With the coronavirus lockdown and households in isolation, there's no better time to learn a new skill. Whether it’s learning to knit or growing your own salad crop, if there’s something you’ve been yearning to learn, it's more than likely that there's an online course to help you. Here we've rounded up some great courses you can do virtually, without leaving the house.
1. Say it with flowers
Sophie Warren-Smith, who runs In Bloom, a four-part online floristry course, says that 'foraged bits and bobs' and garden flowers such as tulips and daffodils stand in beautifully for more exotic blooms right now. Sign up for £18 (a discount on the usual price of £24) at theprettiestposy.co.uk and learn how to make an on-trend mantle arrangement, a flower crown and a spring wall-hanging.
If you can find twigs and foliage in the garden or on your daily exercise walk, you can make florist Claire Morgan’s pretty spring wreath. She works for Lewis Rose Flowers in Hackney, north London and runs a regular online workshop of 10 students. The cost for the 90-minute class (suitable for beginners) is £15 per person.
2. Organise your home
The property market may be on hold, but there’s no reason why you can’t get your home ready to go on sale when restrictions are lifted. Home staging expert Elaine Penhaul, of Lemon and Lime Interiors, has launched two services to help people during the coronavirus crisis; virtual home staging, from £1,170 (£975 + VAT) and remote home staging, from £600 (£500 + VAT) for three main rooms.
With virtual home staging, you send a high-resolution picture of an empty room to Elaine and her team, and they will virtually fill it with an interior design scheme, furniture and furnishings to enhance its appeal for potential buyers. All items used can then be bought, so creating the look for 'real' is easy.
The remote home staging service hooks up homeowners with expert home stagers via video call. Once any decluttering or rearranging has been done, you are guided to take photographs. If you’re planning to sell, these can be professionally edited through Lemon and Lime and ready to be uploaded to your listing.
3. Do interior design
'Getting creative and focussed on a project will help if you’re at home,' says Anne Wall, course director at My Interior Design School. 'This might be designing a great work space or finding inspiration to decorate.'
As part of the school’s Keep Calm and Get Creative campaign, there’s a £100 discount on its most popular online 12-month diploma, My Professional Interior Design Course, (so you’ll pay £599). Self-paced, there are no exams or deadlines.
You might also check out the British Academy of Interior Design. Its industry-standard home study courses range from an accredited diploma, which takes six months and costs £595, to a BA Honours degree in Interior Design in conjunction with the University of Chester.
4. Be crafty
Did you always intend to learn to knit, take up book-binding, spoon-carving or sugarcraft? Now’s your time to give it a go. Yodomo, an online learning platform, offers lots of courses in traditional craft skills. All have simple to follow instructions, most are family-friendly and many are free. Also, instructors regularly share their skills, offer demonstrations and simple workshops to do from home on Yodomo’s Instagram feed.
'Not only can you spend quarantine learning a new skill, but you can also take a moment of mindful making and create a keepsake to remind you of this challenging time,' says Yodomo’s spokesperson, Firgas Esack.
You might also consider joining the Women’s Institute; as well as supporting vulnerable members of their communities, members are sharing craft ideas and cookery tips through the #MyVirtualWI hashtag. You can become an associate WI member for a £52 annual fee.
5. Unearth your history
Being confined to barracks offers a great opportunity to research your own family history. There are so many online resources available, including Ancestry, currently offering a free two-week trial.
You might think about writing up your research into a beautifully-backed keepsake memoir; find out how with family historian Gill Blanchard’s Writing Your Family History courses, offering exercises, writing tips and regular live online discussions with fellow students, from £150.
If you wish to take your study further, there are three main UK schools offering online courses: The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) offers flexible learning from elementary to advanced level, including Tracing Your British Ancestors Overseas, from £135, with 10 per cent off all online courses until May 31; Pharos Training and Tutoring Ltd, offers short three to five-week courses, including scheduled online chats, and 'anytime' courses to do at your own pace, from £34.99; while Strathclyde University offers advanced courses in 'Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies', with full-time and part-time distance learning options. Fees range from £3,400 to £9,100 for the full-time MSc.
6. Get busy in the garden
Healthy plants in the home make us feel better; Yodomo has online courses on how to build your own planter or terrarium – and best of all, they're free. And if you’ve always fancied hanging your Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant) from a boho macramé hanger, learn how to make your own at twome.co.uk, run by artist, maker and educator Isabella Strambio.
If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, you’re probably spending as much time in it as possible. So keep it neat and learn how to prune like a pro with the detailed how-to videos produced by garden tools brand STIHL. As well as cutting techniques, these also take you through basic maintenance such as how to change chainsaw oil and sharpen hedge trimmer blades.
Your thoughts may also be turning to growing your own vegetables, fruit and salad crops. But self-sufficiency is not for the faint-hearted – or ill-prepared. Learn from 'no dig' gardening guru, Charles Dowding. He’s created two comprehensive video courses, No Dig Gardening and Growing Success, tailored to small gardens. Each course is £150, or buy both together for £225.
7. Draw inspiration
Illustrator Jennie Maizels started Sketchbook Club because she firmly believes that anyone can draw. 'My principle is that if we treated art like all the other creative pastimes and followed instructions, we would all be drawing as much as we are baking, sewing and knitting,' she says.
Each online module Jennie offers – suitable for adults and children, and covering a fantastic range of topics from houses to wildlife – is now available free for a limited period. 'I wanted to offer something that would help people cope with the anxiety and isolation we are all in,' she says. 'Every penny counts and the last thing people will spend money on is so often themselves and their wellbeing.'
Each module comes with a how-to video, downloadable reference material and often, printable templates, which you 'transfer' to your paper. Find them at jenniemaizels.com.
8. Sew clever
If you thought embroidery was for old ladies, think again. Cath Janes owns Kraken Kreations, teaching people to turn their needles in a way that would have Jane Austen’s Emma reaching for the smelling salts. 'It’s fun, accessible and inspirational,' says Cath. 'I’ll never assume you know what a skein of thread or a crewel needle is. And I’m not averse to the odd swear word in a sampler.'
The 12-video tutorial lessons, supplemented by written instructions, cover running stitch, split stitch, stem stitch, French knots, woven circles, couching, satin stitch, chain stitch and shading techniques. You’ll also be taught how to create your own designs with your favourite images and ideas, how to transfer these to fabric for stitching and how to back hoops for a professional finish. The cost is £45. see krakenkreations.co.uk.
You can also find lots of free patterns for lots of easy sewing projects, including soft furnishings and children’s toys, at The Sewing Directory, where experts including Jenni Taylor from BBC favourite The Great British Sewing Bee, share their expertise.
9. Make do and mend
Re-use and re-purpose has never been more important. If you’re indoors for the duration, it’s time to hunt out that chair you never got around to reupholstering or the picture frame you’ve been meaning to decoupage.
TV upcycling expert and designer Juliette Goggin – she's worked with Cath Kidston and Julien McDonald – can show you how to master a range of skills. For a £49 fee, she will offer tuition, feedback and final assessment of your personal projects, and present you with a certificate of completion. Find Juliette at learningwithexperts.com, where there are also courses covering subjects such as antiques, photography and jewellery.
If you’re already an upcycling devotee, you might like the online Upcycling Diploma offered by NCC Home Learning. Covering the financial benefits of upcycling, ideas and items to upcycle, upcycling clothes, upcycling furniture and step-by-step projects, it’s a 12-month tutor-supported, Level 3 qualification, fully accredited by recognised training providers ABC Awards, and costs £408.
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