We love learning new crafts! Even though many of us crafters have that one hobby that started us on our creative journey, learning new skills and techniques can often rekindle that joy of crafting and inspire new creative ideas.
If you’re looking to find your first creative hobby then we’ve already got you covered with our craft ideas for beginners – but what about those who are already experienced in a craft and fancy something new? It can be difficult to decide what to try next.
March is National Craft Month, so we’ve teamed up with Gemporia Craft to help you take the next step on your crafting journey.
Reasons to try a new craft hobby
Trying a new craft hobby can have many positive benefits. If you’re in a bit of a creative slump or feeling stuck in a rut with your current craft practice, trying something new can be just the distraction you need to inspire new ideas or rekindle the joy of making.
It’s also been proven that crafting is good for mental health, which is why even experienced crafters can benefit from trying something new and different.
You can still be passionate about your original craft hobby, just keep in mind that learning new skills is always a positive! You might decide to learn a technique that you can combine with your existing skills. There’s also absolutely no reason why you can’t have multiple hobbies – there’s plenty of us ‘multi-crafters’ out there.
Craft hobby ideas for National Craft Month
Choosing a new craft can be tricky when there’s so many craft hobby ideas out there, so we’ve rounded up some fun ideas that we think experienced crafters will enjoy trying during National Craft Month.
1. Papercraft
Best for fans of card-making
There’s nothing quite as personal as making your own cards, but every paper-crafter should try making the leap from 2D to 3D. By learning more paper-craft skills you can expand your crafty gift-giving, and what goes better with a greetings card than some lovely flowers? You’ll already be familiar with selecting and cutting the paper, so with a few extra products you can soon start crafting your own beautiful blooms.
You can check out our how to make paper flowers tutorial, or if you fancy crafting a whole bouquet then you should treat yourself to the Paper to Petal book by Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell, which includes 75 amazing paper flowers to craft by hand.
You’ll need a few items that you may not have in your card-making stash, such as craft wire for your flower stems, or modge podge paper glue for assembling your flowers (alternatively, try the modge podge starter set).
- Explore the whole Papercraft range from Hobbymaker
2. Bead jewellery making
Best for fans of embroidery
Embroidery is all about patience and having a light touch to create those intricate and delicate stitches. So, if you’re in need of a little break from those stunning stitches, we think the enthralling world of bead jewellery making will be perfect for you.
Beading uses many of the skills you will have picked up from embroidery, such as a keen eye and steady hand – especially when working with tiny seed beads. There’s also a huge range of beading techniques and styles to master that can be incorporated into your embroidery too.
We’d recommend starting off with a seed bead set so that you have a range of colours, and you might want to get some dedicated beading needles and beading thread too.
Once you have some basic supplies, you can have a go at any of our beading patterns for beginners, or go pro and learn a huge range of techniques with The Art of Beadweaving book by Jane Lock.
For those of you who love cross stitch as well as embroidery, we think you’ll also enjoy beading on an endless loom as you can create designs from similar square graphic charts.
- Find a huge range of beads & accessories from Jewellery Maker
3. Vinyl Press Printing
Best for fans of print-making or have a DIY craft business
If you’re a fan of creating hand-made prints, or maybe have your own DIY craft business that you want to make branding for, we think all kinds of crafters will benefit from printing with a vinyl press. It’s similar to silk screen printing but done with vinyl inks which give a more professional finish and can be used on a wider range of materials.
Vinyl printing is a great way of printing your own custom designs on clothes and almost any other materials at home without the need for a huge silkscreen press. This Vinyl Press Printing kit from We R Memory Keepers comes with absolutely everything you need and loads of different coloured inks to try (including some special puffy, glow-in-the-dark and foil adhesive inks too).
- Get your Vinyl Press Printing kit from Hobbymaker
4. Diamond painting
Best for fans of cross stitch
Diamond painting has become incredibly popular among craft fans in recent years and is particularly well-suited to cross-stitchers who are after new craft hobby ideas. Diamond painting is similar to cross stitch but instead of replacing each square with a cross stitch you fill that space with a sparkly coloured diamond!
