It depends on the course you choose — our flagship accredited Handicraft Sewer programme is full-time (Monday to Thursday), but we offer plenty of flexible options you can fit around a job, both in person and online. So the honest answer is: you have real choices, and there's very likely one that fits your life.
Let's be straight about the trade-off first. The full Handicraft Sewer course is full-time for a reason — that immersion is exactly what lets a complete beginner become a qualified garment constructor in a single term, ending in a nationally recognised qualification. If you can arrange your time around it, it's the fastest, most thorough route, and it's genuinely worth it.
Ways you can learn around a job
- 📅Flexible, part-time in-person courses — learn the skills properly, but at a pace that works around your week rather than taking over your whole day.
- ☀️Weekend and shorter workshops — perfect if you can only spare a Saturday, and a great way to build skills bit by bit.
- 🌈Hobby classes — if you simply want to enjoy sewing without the pressure of a full qualification.
- 💻Our online sewing course — learn entirely from home, on your own schedule. And it's not a lonely stack of videos: it comes with a membership so you're guided every step, with real support from teachers with 10+ years' experience and a whole community alongside you. Many students say they prefer it. Explore the online course.
If you can free up the time, the full-time accredited course is the fastest, most complete route — genuinely worth arranging your life around if you can. But if you can't right now, don't wait: a part-time, weekend or online option keeps you moving forward, and the accredited route will still be there when the time is right.
The Handicraft Sewer course
It's the full-time, accredited route — the fastest, most thorough way from complete beginner to qualified garment constructor in a single term — genuinely worth arranging your time around if you can. And if you can't yet, the flexible options above keep you moving.
Everything is provided — every machine, all the fabric, tools and patterns — because your only job here is to learn.
Working and not sure how to fit it in? Tell us your schedule below — we'll point you to the right option.
Join the conversation
Working full-time and wondering how to fit a course in? Ask us anything — we reply to every comment.
i really want the accredited qualification but i cant leave my job to do full time right now 😩 good to know there are other routes
There genuinely are, Mpho — and here's a nice path: build the skill now through the part-time or online route while you work, and step up to the full accredited course when you can free the time. You lose no ground. Message us and we'll map it around your job. 🌿
did the online course evenings and weekends around a full time job. the membership and community kept me accountable, honestly loved it
if i do a weekend option first, does any of it count toward the accredited course later?
The skills carry straight over, Thabo, so you arrive at the accredited course with a real head start — even though the recognised qualification runs through the full-time programme itself. Message us your availability and we'll lay out the smoothest route for you.