During our Craft Spaces interviews, we posed a couple of questions relating to crafting on the go to our spotlighted crafters. One of the questions we asked was:
How do you organize your craft space to allow for quick pick-up-and-go crafting? (Possibly for workshop teaching?)
Find out the answers from the crafters we’ve profiled so far below. You can visit their Craft Spaces Q&A by clicking on their name. (Pictured above is Dolin O’Shea’s craft space.)
Vickie Howell: I try and keep everything in one large project bag. I generally have a folder for patterns, a notebook for sketching or making notes, a notions bag and ziplock bags of things that need to be protected.
Dolin O’Shea: If I am planning on teaching a workshop, I will make a list of everything needed for that workshop. Then I will gather it all together and put the supplies into a box or bag (depending on the size of the project), a couple of days ahead of time. Sometimes I will forget something, but then I make sure to update my list, so next time I have everything I need.
Shannon Okey: Portability is key, whether it’s a fabric cube with integrated handles that has all my equipment for a particular project, or a large rolling duffle bag to take teaching supplies to one of my workshops away from the studio. (I’ve gone through several rolling duffles over the past few years, I can be a little rough on them!)
Jenny Hart: Bins! Bins. Postal bins, come in handy for cross-town travel to meetups and workshops (especially if you already use them for a crafty side-biz) but if you are really traveling a great distance to teach a workshop, I suggest simply (and carefully) shipping your goods ahead to meet you there. Try to sell most of what you bring to the event to avoid having to ship stuff back home.
CatheHolden I’ve actually only taken my crafts on the go once. I went on a scrapbookers’s retreat last Spring. I don’t scrap, but the idea of a creative retreat was too good to pass up and a weekend with friends was wonderful. Scrappers have some of the most amazing travel organizers, but just I loaded up vintage suitcases and a couple of Rubbermaid bins.
Lee: Meredith: I try to have things categorized so I can easily fill a tote bag or box with all the materials and tools for a certain project without having to dig around all different parts of my studio. And I have specific places for class-teaching quantities of materials (a box of thread that I can throw in a tote, a stack of felt squares with pins and needles in them) so I don’t have to gather them together each time I need them.
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