It's certainly possible to learn enough to become a competent freelancer, finding sustainable work in that time may be another problem. Here[0] is a link to a guy's progression who learned Python/Django in a month, it includes extremely helpful resources to help. I would also learn the basics of throwing up a Wordpress site just to have a quick way to demonstrate your abilities.

Is this a 6 months off to focus solely on learning development skills or 6 months to learn while working?

0. http://eddychan.com/post/15775730174/how-i-learnt-enough-pyt...