Craft resources for self-led groups

Here are selection of craft activities that are affordable and accessible for self-led craft groups, and for venues and community hubs that want to encourage creativity in their venues.

These recommendations concentrate on craft activities that can be done using very basic materials and equipment or better still with recycled, reclaimed and reused materials.  Where possible these links take you to PDFs that you can download and print out so that the activity can be done offline.  However, this isn't always possible so sometimes the instructions can only be found online or you may need to register to download the PDFs.

Crafts Council Craft Club

Knitted Jewellery with Black Girl Knit Club (PDF download), a collective that aims to bring together and celebrate women of colour, whilst sharing their knitting knowledge.  In this step-by-step guide, BGKC show you how you can knit your own bracelet as well as a necklace for expert knitters!

Natural Dyeing with Claire Wellesley-Smith (PDF download) who is an artist and writer. She has developed community dye gardens in Yorkshire and Lancashire for projects that explore wellbeing and heritage. This tutorial shows how kitchen waste can be used to add colour to cloth and thread.

Cardboard Automata Tinkering Studio (PDF download) - a creative, playful way make a mechanical sculpture while exploring simple machine elements such as cams, levers, and linkages. Introduces the basics of building automata, but you can take your piece much further and make it as complex and colourful as you like!


The Spruce Crafts

How to Make Yarn Pom-Poms with Mollie Johanson - Pom-poms add a fun pop of color and texture to knitting projects and other fun crafts. They're easy to make and you don't need any special tools or supplies. Making your own pom-poms is helpful because you can match the yarn to your project. It's also a good way to use leftover yardage.

Scrap Yarn Crochet Patterns with Amy Solovay - Scrap yarn crochet projects are perfect for so many reasons. You get to use up that leftover yarn so that nothing goes to waste. The projects are often colorful thanks to the variety of yarn that you'll use, which, of course, makes them eye-catching.

Origami Flapping Bird Tutorial with Chrissy Pushkin - Learn how to make a cool origami bird with flapping wings! Looks similar to an origami crane, makes a great party trick.

How to Fold an Origami Heart Bookmark with Dana Hinders, who is an origami expert and writer who shares her knowledge on mastering the art of origami. She has over 15 years of experience creating origami greeting cards, envelopes, gift boxes, and holiday decorations.

Mend and Repair Clothes Using Embroidery with Mollie Johanson, who is a professional needlecrafter with over 10 years of hands-on embroidery, sewing, and knitting experience.  A hole in your favorite sweater, jeans or tablecloth doesn't have to be a tragedy. Instead, turn that tear into something beautiful by mending it with embroidery. 

Instructables

You can view the instructions via the links below, but you need to register for free here if you want to download the PDFs which are also available on the same links:

How to Weave on a Cardboard Loom with Jessyratfink - weaving on a cardboard loom is also great for people of all ages - you can make lots of modifications to make it suitable for folks of all skill levels. You can do quite a bit with a simple cardboard loom.

How to Make a Solid Two Colour Spiral Crochet Circle with RajisCraftHobby - Crochet spirals are a lot of fun to make. Whether you are making Crochet Potholders or Large Crochet Rugs and Pillows, you will totally enjoy making those patterns with crochet spirals. You can make crochet spirals with a single colour, two tone spiral or you can whip up a spiral with multiple colours too.

How to Make Batik Art Using a Glue Stick with CraftInvaders - in this easy craft you learn to make a gorgeous piece of batik art using a glue stick and fabric paint.  Batik art is a technique for making designs on fabric or paper using a hot wax resist process, but we're going to use a Glue Stick instead.

Unearthing Creativity: Gateways to creative activity

Printing with found materials (PDF download) - a simple method for creating home-made prints and you don’t need expensive materials or a printing press to create multiple artworks.

Paper landscapes (PDF download) - a short, calming activity, which involves creating an imaginary landscape from pieces of paper.

Watercolour basics (PDF download) - get started with watercolour painting with an emphasis on play and experimentation.

Line one drawing exercise (PDF download) - a simple drawing activity which can be completed on your own or with others.

Inky splats (PDF download) - get your imagination going! Invent a scene from looking at indistinct marks and random patterns that you make by applying paint or ink to paper. 

Unearthing Creativity is a collaborative project being delivered by artists Marion Cheung, Naz Syed, Creative Lives, and Age Cymru, and is supported by the Arts Council of Wales, as part of the Connect & Flourish programme.  You can find more prompts and download more PDF worksheets the Gateways into creative activity webpage.

Creativity Map

If you've been inspired to make creative activity a regular part of your life, you could try looking for a local group on our Creativity Map. 

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