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Anyone else enjoy crafts?

xudo

something and nothing
I have always loved to make things, ever since I can remember. When I was younger, I'd make furniture and little dolls houses from cardboard and shoe boxes for toys out of kinder eggs. I would spend hours meticulously doing paint by numbers and sequin art sets and as I got older, I started to teach myself to sew and crochet. I've never really gotten that good at crochet, but I can make a few basic things. I tried to learn to knit but had trouble with using both hands, but I'll give most crafts a go, just to see what they're like.

The main craft that I do these days is sewing, and I find it relaxing and enjoyable. I make hats and key rings that I sell at comic cons, and I love that other people love something that I've made. Sometimes I do tend to get a bit of a perfectionist with things though and I have to remind myself that I'm not keeping it and to let it go. I can also get very focused on making something, to the point that I forget to eat and just spend an entire day sewing.

Is there anyone else who enjoys any type of crafts?
 
I sew as well, but tend to make clothes and larger items such as cushions, as I find small things fiddly. I also knit; can't crochet, but do have a book on how to do it. I colour, and would love to draw and paint, but don't have the talent, although I have managed a few pictures for my own eyes only.

I used to make things when I was younger, like Christmas cards, but never developed the talent to carry them forward into adulthood; my mum used to make cards though, and I think my sister does - when Mum died, I took her sewing basket and my sister took her card making kits.
 
I've sewn since I was little.. I really just sort of caved to the obsession when I opened an Etsy shop 3 years ago and quit my engineering job. I now have 7 industrial sewing machines and a big workspace I rent. It's pretty awesome.
 
For some reason I can't knit or crochet or embroider, both my grandmother and mother attempted to teach me many times, as did the sisters at the convent. I can sew though, and have done so since I first used a sewing machine at the age of nine I think. I'm no seamstress, but I can alter clothing to fit properly, repair, make things like duvet covers, curtains, even sewed a small play tent for a child once:) And basic skirts, tops, pants and unlined jackets. As for hobbies, I make beaded jewellery, do paper collage, and grow vegetables and herbs year round.

Love the hat making xudo, my husband's Gram made all of her husband's hats both felt and cloth and leather. Have a heavy wooden hat form that I've kept that must have been used for exactly that, it looks like this:

2504c8115894bc474a411c4ded88f8e7.jpg
 
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I do cross stitching! I also can sew but it is more alterations. I have made a couple of skirts that even had the courage to go out and used a skirt that I already like as a template.

Just turned a dress into a skirt and worn that a couple of times and in the process of doing the same with another dress.

I can make small items, but I do not enjoy sewing by hand ( I have not figured out why, since I love cross stitching) and my sewing machine is not a great one and I can only afford cheap cotton and so, spend more time rethreading than actually sewing!

I have spurts of a "crafty" mind lol but have a rather heavy hand and so, can be rather clumsy.
 

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As a child I engaged in small cardboard projects that would take shape as rebranded food, an alternative currency, tech props and Lego vehicles.

I now express my creativity through cooking and music playing
 
For some reason I can't knit or crochet or embroider, both my grandmother and mother attempted to teach me many times, as did the sisters at the convent. I can sew though, and have done so since I first used a sewing machine at the age of nine I think. I'm no seamstress, but I can alter clothing to fit properly, repair, make things like duvet covers, curtains, even sewed a small play tent for a child once:) And basic skirts, tops, pants and unlined jackets. As for hobbies, I make beaded jewellery, do paper collage, and grow vegetables and herbs year round.

Love the hat making xudo, my husband's Gram made all of her husband's hats both felt and cloth and leather. Have a heavy wooden hat form that I've kept that must have been used for exactly that, it looks like this:

2504c8115894bc474a411c4ded88f8e7.jpg

I've found hat making really rewarding, and enjoyable! I only make hats from fleece, and sometimes felt for embellishments. I do have a sewing machine that I usually use to sew the main body of the hat, and then everything else I hand sew.
 
i used to make cards for people,i wasnt amazing at it but i did do some good ones,they were all sold in the head office of an autism support head office and went very quickly and i got a ton of orders in,but this year i couldnt do it as my depression is to much.
 

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i used to make cards for people,i wasnt amazing at it but i did do some good ones,they were all sold in the head office of an autism support head office and went very quickly and i got a ton of orders in,but this year i couldnt do it as my depression is to much.

I really like that card! I used to make cards a few years ago, but I wasn't that good at it and I got bored with it and moved on to something else :D
 
I really like that card! I used to make cards a few years ago, but I wasn't that good at it and I got bored with it and moved on to something else :D
thankyou!!
i think minimal is best in some situations.

you say you werent that good with it,but it may be the type of card material/bits you were getting,i like getting bits that are solid; like wooden bits.
i think flat stickers dont look that well on a card compared to 3d or decoupage,but decoupage is a pain to do if you have cruddy fine motor skills.
go on...try it again,you might make a bit of money.
i do know of one profoundly autistic service user of the manchester national autistic society, and he was given funding by them to start up a card making business,he made me a cat one for my birthday once i loved it,some arts and crafts snobs may think it was rough but to me it was beautiful.
im also sure your family/friends etc would much prefer a hand made card from you than a bought one,its all about the effort-anyone can go and buy a card if they have the money but not everyone has the patience and love to make someone a card.
 
thankyou!!
i think minimal is best in some situations.

you say you werent that good with it,but it may be the type of card material/bits you were getting,i like getting bits that are solid; like wooden bits.
i think flat stickers dont look that well on a card compared to 3d or decoupage,but decoupage is a pain to do if you have cruddy fine motor skills.
go on...try it again,you might make a bit of money.
i do know of one profoundly autistic service user of the manchester national autistic society, and he was given funding by them to start up a card making business,he made me a cat one for my birthday once i loved it,some arts and crafts snobs may think it was rough but to me it was beautiful.
im also sure your family/friends etc would much prefer a hand made card from you than a bought one,its all about the effort-anyone can go and buy a card if they have the money but not everyone has the patience and love to make someone a card.

Thanks :) I might give card making a go again at some point, but for now I have lots of hats to make for the comic conventions I'll be doing next year. Showmasters put on one twice a year in Cardiff, so I always share a stall with my sister and sell my hats there. There's a one day, much smaller convention on too which I did this year and I've signed up to do again next year too. I did really well considering it's a pretty small event. My husband goes with me to that because I couldn't manage to go to either of them alone. It's nice though, because I find that a lot of people who go to comic cons have their own difficulties, and a large number are on the spectrum, so they're more understanding if you have a hard time communicating or don't do eye contact.
 

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