Sometimes a girl needs a wee bit of va-va-voom. Gretchen Hirsch - creator of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing - gives you the skills you need to create gorgeous dresses that fit like they're painted on, yet let you dance all night. You'll learn how to assemble and customize the included BurdaStyle dress pattern, create a muslin to check fit, and construct a highly tailored garment using some very cool techniques. In 15 high-definition video lessons, you'll learn how to make a molded bodice with underlining, boning, bust padding, a waist stay and convertible straps. The draped sarong skirt makes a beautiful contrast.

In luxurious shantung, this bustier dress exudes midcentury sophistication. Gertie says, "Think Alfred Shaheen. Think Dorothy Lamour." Make it in a tribal print for a sexy tiki vibe, butter-yellow eyelet for that Audrey Hepburn ingénue-at-a-picnic look, or ivory silk (with a fetching hat) for your wedding day. Come join the fashion fun and sign up for Sew Retro: Perfect Bombshell Dresses today!

With the help of expert shirtmaker Pam Howard, you can learn step-by-step the secrets of creating a crisp, tailored shirt. Drawing on her lifetime of experience as a tailor and a teacher, Pam offers patient and thorough lessons that walk you through the process from pattern layout to the final press. Her innovative techniques include speed tailor's tacks, finger-felling (no special sewing machine foot required) and a tidy double yoke you can sew by machine.

While this class is intended for intermediate sewists, even beginners will come away with a better understanding of the craft and a project to work toward. And Craftsy's lifetime access means the class will still be waiting for you when you're ready.

Stupendous Stitching will show you how to incorporate all kinds of stitches into a work of art. Or take what you learn in this class and embellish clothing or make your own fashion accessories.

In this 11-lesson course, you will use thread couching, decorative machine stitching, hand embroidery and quilting to make an original wall hanging. You'll finish the wall hanging with a unique satin cord rattail binding, and mount it on a wood frame for a perfect presentation.

You will also create your personal Stitch Bible, a handy permanent reference for future sewing projects. You will discover that you actually have many times the number of stitches you think you have on your machine, because you can change the look of each standard stitch by modifying how long or wide it is.

Take your pieced or whole-cloth quilts from beautiful to spectacular with free-form machine quilting. Award-winning quilting instructor Cindy Needham shares her tips for quilting from the inside out - starting with gourmet batting, basting, and a refresher on thread tension and making quilting lines, then advancing to designs and fillers that will make your quilt tops pop.

Cindy will show you ways to divide and conquer the space to create a quilting design that's uniquely yours. Start out with stencils, deconstructing them to create original patterns. Explore medallion-based designs and then go on to freeform elements - including feathers, fillers, and repeating motifs you can use to highlight your quilt with beautiful areas of sunshine and shadow.

Cindy will also show you easy and easier ways to make your border designs fit and how to troubleshoot your sewing machine when your threads go awry.

Weeks provides the tools necessary to scratch your expressive itch, offering fresh perspectives on color, prints, patterns and quilt construction. The class includes five “explorations” that will tap your creativity and expand your approach to designing quilts. Weeks also shares her brainstorm-in-a-box approach to finding design inspiration in surprising places.

Along with her partner Bill Kerr, Weeks has pioneered the art of modern quilting over the last 13 years, writing books, publishing Modern Quilt Studio magazine and designing over 100 fabrics. This theory-based class also serves as a retrospective of Bill and Weeks’ work, showcasing nearly 50 quilts, including Weeks’ never-displayed-before first attempt at modern quilting.

Instructor Kimberly Einmo shares the techniques she teaches around the world and the spirit of fun she brings to her work! If you're enjoying Quilting Quickly or the Craftsy Block of the Month, this is the perfect next class for you to build your quilting skills. Intermediate and experienced quilters will love Kimberly's time-saving tools and techniques. Make one of five included patterns, or use what you learn to create your own designs. Beautiful quilts that come together with ease ... Magical Jelly Roll Quilts!

Stupendous Stitching will show you how to incorporate all kinds of stitches into a work of art. Or take what you learn in this class and embellish clothing or make your own fashion accessories.

In this 11-lesson course, you will use thread couching, decorative machine stitching, hand embroidery and quilting to make an original wall hanging. You'll finish the wall hanging with a unique satin cord rattail binding, and mount it on a wood frame for a perfect presentation.

You will also create your personal Stitch Bible, a handy permanent reference for future sewing projects. You will discover that you actually have many times the number of stitches you think you have on your machine, because you can change the look of each standard stitch by modifying how long or wide it is.

Art Quilting 101: Design Basics will teach you to see your world through the eyes of an artist, and communicate your vision through fiber. The author of Photo Album Quilts and a frequent exhibitor at shows around the country, Wendy Butler Berns has taught hundreds of quilters like you how to express feelings and ideas through the quilting process.

You'll learn the essentials of design and bring them into your work, adding spontaneity and playfulness. You'll use free-motion quilting to doodle with an unbelievable variety of thread options, adding textural elements with techniques like yarn couching and bobbin drawing. And you'll learn dozens of practical techniques, creative ideas and troubleshooting tips you can use in any quilting project.

