sugar Craft Roses

• Provider: Udemy
• Price: $18

This isn’t a beginners sugar craft course, by the way — Udemy recommend that you already have some experience in this and basic cake decorating ideally. Chances are you will have if you’re interested in this course!

Anyway, the course is lead by Zoe Hopkinson of Zoes Fancy Cakes, and will teach you how to make beautiful wired sugar craft roses.

The entire course includes an hour of on-demand video, one article and full lifetime access. You also get a certificate of completion once you’re done!

Here’s a closer look at the syllabus:

• Introduction to rose making
• Tool and equipment
• Making the bud
• Adding the petals
• Making leaves and calyx
• Alternative ways to make roses

Sewing Clothes into Quilts

• Provider: Blair Stocker, Creative Live
• Price: $39

Experienced and wannabe quilters will love this course, which promises to teach you to make a quilt from repurposed fabric — i.e. your old clothes! This is a great way to preserve old memories (as well as that old blouse that no longer fits! 😂 )

The course offers you 14 HD video lessons with exclusive bonus content and lifetime access.

Here’s what it covers:

• Choosing and preparing clothes for quilting
• Planning a quilting design
• Construction of the quilt and piecing it together
• Joining and binding quilt layers

The Art of Photography

• Provider: RMIT University, Open 2 Study
• Price: Free

If your interest lies in the dark room, you’re going to love this free online photography course.

Lead by artist and academic Dr Shane Hulbert, the course is looking to reframe photography as a visual art and hopes to help you improve your skills and activity levels.

There are 4 modules spread over 4 weeks, with the level of commitment demanding around 2-4 hours per week. You also get a certificate once you complete it!

Here are some of the skills you’ll develop (excuse the pun) over the course:

• Understanding exposure
• Identifying pixels and levels
• Using RAW
• Photographic narratives
• How aperture and shutter speed works
• Image editing

Create Wedding Flower Centerpieces and Bouquets

• Provider: Kiana Underwood, Creative Live
• Price: $79

Anyone interested in floral design will love this lavish Creative Live course focused on wedding flowers.

Whether it’s bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages or centerpieces, this online floral design course covers it all.

You get 19 HD video lessons as well as exclusive bonus content and lifetime access. It’s a very popular course that’s seen over 2,500 students enroll since it first went live.

Here are just a few of the things that the course covers:

• Building a bouquet
• Simple attendant bouquets
• Wedding flower centerpieces
• Creating corsages
• Flower girl baskets
• Simple flower crowns

Candle Making for Beginners – for Fun or to Build a Business

• Provider: Udemy
• Price: $24

You don’t need any experience at all to participate in this brilliant online candle making course, which manages to pack quite a punch in its 2 hours of on-demand video and 6 articles.

You also get full lifetime access and a Certificate of Completion for your money.

Here’s some of what the syllabus covers:

• How to melt wax safely and quickly
• Equipment
• Choosing a candle mould
• Different types of wax
• How to use dye to create colored candles
• Which wicks to choose
• Types of candle making scent

The course will also show you how to make a whopping 9 different candles:

• Pillar candle
• Tea cup container candle
• 2-color pillar candle
• Wax chunk pillar candle
• Coffee bean base pillar candle
• Flower pot candle
• Candle in a tin
• Glass container candle
• Glass candle with transparent coffee bean base

Upcycling Leather into Accessories

• Provider: Blair Stocker, Creative Live
• Price: $39

Those of us who love the thrill of upcycling will love this Creative Live course on repurposing leather for creative ends.

And this doesn’t have to be as expensive as it sounds — teacher Blair Stocker will tell you how to find economical sources of second hand leather and how to transform it into something fresh and new.

The course contains 8 HD lessons with exclusive bonus content, as well as lifetime access.

Here’s what you’ll learn by the end of the course:

• Picking the right tools for working with leather
• Prepping, cleaning and cutting leather
• Sewing and glueing leather

Bookbinding: Make a Perfect Bound Book

• Provider: Udemy
• Price: $9

This cheap online course is the perfect introduction to bookbinding and one that’s on our online craft course bucket list.

It includes an hour of on-demand video (with a Certificate of Completion at the end) that covers the techniques and process needed to make a bound book.

It’s got three major modules which cover the largest components of the book:

• Textblock
• End sheets and spine
• The cover

And it promises to teach the following:

• What materials and tools you need
• Step by step process of bookbinding
• Tips and tricks
• Bookbinding alternatives

Introduction to Art Journaling

• Provider: Andrea Chebeleu, Creative Live
• Price: $29

Here’s another low cost course that will really up the ante on your art and design skills: art journaling.

If you’re wondering what that is, the provider describes it as “a fun, no pressure way to incorporate creative expression into your daily life… Art journals are a great place to experiment and play without the pressure of creating a final ‘masterpiece’.” Sounds good to us!

The course comprises of 6 HD video lessons with exclusive bonus content and lifetime access. It’s designed to help you acquire the following skills:

• Building background and layers of design element
• Composition theory
• Adding focal points with images and lettering

What are your favorite online craft courses?