6-Week Hand-Building Pottery Course | Friday Mornings

Slow down, get your hands into clay and discover the art of hand-building pottery in this relaxed six-week course at Pottery Embassy.

Designed especially for beginners, this course introduces you to three foundational hand-building techniques—pinching, slab building and coiling—before giving you the freedom to bring your own pottery ideas to life.

Over six Friday mornings, you'll create a collection of functional and decorative ceramics while developing confidence in shaping, joining, refining, decorating and glazing clay.

You'll receive 400g of clay each making week, giving you plenty to experiment with while keeping your projects achievable within the class time.

Everything you need is included. Clay, studio tools, materials, glazing and kiln firings are all provided, so there's nothing extra you need to purchase.

No pottery wheel is used, and absolutely no previous pottery experience is required.

What You'll Make

Week 1 — Pinch-Pot Mug

We begin with one of the oldest and most intuitive ways of working with clay: the pinch-pot technique.

Using your hands and fingers, you'll learn how to transform a simple ball of clay into a functional handmade mug.

We'll explore:

• Creating an even pinch-pot form.

• Controlling wall thickness.

• Refining the rim and shape.

• Creating and attaching a handle.

• Joining clay securely.

• Adding texture and handmade details.

This first project is all about becoming comfortable with clay and learning how it responds to your hands.

Week 2 — Slab-Built Takeaway Mug

In week two, we'll explore slab building and create your own reusable ceramic takeaway cup.

You'll learn how to roll and prepare an even slab of clay before cutting, shaping and joining it to create your mug.

We'll cover:

• Rolling an even clay slab.

• Using templates.

• Cutting and joining clay.

• Scoring and slipping.

• Creating strong seams.

• Adding a base.

• Refining your finished form.

• Adding texture or decorative details.

Your finished takeaway mug will have all the wonderful character of something made entirely by hand.

Week 3 — Coil-Built Vase

Week three introduces coil building, another traditional hand-building technique that allows you to create taller and more sculptural forms.

You'll learn how to roll and join coils of clay to gradually build your own vase.

Your vase can be smooth and refined or intentionally organic and textured.

We'll explore:

• Making consistent clay coils.

• Joining coils securely.

• Building height without losing stability.

• Creating curves and changing the direction of a form.

• Smoothing or celebrating the coil texture.

• Refining rims and surfaces.

This week gives you the skills to start thinking beyond simple bowls and cups and begin creating more expressive forms.

Week 4 — Create What You Want

Now it's time to take the techniques you've learned and start exploring your own ideas.

You'll receive another 400g of clay and creative freedom to choose what you'd like to make.

You might create a small planter, vase, mug, trinket dish, sculptural object, serving bowl or something completely different.

Your tutor will help you decide which technique—or combination of techniques—will work best for your idea and guide you toward a project that is achievable with the clay and class time available.

Week 5 — Create What You Want

Week five gives you another opportunity to experiment.

You can create something completely new, revisit one of your favourite techniques from the previous weeks or challenge yourself with a more detailed hand-built project.

You'll receive 400g of clay for your project and have access to the studio tools and guidance you need.

This is your chance to start developing your own pottery style and put everything you've learned into practice.

Week 6 — Glazing

Our final week is all about bringing your pottery to life with glaze.

Your pieces will have received their first bisque firing and will be ready for you to glaze.

You'll learn the basics of glaze application, including preparing your pottery, applying glaze correctly and understanding how glaze behaves during firing.

This is where your collection begins to come together and you get to make those final creative decisions before your pottery returns to the kiln for its last firing.

Who This Course Is For

This course is perfect for:

• Complete beginners who have never worked with clay before.

• Anyone curious about pottery but not interested in using the pottery wheel.

• People wanting to learn the foundations of hand-building properly.

• Creative makers wanting dedicated time each Friday morning to slow down and make.

• Anyone who has attended a one-off workshop and wants to develop their skills further.

• Friends or solo makers looking for a relaxed and creative weekly activity.

You don't need to consider yourself artistic or creative to join.

We'll teach you the techniques step by step and help you build confidence as the course progresses.

What's Included

Everything you need for the six-week course is included in your booking.

You'll receive:

• 400g of clay per making week.

• Step-by-step tuition and demonstrations.

• Guidance throughout your individual projects.

• Full use of studio hand-building tools and equipment.

• Use of studio decorating and texture tools.

• Glazes and glaze materials.

• Professional bisque firing.

• Final glaze firing.

• Your finished ceramic collection to take home once firing is complete.

There are no additional clay or material costs for the projects included in this course.

Just turn up each Friday morning ready to make.

How Much Clay Do I Get?

You'll receive 400g of clay each making week.

The clay allocation is designed around projects that can realistically be completed during the class while giving you enough material to experiment with different forms and techniques.

During the open-project weeks, we'll help you adapt your ideas to suit the amount of clay available.

Part of learning pottery is understanding how to design something around the clay, time and techniques you have available.

Do I Need to Bring Anything?

No pottery equipment is required.

Clay, tools, glazing materials and firing are all included.

We recommend bringing:

• A water bottle.

• An apron.

• Comfortable clothes you don't mind getting a little clay on.

• Closed-toe shoes.

• A hair tie if you have long hair.

You don't need to purchase pottery tools, buckets, storage containers or your own clay for this course.

The Friday Morning Classes

Each week builds naturally on what you learned during the previous session.

We'll begin with a demonstration of the week's technique before you start creating your own piece with guidance available throughout the class.

The atmosphere is intended to be relaxed, social and supportive rather than rushed.

Pottery takes patience. You'll have time to work with the clay, make mistakes, change your mind and discover how different techniques feel in your hands.

During the final part of each class, we'll clean our tools and work surfaces together to maintain a safe, clean and low-dust studio.

Drying & Firing

Your pottery will remain at Pottery Embassy between the making and firing stages.

Pieces need to dry naturally and completely before entering the kiln. Drying cannot be rushed without increasing the risk of cracking.

Once your work is bone dry, it will receive its first bisque firing.

Your bisque-fired pieces will then be ready for the glazing session in Week 6.

After glazing, your pottery will return to the kiln for its final high-temperature glaze firing.

Please remember that ceramics is naturally unpredictable. Small changes, variations and occasional unexpected results during drying, glazing and firing are part of the pottery-making process.

That's also what makes handmade ceramics so special—every piece tells the story of how it was made.

Collection

We'll contact you by email or text when your finished pottery collection has completed its final firing and is ready to take home.

Final completion times can vary depending on drying conditions and kiln schedules.

Once your pieces are ready, you'll finally get to see the transformation from soft clay to your own finished ceramic collection.

Important Studio Information

Please review Pottery Embassy's Studio Guidelines & Policies before attending your first class.

As this is a six-week course, we recommend committing to all six Friday morning sessions wherever possible. Each class introduces skills that support the following week's project, and Week 6 is dedicated to glazing the work you've created throughout the course.

Most importantly, this course is about learning through making.

Your pieces don't need to be perfect.

By the end of six weeks, you'll have explored three fundamental pottery techniques, designed your own projects, learned how glaze is applied and created a collection of ceramics that is completely your own.

Six Friday mornings. Three foundational hand-building techniques. Two weeks of creative freedom. One glazing session—and a whole collection of pottery made by you.