Off the Computer: Creative Courses in New York for Falling in Love With Your Hands Again
From printmaking to shoemaking, nine disciplines across New York that build real skill, for the creative who wants more than a sip-and-paint
On my own path to reconnect to my creative dreams, I was looking for places where I could learn fashion design and drawing in New York City.
I went from one hobbyist class to the next, left unsatisfied by the depth of the education.
Two or three hours. One tote bag, a shirt, a wallet. The entire class leaves with the same thing.
I was not challenged, and there is no room for creativity, for experimenting, for letting what I learn sit. It turns out finding classes that teach craft with rigor is hard.
The Fashion Institute of Technology is now my home, where I found the education I was looking for. This is the list I wish I'd had: a gold mine for anyone who wants to reconnect with their creativity, learn new skills or deepen their practice. More than an afternoon, less than a diploma.
Related reading: The Singer Sewing Machine and The Dakota in New York City: A Thread
The List
How to navigate
- Rolling
- New sessions start continuously. Join the next one.
- By term
- Fixed terms, with a registration window you have to catch.
- By application
- A writing sample, a portfolio or an application is required.
Textiles and Fashion
Fashion Institute of Technology, Center for Continuing and Professional StudiesBy term
Studio courses cover a variety of topics. Learn to draw fashion figures, knit or sew by hand or machine, and make wood objects and furniture.
- What
- Sewing, patternmaking, draping, tailoring, fabric studies, sashiko mending, quilting, woodworking, ceramics, book arts. No application, no portfolio.
Some courses run online. - Where
- Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- $270 to $650 for a whole course, not per session
- How
- Sessions open through late October and into mid-November, each running a few weeks. Spring registration opens in December.
Textile Arts CenterRolling
Four and five-week evening courses, with new sessions starting roughly every month. No application, no portfolio.
- What
- Weaving, natural dyeing, screen printing, machine knitting, quilting, sewing, bobbin lace, basket weaving, book arts. Four or five weekly sessions.
- Where
- Gowanus, Brooklyn
- Cost
- $90 to $480, depending on the length of the course
- How
- New sessions year-round. Register until a session fills.
Continuing and Professional Education at The New School (Parsons)By term
Three to ten-week courses, on campus or on Zoom. Open enrolment, no application.
- What
- Fashion, fine arts, graphic and digital design. Studio courses run twelve sessions. Hidden in the catalogue: a one-week jewellery design intensive at the Parsons Making Center.
Many courses run online. - Where
- Greenwich Village, Manhattan
- Cost
- $650 to $1,080 a course, plus a $47 registration fee each term
- How
- Spring, summer and fall terms. Add or drop during the first week of classes.
Leather Craft, Shoes and Bags
Brooklyn Shoe SpaceRolling
A coworking studio for working shoemakers that also teaches. Scholarships available, and studio membership if you want to keep going afterwards.
- What
- Multi-day intensives in shoemaking, boots, sneakers, slides and mules, plus pattern making and leather bags. The six-day Dream Shoe workshop can be split into half-days or evenings; the ten-day sends you home with two or three pairs. They also teach a leather tote bag, a belt and a card holder. A two-hour introduction is the way in if you want to try before committing.
Online courses run separately at brooklynshoeschool.com. - Where
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn
- Cost
- $95 for the two-hour introduction, $100 for a single class, $700 to $5,500 for the multi-day classes
- How
- Scheduled dates year-round, with private and small-group bookings on about a month’s notice.
Fashion Institute of Technology, Essentials of Handbag DesignBy term
Credit classes in handbag design, taken one at a time or stacked into a certificate. No application is needed to take a single class.
- What
- Credit courses in handbag design. A single class is open to you without committing to the whole certificate.
- Where
- Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- From $550 for New York State residents to $1,983 out of state
- How
- Register by semester. Classes run evenings and weekends.
Interiors, Furniture and Objects
Fashion Institute of Technology, Home and InteriorsBy term
A small group of courses on interior spaces, textiles, furnishings and housewares, covering trends, materials, manufacturing and marketing.
- What
- Interior Design Portfolio Intensive, Home and Interior Forecasting and Creative Concepts, and a course in designing and building an interior miniature.
Some courses run online. - Where
- Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- $270 to $650 for a whole course
- How
- Sessions open through late October and into mid-November. Spring registration opens in December.
Pratt, School of Continuing and Professional StudiesBy term
Non-credit evening and weekend courses, taught in real time either on campus or on Zoom. No application, no portfolio.