FREE
Amy Gibson launched her blog and quilt design shop in 2010 as an outlet for her folksy, whimsical patchwork passions. She's a mother of four, a former stage actress and fashion model booking agent, and true stitch-a-holic. Amy grew up in a creative, artistic 4-H family of musicians, bakers, and sewers, and can't remember a time when she wasn't creating art with her hands. At 12 years old, she stumbled into quilting via a local charity group, and it was truly love at first stitch. Amy is the instructor of the 2012 Block of the Month quilting series right here on Craftsy, and her work has been featured by Fat Quarterly, Moda Bake Shop, Sew Mama Sew, Burda Style, Pink Castle Fabrics, Sew Lux Fabrics, and Money Saving Mom. She also teaches quilting at Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, and enjoys being an active part of her local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild.

FREE.
You've spent considerable time and creative energy on the front of your quilt; make the back a work of art, too. In this FREE mini-class, renowned quilter Elizabeth Hartman, author of the popular quilting blog Oh, Fransson!, show you easy ways to create several styles of quilt backs that will complement the fronts.

Whether you're a traditional quilter or lean toward modern styles, you'll find tips and techniques here that will make your finished quilts stand out. Sign up for Creative Quilt Backs today!

As you turn cherished photos into works of fiber art, you'll find that pictorial quilting is a perfect first step into the world of art quilting. Favorite Craftsy instructor Wendy Butler Berns shows you the way! Using Wendy's "Pretty as a Picture in Yellow" pattern (included free), you'll learn how to translate photos into line drawings, then find the perfect set of fabrics to use as your color palette. You'll create a pattern template with simple supplies like freezer paper, glue sticks and fusible interfacing. You'll learn how to machine appliqué your quilt design, an easy technique that gives beautiful results, and use free-motion techniques to embellish your quilt with an unbelievable variety of thread options. Along the way, Wendy shares dozens of techniques and tips you can use in any quilting project.

If you've wondered how prize-winning quilters and top fabric designers come up with their beautiful color combinations, and create movement, depth and luminosity through fabric, Joen Wolfrom's Color Play for Quiltersis the class for you.

A best-selling author and creator of The Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool, Joen will teach you how to make the most of your fabric choices to create the effects you're looking for. Whether you're a traditional quilter, modern quilter or cutting-edge art quilter, you'll improve your skills and sharpen your eye.

Hand quilting may become your favorite antidote to the rush and bustle of your busy life. Andi Perejda will inspire you to pick up a needle and thread and finish your work by hand, with beautiful designs and surprisingly easy techniques. Andi shows her award-winning work, then guides you step-by-step through designing, marking and stitching your quilt. Add a comfy chair and some relaxing music and you're on your way to quilting nirvana.

Leah Day's on Craftsy! This online quilting teacher and author of 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs applies her skills to the 20-block sampler created in the 2012 Craftsy Block of the Month. In the process, Leah teaches dozens of free-motion variations and encourages every quilter to take the plunge and create beautiful free-motion designs on any home machine.

Whether you're working on your Craftsy Block of the Month top, another finished quilt top, or just practice blocks, you'll want to master the elegant and easy designs Leah's chosen to add depth and dimension to your quilts. Rookies, professionals and every quilter in between will appreciate Leah's intricate work, generous tips and shortcuts, and empowering approach to making everybody a confident free-motion quilter.

Finishing a large quilt doesn't have to be a colossal chore. Award-wining quilter Ann Petersen shows you easy, large-scale quilting techniques inQuilting Big Projects on a Small Machine. Learn five methods for handling and finishing a large quilt yourself (and maybe even save money in the process). This class is perfect for quilters of every level. Basic quilters will find it helpful and easy to follow, while more advanced quilters are sure to pick up new tips and tricks on quilting copious yardage with the same sewing machine they’ve always used.

Playful, colorful, improvisational and just plain fun! That's how Sarah Fielke's fans describe her quilt designs. In Big Techniques from Small Scraps, this Aussie quilter makes six small, scrappy quilts that combine traditional techniques with updated fabrics and a fresh design sensibility. Try something different, like deconstructed piecing, or learn a new skill, like needleturn appliqué. Create Sarah's designs or jump off and do them your own way. It's all good fun!

FREE

Laura began sewing as a child with doll clothes and then moved on to making her own garments and often worked on sewing projects for neighbors. After taking her first sampler quilt class in Berkeley, Calif., in 1979, she began quilting passionately. She has created five landmark books on quiltmaking and is best known for her first book, Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! (McGraw-Hill, 1998), which is often referred to as the Bible of quiltmaking. She teaches and lectures locally and internationally. Along with friend and fellow quiltmaker Diana McClun, Laura has appeared on television programs, with study groups, and in seminars touching thousands of students, giving them a start in the basics of quiltmaking. The two founded Teacher Development Seminars as a result of their commitment to the continuing education of quiltmaking.