Hi Pam,
I'm no expert, but I think it would depend on the style of the teacher
and the liklihood that you'll practice without someone there to tell
you to. Personally, I never would have gone out and bought muslin and
practiced. I know I should, but I just wouldn't have. There was quite
a long time (3 hours) of lecture/instruction and show and tell before
we sewed in this case (followed by 3 hours of sewing, after a lunch
break). That might or might not be what you want, but I thought it
was useful, with advice about threads, posture/ergonomics, ways to
think about design, etc. Other classes I took were 95% sewing, and
that was fun too. Sorry, I'm not much help!

Lynn

is a class really that helpful, or would a book teach me just at much? What do you
think?

Pam in Spencerport