- What
- Interiors For The Beginner, Advanced Interiors: Function and Style, Spatial Design, Global Retail Design, Navigation Design for the Built Environment. Alongside them: AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, metalworking, and a twelve-week Furniture Design course that ends in a full-scale seating prototype.
Many courses run online. - Where
- Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, and 14th Street, Manhattan
- Cost
- Not shown in the catalogue; add $50 a course in fees
- How
- Four terms, each split into a twelve-week and a four-week module. Registration opens a term ahead, always on a Monday: spring mid-November, summer late March, fall late June, winter mid-October. Register at least a week before the course starts.
Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
The Art Students LeagueRolling
Artist-run since 1875. No application, no portfolio, no experience required.
- What
- Drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking. Studio classes meet five days a week with the instructor present for two or three, so the rest of the week is yours in the studio. Part-time students come twice weekly. Two hundred and ten class hours earns membership and a vote.
Online classes run on their own platform, e-telier. - Where
- Midtown West, Manhattan
- Cost
- $175 to $1,000 and above a month, depending on how often you come
- How
- Rolling monthly enrolment. Continuing students renew by the 21st of the preceding month.
New York Academy of ArtBy term
Classical drawing, painting and sculpture, with two full-time options that need no application at all.
- What
- Six-week evening and weekend classes. Above those, the Foundations Program is six weeks at eighteen hours a week, and the Intensive Program is twelve weeks. Two hundred dollars more adds a Saturday master painting class at the Metropolitan Museum.
Classes run both in person and live online. - Where
- Tribeca, Manhattan
- Cost
- $320 to $660 for a six-week course; Foundations $1,800; Intensive $3,500
- How
- Three semesters, each split into two six-week sessions. Fall and spring run twelve weeks, summer ten.
Clay
Greenwich House PotteryBy term
Teaching clay since 1904 in the same Jones Street building. Forty wheels, eight kilns, a dedicated mould-making studio.
- What
- Wheel throwing, handbuilding, mould making and slipcasting. Twelve and thirteen-week classes, with four to seven-week blocks for a shorter start. Clay and glazes are free; firing is billed by the cubic inch.
- Where
- West Village and Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- $310 to $545 for four to seven weeks; $935 to $1,015 for a full term
- How
- Four terms. Registration opens on a Monday three to four weeks before term. Current students register at 10am, new students at noon, and the good sections go in that window.
Metal and Jewellery
Brooklyn Metal WorksBy term
A metalsmithing studio, gallery and tool shop. Enrolled students get free studio punch cards and half-price bench rental.
- What
- Silver, brass, copper and gold. Eight-week courses, once a week for three hours. Fabrication, soldering, stone setting, wax carving, goldsmithing, enamel, and larger objects: spoons, teapots, boxes.
- Where
- Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
- Cost
- $580 early, $620 after; studio membership $100 a year
- How
- Five sessions a year. The October to December session is under way, which is why courses show as closed. Winter runs January to March, with listings going up around late November.
Fashion Institute of Technology, Jewelry DesignBy term
Not bench jewellery. These courses are digital: jewellery designed on screen, for people who already make, or who work with manufacturers.
- What
- Intro to Rhino and Grasshopper 3D Design Certificate, and Introduction to ZBrush 3D Modeling for Designers Certificate.
Some courses run online. - Where
- Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- $270 to $650 for a whole course
- How
- Sessions open through late October and into mid-November. Spring registration opens in December.
Photography
International Center of PhotographyBy term
First come, first served, open until the course starts. No application.
- What
- Digital, film and darkroom, lighting, alternative processes, fashion and street photography, bookmaking, critique. Four to twelve weekly sessions. Ask about ICP Pathways, where staff map a sequence of courses to what you are trying to do.
Most courses run online too, and cost less that way. - Where
- Lower East Side, Manhattan, and some courses at Hunter on the Upper East Side
- Cost
- $530 to $1,060 in person, less online; members get ten to forty per cent off
- How
- New courses announced four times a year.
Fashion Institute of Technology, PhotographyBy term
Not what the name promises. Only one of these courses is actually photography; the rest is Adobe software and fashion styling.
- What
- Introduction to Digital Photography, five Monday evenings. Alongside it: Illustrator, Photoshop, Graphic Design Essentials and Fashion Styling.
Some courses run online. - Where
- Chelsea, Manhattan
- Cost
- $450 for Introduction to Digital Photography
- How
- Sessions open through late October and into mid-November. Spring registration opens in December.
Print, Paper and Book
Center for Book ArtsBy term
The most genuinely open place on this list. Many courses are pay-what-you-wish.
