If you have a person in your life who enjoys a craft but you don’t know a thing about needlepoint, embroidery, cross-stitch, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, or generally crafting then this is the right gift guide for them. Also, crafty bitch is a gender-neutral term of endearment, I promise.
To get a good gift for your crafty bitch you will need to do some research. 1) What kind of craft do they do or do they want to do? Knitting and crocheting are not the same and require different tools. Needlepoint, cross-stitch, and embroidery are not the same, and require different tools. Sewing clothes and quilting require different tools. If you’re musical think about playing a guitar vs. playing the violin, if you’re into building or DIY, you need different tools for building furniture than painting a room. Getting someone a saw when they need a paint roller won’t be useful to them. Getting someone a needlepoint canvas when they embroider won’t be useful to them. Unless they want to learn to needlepoint, which I of course, would recommend. Some items are useful across multiple crafts, which is what I’ve tried to focus on for this guide so that you don’t have to get bogged down in the super-specifics if you don’t know, don’t remember, or like surprises and don’t want to ask too many questions.
A sewing/embroidery machine. This can be useful for many crafts, you can use it to embroider dates on the back of finished products, finish your own projects, embroider on bags or clothing, or sew your own clothes. The combo machines are definitely more expensive, so I would recommend that you look up your local sewing shop and see if they have any refurbished machines that you can purchase. More eco-friendly and less expensive than a new machine.
This bag is one of the specific items, but this is a really cool knitting or crocheting bag. It has a divider so that you can store enough wool for two sweaters and then has this flap with grommets in it so that you can pull the wool through without it getting tangled and has pockets for needles and hooks. And it’s waxed canvas so it’s super durable. And I think it’s cute.
These socks are one of the items that if you don’t have any understanding of crafts would be a fun gift. My sister actually gave me these a couple years ago and I still have them. They’re really comfy socks and they don’t twist around which is my pet peeve with socks.
The Gingher stork scissors, needle minder (aka needle nanny), and stand are stitching specific, as in needlepoint, embroidery, cross-stitch, etc. but all would make amazing gifts for the needleworker in your life. The stand especially because they are a bit pricey, and especially if you can figure out the version that your needleworker would prefer, from tabletop to floor stand. There are also so many options for needle minders. I have this F-bomb one from Eva Howard Designs, and then I also want the Nantucket Lighthouse Basket one from Penny Linn Designs, or if you’re feeling crafty yourself you can also make them out of basically any pin.
Project bags are so useful. I have this one, and I actually mostly use it to store socks, underwear, and other small things when I pack an overnight bag, but it would also be very useful for traveling with threads and scissors and stuff. I love the Penny Linn Designs ones, they are so cute.
The Cricut machine, this is a holy grail item for many crafters. It can be used for scrapbooking, to finish needlepoint canvases, to make vinyl labels, to screen print shirts. Honestly, this machine can help make basically any craft that you can possibly think of, make it look easy and professional. There are a few different options, but this would be the one that I would want.
Now if you’re really clueless about crafting or you know that they want threads, wool, fabric, stickers, paper, to get photos printed, whatever, getting them a gift card to their local craft store, their local needlepoint shop, their local yarn shop, or a shop that you know they would like to shop at is a perfect way to support small businesses and help them get something that they would actually like.
Happy shopping!
Laura
Thoughtful Millennial 