It’s not just cross-stitchers that will enjoy diamond painting too, as most designs come in the form of self-contained kits so anyone can give them a try. They’re a really great craft for a bit of mindful making, as it’s a bit like colouring-in, just with luxurious pretty gems!
- Check out the whole range of Diamond painting kits from Hobbymaker
5. Needle Felting
Best for fans of fibre crafts and jewellery makers
Can’t get enough of working with wool? Then you simply must try needle felting! Instead of weaving or knotting strands of yarn like most fibre crafts, needle felting binds unspun wool fibres together to create 3D shapes or even flat pictures.
It’s another of our craft hobby ideas that requires patience. You use sharp barbed needles and tools with needle felting so you need to take it slow and be careful not to stab your fingers!
However, once you’ve learnt the basic techniques you can quickly start to enjoy the transformation of loose wool fibres into gorgeous colourful shapes and sculptures. Jewellery makers can also enjoy needle felting by making their own felt beads.
The best way to start is with a needle felting kit as this will come with all the tools and materials to get started, although when you’re ready to move on you can buy your needle felting wool and felting tools individually.
- Take a look at the Needle felting kits from Sewing Street
6. Macrame
Best for fans of knitting and crochet
When you break them down to their bare essentials, knitting and crochet are essentially ways of weaving and making knots with strands of yarn. So if you want to super-size your makes and take yarn crafts to the next level, you should definitely try macrame.
Macrame is most commonly used for making homewares although it can be used to create a range of objects, from decorative wall hangings to accessories and even clothes. It doesn’t require any tools as you make macrame pieces with a series of specialist knots that are all made by hand. Generally, it uses rope or other thick strands of fibre such as this Jute Piping Cord, meaning you can create large projects in very little time.
Here on Gathered, we have a huge library of macrame knots and free macrame patterns for you to try. Beginners will benefit from using a kit for their first macrame project, like this beautiful Wool Couture Macrame Rainbow kit, and if you fancy getting more modern with your macrame skills you could check out the New School Macrame book.
- Find your Macrame Supplies from HobbyMaker
7. Paper cutting
Best for fans of art and drawing
One of our favourite craft trends in recent years is the intricate art of paper cutting. It’s a craft that doesn’t need many tools, however, it does require a steady hand and a preference for precision.
A good quality craft knife is all you really need, although a metal edged ruler will also help with any straight lines. You’ll want to make sure you have a decent cutting mat to protect your surfaces too.
The great thing about paper cutting is that it’s basically drawing with a knife! If you’re a talented illustrator you can easily create your own designs, or if you want some help to get started we’ve got a whole range of paper cutting templates for you to try.
Find out everything you need to know in our beginner’s guide to paper cutting, or treat yourself and create some truly epic designs with the fabulous paper cutting book by Maki Matsubara.
Finally, the most important thing you will need is some paper. You can use plain solid coloured paper or experiment with patterned papers (you might enjoy using a mix of both, where you cut out on plain paper and back it with patterned paper). However you decide to start your paper-cutting journey, you’ll find loads of funky paper options on the Hobbymaker website.
- Find a wide range of Paper Pads from Hobbymaker
Short on time?
Even if you’re busier than a bee on important business, everyone should try and make time to craft! You don’t have to spend hours, check out our huge list of 5 minute crafts and get making today.
Don’t limit your creativity
Remember that everyone has to start somewhere so don’t be afraid to try new crafts, with National Craft Month being the perfect time to embark on a new creative adventure! Even if you only try one of these craft hobby ideas once, those skills can often come in handy later. Don’t be scared to experiment with or even combine different craft techniques.
Stock up your craft stash
Gemporia Craft supplies a wide range of crafting tools and materials, and is the company behind Sewing Street, Jewellery Maker and Hobby Maker brands.
