Some version of this lands in our inbox most weeks: "I've always wanted to try stained glass but I have no idea where to start."
We are here to help!! We teach fifteen + different classes now, which is about fourteen more than we offered when I opened the doors in August 2022, and I'm aware the class list has gotten hard to scan and changes seasonally. So here's the whole overview in one place, what each class actually is and how to tell which one might be best for you!
One thing before you scroll. The real fork in the road isn't beginner versus advanced, it's whether you want to learn to cut glass. Some of our classes hand you glass that's already cut so you can get straight to foiling and soldering (more experience based and budget friendly). Others start you at the cutting table learning the whole process. Neither one is better than the other, but it's the thing that actually decides which class you should book, and how in-depth you want to go for your first class!
Level One
Never touched glass before
You don't need experience, an art background, or steady hands. Every class in this group covers foiling and soldering, and you leave the same day with something finished (unless you are taking a ongoing class like the 2-day or 4-week). What's different between them is time, and whether you learn to cut/grind.
Walk-in projects (summertime offering) start at $39 and need no booking at all, just come in off Pearl Street Mall, pick from our pre-cut patterns, and we'll get you going as long as we have an instructor available. It's the cheapest way to find out whether this craft is for you, and it fits into an afternoon of a Boulder weekend instead of making you plan around it.
The Make & Take Sun-catcher Workshops are that same idea with a bit more structure and a bigger pattern selection (seasonal patterns offered). The glass is pre-cut...think of it more like a cooking class for you to kick back and enjoy. We prep the "ingredients" you have fun putting it together!
If you want the full process, the 1-Day Beginner class is four hours and covers all of it: pattern layout, cutting, grinding, foiling, soldering. It's a lot to fit into one afternoon and we won't pretend otherwise but best for our weekend warriors who cannot commit to more than one day. Most people finish slightly stunned they did it all in a day and then immediately ask what's next left wanting more!
The 2-Day is that same material with room to breathe, you get 2 hours more class time and get to make a slightly larger project two days back to back.
The 4-Week Beginner is the one I'd point you toward if you like a slower pace and want a class to attend as an ongoing commitment. Four weekly sessions, and you really get to dive deeper into each step and make a larger project due to the longer class time.
And the Date Night class is 1.5 hours (our most popular experience class) you and your partner share a station and work on a project together or two smaller projects seperatly. We make stained glass honeycombs in these classes, with good room for customization of color and arrangement. We get first dates and we get BFFs, family, more - this class is meant for everyone not just couples.
Level Two
You've made one thing and now you want to be better at it
This is the stage where you know what you're struggling with, which is useful, because it means you can pick a class that fixes exactly that thing.
The intensives each spend 2 hours on one skill and nothing else. Glass Cutting is the one most people need. Cutting is where the majority of self-taught makers stall out, and a couple of hours of somebody watching and helping troubleshoot your score line will do more for you than a year of YouTube self teaching. Soldering covers iron temperature, flux, tinning, and why your bead keeps going lumpy or flat in the same spot. We built that one because we kept hearing "I wish there was a class that JUST covered soldering." Decorative Additions and Framing round it out, framing being the glamorous one that decides how to finish your panel in a professional way!
If you'd rather keep it open-ended, the 1-Day Intermediate is the natural next step after any beginner class, ours or someone else's. Pattern is pre-chosen and you cover techniques such as copper foil overlay, wire details, patina, and more to focus on higher level skills.
Digital Pattern Design - You'll learn how to draw patterns in Procreate on an iPad and cut them on a Cricut. Resizing without redrawing the whole thing, mirroring, and making patterns your own, Once you can make your own patterns you stop being limited to whatever someone else thought to sell.
Worth mentioning here too: Glass Club is $20 for the session (that's $10 an hour), weekly. Bring whatever you're working on, use our equipment you supply the Solder, foil, and glass only - or you can purchase from us in person, and there's someone nearby when you get stuck! Plenty of people take one intensive and then more or less live in Glass Club.
Level Three
You have a specific thing in your head you want to build
These are multi-week, small group, and heavy on one-on-one time. They all assume you can already cut, foil, and solder without someone standing over you.
The 4-Week Advanced class is for the project you've been sketching for a year and can't work out how to actually execute. Bring the idea and we'll help you draft a pattern that works and troubleshoot every place it tries to go wrong, and help you make it possible (copper foil only)!
The 4-Week Leaded Method teaches lead came instead of copper foil, the way windows were built for a few centuries before Tiffany's studio popularized foil. Different muscles, different way of thinking about a design, and it holds up structurally at sizes foil doesn't. It's why every old church window you've ever stood under is leaded.
And Meggy's special classes - from time to time I pick particular topics and patterns to cover such as repair, or recreating some of my patterns, etc. Classes are sporadic but are taught by myself for some intense one on one time working on glass together!
If you're still stuck, here's how I'd decide it:
Never cut glass and not sure you'll even like it? Date Night or Take & Make. Never cut glass but you already know you want this and know it all? 1-Day or 4-Week Beginner. Took a class and you know exactly what you're bad at? Take that intensive. Took a class and you just want to keep making things but don't want to pay for a full class? Glass Club. Got a project you can't stop thinking about? Advanced.
And if none of that helps, call the studio or email hello@coglassworks.com and just describe what you want to make. We'll tell you which class gets you there :). Hope to see you in the studio soon!!
<3 Meggy