If there was ever a blog post to say I should practice what I preach, then this is it. We have spent the last month over in the Make Time Craft Community discussing the subject of our craft space. Looking at ways we can organise and declutter it so that we can Make Time with our Craft Space to actually work on our craft. Guilt free and tidy!
Let me tell you a secret first though, nobody is perfect! For the last month or so my craft space has been a dumping ground for anything and everything. I have not actively used my sewing machine in this time. My machine mojo had left the building. Surrounded by clutter, dumped camping stuff, new school uniform, paper, junk and kids stuff. I just didn’t feel inspired:
Every Room in the House
My craft space isn’t set to this one space though, I asked the people in Make Time to share their craft spaces with us and a general theme of the group was that it’s not just the one space. It’s in “Every Room in the House”.
Above is in the corner of my bedroom and over the last couple of years it has been really handy to have my sewing machine out all the time, but it does have a tendency to clutter up. One of my biggest passions though is to hand sew in the late of the day, all that English Paper Piecing… I’d never sit in the above space for that, so I have craft supplies in my lounge/diner too. Sitting on the sofa with a grab bag project, avoiding that thing called bedtime.
So, nothing is set in stone to a craft space. It evolves and grows in the house. My kids have a lot of craft things too that take over down stairs too, so our very small house often feels the effect of the craft clutter!
Make Time with our Craft Space
What have we uncovered with our members this month in Make Time:
It is easier to shut the door on the mess than tackle it sometimes. Not one I can do in my house as it’s very open plan in my bedroom, my clutter shows its face wherever I go!
When tackling a tidy up session, it’s not easy to do it all in one go. That ever illusive time, patience and quantity of things means it can take a long time to get it right. I know that I have a habit of making the surfaces useable but not organising the things inside tidy, making it look ok
Keep pets out! Thankfully not one for me as we don’t have pets but I think small children count. I have trained my two to not touch my sewing but occasionally they test out what can be done. Cats, on the overhand have caused Make Time members some struggles over the years!!
Sometimes being ill is a good excuse to take it easy. We all get ill and these are the times that we need to rest, when well again we can tackle the space in our life.
My calming English Paper Piecing Project
On the same theme, when your so so busy just stop and spend 30 minutes on your craft. Yes everywhere might be a mess but I proved the calming effect that sewing has in my life this month. We had spent 48 hours of normal life, but also getting things ready for a Beaver camp, my stress and energy levels were through the roof. At the end of the day even though I didn’t feel like it I found my sewing and sat with it. My whole body relaxed.
That thought of having to tidy up after is often a reason to hide from our craft.
We have to battle and share our space with other people, maybe not everyone but most. My small house, 2 kids and a partner a crammed in our space and is often why it feels cluttered. We work on it though and it’ll get better.
A long list there but keep reading, we have some ideas for you… First I want to share something positive.
What Three Words
It’s very easy to pick fun of the mess, the clutter and all of the crafty things that we hoard. But what we have to understand is that we are all creative people, who love what we craft. It makes us who we are, we have realised that our craft is what we need and work to find the time for it.
I asked in Make Time to describe your craft space in three words. I was inspired by two of them as it was a bit of a lightbulb moment that made me realise that actually, let’s not disrespect our craft space, but lift it up and cherish it as the place that makes us feel amazing! Even if we have to make a little effort to get it a bit more organised.
Here is Annes, it sounds divine and welcoming:
“Cosy Colourful Quiet”
Here is Kathy’s, it’s not about the mess and stuff stacked high, it’s the potential to create:
“Piles of Creativity”
Take the opportunity to big up our craft, the space we use and what we can produce in it! Works of mini crafty art!
A Professional Organiser and Declutter Expert
I know, this sounds like a made up job title, but no it’s really not. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Sarah Broadbent from the Tidy Company to get some tips and ideas on how we can make time with our craft space. You can catch the interview here.
There are a couple of takeaways from the interview that I am sure Sarah won’t mind me sharing with you here.
When embarking on a declutter and organising session, create 4 boxes or piles. Label them as, keep, discard (throw), donate, does not belong. Go through your craft space and moving each item to the boxes.
Keep – As someone who likes a few crafts, I normally want to keep it all, just in case!
Discard – It’s no longer needed but just needs to go to the tip.
Donate – Other crafters love to get other peoples crafts
Does not belong – this is the big one for me, having a space for things to belong and the next tips will help in this. Having this box to move things to the correct place in the house will really help!
I can really see how clearing a space in this way will really help my decision making when deciding what I need in my craft space. Putting it in to practice is hard but actually, one of the tips I love is just to do one draw or box at a time, spend 15 minutes on it and see if you can get it that little bit more organised.
Keeping it contained
This is really the big one for me to action. Having a space, or spaces that the things need to go in. The things you need often need to be accessible and it would be good to keep same things together.
If they are in containers that can be stacked and put on shelves or in cupboards, labelled and easily sought after, great. This for me is my shoe boxes and I would love to upgrade to something more practical or get a cupboard that I could kit out. I’d love to have wall storage and shelves too.
One day I will work to this.
Inspired into action
After my interview with Sarah, I had an hour before having to get the kids from school. I was inspired to go crash into my space to make it less of a dumping ground. I by no means completely gutted the space, but I made it useable again:
Having tidied it up. Within 24 hours I was using it again! I added a scrappy patchwork border to my Seeding stitch noughts and crosses board to make it into a 6″ block and also a pencil case birthday present that I’ll have to show soon!
There you have it, my little round up of everything I have found out in the Make Time Community this month. The reason for setting up Make Time is to inspire and create more time for our craft. Hanging out with crafters who want to share their craft as well as create a space to work through everything that comes against that desire too!
If you’d like to come and join us in Make Time, then please do. You will be more than welcome, plus if you have enjoyed Make Time with our Craft Space then please let us know in the comments below or share this with your friends. You may have some tips or tricks of your own…
Karen x
P.S. One thing I am keen to say, is that we don’t have to do it all. Make Time but take time out for you. You are important, enjoy your creative time!
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