Video Tutorials Enhanced My Hands-On Learning Experience

Spending time learning something new

Why do we always put ourselves last when decorating our homes?

I spoke to Donna Cash of Designs By Donna and found out that yes, Donna would travel for her hands-on teaching!  I was so excited to host her 3-day bedding class. Donna and I picked the date and began to let everyone know our plan. With little effort, we immediately had 4 other students signed up to attend the 3-day bedding class here in my Greenfield MA studio, YEAH!

I began to make a plan to get have the best learning experience possible

I did not want to fall behind in class. Knowing that I did any prep work I could to obtain a basic knowledge before our class. My first step was to watch Donna’s video tutorials. I began by watching her video on “How to Make a Tailored Bed Skirt “. This helped me to learn the terminology, get the right measures of my bed, and make my fabric choice. Upholstery skirts are not fabricated anything like this tailored bed skirt would be so knowing what to expect was priceless.

I could feel myself nodding in agreement

It was time to watch the video tutorial that Donna has on “How To Make A Basic Duvet Cover”. I had made duvet’s before but always struggled with some of the details. Watching her video prepared me for our hands-on learning together. I knew now where I needed a better understanding and could ask the right questions in class. By understanding the basic knowledge and perception of what we would be doing in the three-day class, it really helped me stay on top of what Donna was teaching. While Donna talked about each step I could feel my self nodding in agreement. With the reinforcement of her demonstrations, I got it!

I would have a beautiful duvet for my bed by the end of Day One!

On day one I was confident I could complete my duvet cover as I had done my homework. I took the time to read over the handouts, use the measuring forms to calculate fabric yardages and reviewed the lingo. Watching the video instructions prior to our class and then listening to Donna as she explained the projects on day one made my day of learning enjoyable and productive.

Waking up early on day two as the excitement of getting my bedding completed was all I could think about. Again we started the day with Donna explaining the work we would be doing and walking us step by step through every detail before we began cutting our fabrics. Each of us had Donna’s help to ensure that we were making the right calculations to get the bed skirt fabrics cut. Again my extra time spent watching the tutorials was an asset. I was ready to get it done!

The icing on the cake, but not the kind you get to eat!

Donna referred to day three as “the icing on the cake” my first thought was, hmm I could go for a piece of chocolate cake…. Focus Kim!  I was getting to add an extra detail of icing to my bed with a double flanged pillow sham! Prior to the class, I had reviewed my handouts from a lecture class Donna had taught years back on the double mitered flange topic. (The Downloadable PDF is available on Donna’s website)  Donna went over the instructions for our final day We were now ready to add the special detail to our bedding. The double flanged pillow shams gave us a great opportunity to learn more about invisible zippers, which we had also done for our duvet’s as well. Like anything you learn the more, you do it the better you get!

We were very lucky students to have this learning opportunity!

By using all the learning opportunities available I had the best outcome. This allowed me to concentrate on the things I struggled with the most. I didn’t feel frustrated with myself, I was able to keep up in class, and now I have a beautiful bedroom to showcase my new skills. Learning from Donna’s videos and then taking a hands-on class from Donna made for a great learning experience.

I highly suggest Donna’s bedding, zippers, embellishments, pillows, and mitered flanges classes. Every morning when I make the bed I smile and know that I did this (and if I chose to I could now offer this service to clients). Hands-on learning is great but having the video tutorials available before my class really paid off in a big way. If I make another bedding set I can refer back to the videos again and again when I ever find the need.

What things have you learned lately? What have you done just for you?