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A crafting hobby could be the ideal escape for you: crafts are intricate and absorbing while you work on them, and they give you something to be proud of. You can make gifts for your friends, practical items like blankets, scarves and table settings, or decorations and artworks to adorn your home.
One thing you need to be aware of is that a crafting hobby requires lots of stuff: specialised tools, materials and accessories that make crafting easier, more comfortable and more fun!
Today we’re taking a look at how you can effectively stock up for your crafting hobby, so you won’t be brought to a sudden stop by a shortage of yarn or thread, or the loss or breakage of a key tool.
Depleting Your Stores
All crafts need raw materials: papercrafting uses paperstock, card and glue. Knitting uses yarn, as does weaving, and embroidery uses thread and fabric, and potentially beads, glitter and other adornments.
You won’t use all of these materials with the same speed, though. Embroiderers will use basic thread (or ‘floss’) colours more quickly than their more unusual materials. Identify what your most commonly used materials are and make sure you keep a deeper stockpile of those than rarer, more expensive, or other materials that you use less commonly. Running out of the very basic materials that make your craft possible can bring you to a sudden halt, whereas a lack of a specific ingredient for a specific part of your project can be worked around until you have time to visit the craft store.
Keeping Tool Backups
Many crafts use specialist tools – knitting needles (or even more specialist, the circular or double-ended you need to knit circular items like socks or cuffs in the round), embroidery hoops, and looms for weaving are just three examples. Losing one of these tools, or, worse, breaking one can set you back seriously. It’s well worth keeping spares so that you can move on seamlessly in the event that a loss or breakage threatens your progress.
Stocking Up
When you start with a new crafting hobby for the first time, you’ll likely just buy what you need, as you need it. You might even opt for a monthly craft subscription box, which will contain everything you need to complete a project.
As you develop your skills and the complexity of the projects you’re taking on, you’ll need to build a bigger library of crafting tools and materials, from punch needle craft kits to different sized looms. Try keeping an inventory of what your crafting supplies, so you can replenish it regularly.