- What
- Bookbinding and letterpress run eight weeks; four-week courses cover artists' books and small-press publishing. Classes cap at twelve. The hidden thing is the Bookbinding Certificate: ninety-four hours across a year, eight people, and courses you have already taken can count retroactively.
Some courses run online, mostly the critique and theory ones. - Where
- NoMad, Manhattan
- Cost
- $10 to $570, with a sliding scale on many courses
- How
- Seasonal terms. Register about a month ahead; popular classes sell out. Certificate applications open 1 June and close 15 August, cohort starts in January.
Writing
Sackett Street Writers' WorkshopBy application
Nine or ten writers, meeting in instructors' homes across Brooklyn.
- What
- Six and eight-week workshops in fiction, nonfiction, memoir and poetry, plus twelve and twenty-week manuscript programmes. The application is for placement, not admission. The first two levels need no writing sample at all.
A full online track runs alongside the Brooklyn classes. - Where
- Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Prospect Heights and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, and Soho in Manhattan
- Cost
- $575 to $1,100, with a returning-student discount
- How
- Seasonal cohorts posted months ahead. No fixed deadline; cohorts close when full.
The Barrow GroupBy term
A theatre company with a school attached. The entry level asks nothing of you; the top one is by invitation.
- What
- Playwriting, screenwriting and writing for television, taught by working playwrights: Arlene Hutton, Scott Organ, John Yearly. Screenwriting runs eight weeks. Playwriting runs as quarterly classes, then ongoing at the higher levels.
Playwriting and screenwriting both run online. - Where
- Garment District, Manhattan
- Cost
- Not published
- How
- Quarterly classes. Entry level needs nothing. Advanced levels want the first course behind you, or ten pages emailed to the school.
Certificates
Three schools run non-credit certificate programmes alongside their single courses. No degree, no application, no portfolio. Most of these never appear on the schools’ own landing pages, so here they are in full.
Fashion Institute of Technology · 33 certificates
Craft, design and making
Contemporary Rug Design · Costume Design and Wardrobe Technician · Color Specialist for Art, Design and Fashion-Related Products · Professional Type and Typography · Computer Essentials for Graphic Design · Motion Graphics · Introduction to 3D Printing for Designers
Fashion and product development
Computerized Patternmaking: Gerber Accumark PDS · Introduction to CLO’s 3D Garment Visualization · Advanced CLO’s 3D Garment Visualization · Introduction to Browzwear’s VStitcher · Product Development: Manager · Product Development: Intimate Apparel and Swimwear · Sneaker Essentials · Sustainable Design Entrepreneurs
Styling and image
Fashion Styling: Fundamentals · Fashion Styling: Advanced · Image Consulting · New Creatives Advertising Portfolio
Beauty and fragrance
Introduction to Perfumery · Fragrance Awareness · Beauty Industry Essentials
Business and digital
Fashion Business Essentials · Fashion Events · Omni-Channel Management · Predictive Analytics for Retail and Fashion · Introduction to Digital Strategy · Brand Strategies for a Sustainable and Purpose Economy · The Growth Series for the Creative Economy · Front-End Website Development Fundamentals · User Experience (UX) Design · User Interface (UI) Design · Unity XR: AR, MR, VR Development
Pratt · 17 certificates
Taught in real time, on campus or on Zoom. Between one and ten courses each, $3,500 to $9,500, plus $50 a course and $100 a certificate in fees that appear nowhere on the certificate pages.
Interiors, objects and fine art
Creative Interiors · Furniture Design · Exhibition Design · Fine Art · CAD Design
Graphic, digital and product
Graphic Design · Digital Design · Digital Product Design · UX/UI Design · Human-Centered Design · AI Design · Fashion New Media · Photography and Video Production
Fragrance
Art and Business of Perfumery · Advanced Perfumery. An art and design school running a perfumery programme, with no equivalent in the city.
Business
Branding and Digital Marketing · Creative Careers
The New School (Parsons) · 14 certificates
Two to eight courses each, four months to eighteen, $1,950 to $8,440. Three to five hours a week, two years to finish, and all fourteen run online and asynchronously.
Fashion
Fashion Design · Fashion Business · Fashion PR and Marketing · Fashion Buying and Merchandising · Clo3D Virtual Fashion Design
Interiors
Interior Design · Interior Lighting Design · Hospitality Interior Design · Kitchen and Bath Interior Design · Interior and Architectural Design Software
Graphic and speculative
Graphic and Digital Design · Motion Design and Animation · Futures Studies and Speculative Design · AI for Creativity and Leadership
If something here has changed, or we have missed a place, email us at hello@lefashionbanquet.com.