Yeah, that finger was rather hard to do, kept squishing it all together, having to rebuild it and then sewing it together pulled up all the edges. I stuck the needle in it so I wouldnt have to worry about one of my cats swatting it while I took the picture. Did another one tonight in between cooking dinner. Surprisingly, I was able to eat and move around without it doing much other than the occasional lift in the corners. Not surprisingly, the other folk at the table had a bit of a hard time eating their dinners.
And about the classes, the more I look into it, the more I'm deciding against it. They don't seem to offer nearly enough for the price they are asking. Most classes seemed like they were geared towards someone with absolutely no background in art, where as I have quite a background in art but very little knowledge towards the actual process of special effects. I'm sure there are classes just like what I'm looking for, but I haven't found them yet. I did however see that Sheridan College, near Toronto (big city here in Canada, for anyone living under a rock who doesn't know, it's like Canadas New York, but with a ton more crackheads) has a one year diploma course for special effects makeup. A little hefty on the price at about $30,000 (if I remember correctly) as opposed to about $600 for a couple classes, but it covers basically EVERYTHING for getting going in special effects. It definitely merits a lot more research time.