Careers in Craft (how a young person could make it their job)

Working in the craft industry is an incredibly rewarding role. Not only do you get the opportunity to create items that you can sell to others, but you can also spend your days crafting. What could be better than that?

There are lots of different ways that handmade crafts can be turned into a full-time job. This could be working as a crafter yourself or working in some areas that help support the craft industry such as photography and design work. Here are a few ways that a young person could start a career in the craft industry.

Artisan Crafts – Finding a niche craft with a specific theme can be a way for a young person to hone a product for the market. The creation of unique products is a great way of capturing trade and making a name for yourself. Taking an apprenticeship or mentoring with an established artisan will give any young person the chance to hone and learn the necessary skills to become adept at their craft. Two of the best examples of this are jewellery making, a perfect medium to make bespoke and commissioned pieces, and pottery. Both of these have a good online platform and focused attendance at regional crafts fairs. Ultimately, the main goal would be to have their shop or be able to open up a studio that they can work from and sell directly to the public.

Design Work – There are plenty of academic avenues via which young crafters can progress in the field of design work. The route to design work usually begins at GCSE Design and Technology. Here the student can learn the basics of design and get a foundation to start their career. It’s usual to combine this with GCSE Art. From here, the next step is to study both subjects at A-Level with a view to moving on to university and a degree in the subject. This will give the young person years spent being creative in which they can find the type of design they prefer to work in. Fashion and textiles may be an option but there is also scope for furniture design, taking a break from traditional styles for example. It also opens up the possibility of working for a design company and the chance to see their products mass produced. Over time, it may be that they may wish to start their own design company.

Workshops and teaching – The teaching of arts and crafts may be a better outlet for the young person seeking a career in handmade crafts. Gaining a degree in teaching is the best way to combine the two disciplines for a successful role in the field. Teaching others the skills required to be an artist or crafter can be a deeply rewarding experience. As well as being taught in schools, arts and crafting have also been used very effectively as a means of pain management and for creating mental health wellbeing. These kinds of courses can be conducted at colleges or in workshops in community centres as well as in schools.

Restoration and Upcycling – If the creation of new pieces is not something that the young creator finds appealing there is also the option of specialising in the restoration of older pieces. This gives them the chance to bring something that may appear damaged beyond repair, or needs a little love and attention, back to life. Restorers have an in-depth knowledge of the pieces from the past that they are working on, meaning that they have had to invest time in research of the history of the furniture, tapestry or art piece that needs a spruce. This also includes the conservation of the item with constant monitoring and care. Studies in art conservation and working with established conservators can prove to be an advantage. Conservation of this sort requires vital skills that can be used to make a long lasting and truly satisfying career.

Craft Entrepreneurship – Anyone with a business mindset can use their entrepreneurial skills to make craft related operation. There is a readymade market for the provision of craft suppliers. Opening up an online supply business with delivery and distribution can bolster the craft industry. Young entrepreneurs may also consider becoming a retail seller of the handmade crafts that people make. This will save them time and money plus allow them to concentrate on the more important aspects of actually making the crafts to sell as they can still add their own craft projects to sell as well. One of the more interesting ideas that has become popular of late is that of creating a subscription service where people receive a themed item every month. It’s clear that these young people who have embraced the world of the online marketplace are some of the most forward-thinking business people out there.

Whatever path the young person decides to take in the crafting world, either producing, selling or assisting in terms of sales, marketing and admin, they should make sure they are constantly updating and maintaining the skills they have. They can do this by joining online communities or creating their own with other likeminded artisans and crafters.

They need to be completely in tune to what is happening in the craft world. In this way they can be able to see what the shifting market trends and fashions are doing. Being adaptable and staying on point with what people want is the only way to stay relevant.

Finally, for a young person to be successful in the craft business they must make sure that they have built a strong online presence. Following the recent events of the pandemic and the rising costs in the retail outlets, this is a great way to make inroads into the market and sell to as wide an audience as possible.

For any countryside dwellers amongst our readers, the picture of a group of teenagers, slightly cowed under enormous rucksacks, huddled around a map or trudging slowly forward is a common sight in and around our national parks at this time of year. They are clearly walking with a purpose, not just out for an afternoon stroll. There is often not much laughter or needless banter until they reach camp, weary, at night time; their energy is taken up by carrying their heavy loads and their brain power focused on ensuring they are walking in the right direction; a wrong turn means extra distance to cover. This is good training indeed for our young people. It is, in fact, the expedition component for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

However, D of E is not just the expedition. In fact, there are four components to it; volunteering, physical, skills and expedition. It is in the skills section that young people may find a way into arts and crafts which could continue to provide enjoyment and even employment throughout their lifetime. The Duke of Edinburgh award invites young people to develop a skill they already have, try out a new one, test their limits and through all this, grow in confidence. This last year has seen a record-breaking number of participants and at a time when adolescent mental health issues are also at a very concerning high, it offers a truly welcome programme to give our teens purpose, grow them in resilience and enable them to gain a fresh perspective not only on life, but on themselves and their abilities.

As craft business owners, there are formalised ways to partner with the D of E award scheme; take a look at their website if this is something you might be interested in doing. If not, there are always informal ways you can support a young person you know to learn a new craft for their skills section.  As we know, crafting and creating are very good for our mental health and our teens could surely do with some practical boosts in this area.

In an age when so much of teenage life can be focused around screens, the very present and sensory nature of crafting can be of huge benefit. It seems that an increasing number of teens have sensory processing issues in some area, and crafting can offer some wonderfully calming and regulating sensory projects. Working with clay is tactile and soothing and can be an effective way to channel frustration with the added benefit of a finished product! Choosing and mixing essential oils for soaps is a fragrance dream, while selecting and experimenting with colour can be a visual feast.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award has a very holistic approach to young people’s lives, with the aim that the activities in which they participate will allow them not only to grow in confidence but also to develop skills they need to successfully navigate life. Crafting requires of us and develops within us many character qualities essential for life. Perseverance and patience are required to learn and hone a new skill. Confidence is needed to share your finished product with someone, and then maybe take the next step to exhibit or sell.

It might be that what starts as learning a new crafting skill for a D of E qualification leads in time to beginning a small crafting business. This indeed would equip any young person in a manner in keeping with the the original vision of the late Duke of Edinburgh. And, with the  popularity of crafts handmade in the UK ever on the rise this could be a good step to take. For young people who may struggle to see the point of a maths GCSE, developing a business plan and budget will bring purpose to the maths they have been taught. And, it is not only maths for which light bulb moments may occur. Leaning a new crafting skill can bring fresh hope and vision into a young person’s life. It may be the first thing they feel they have excelled in, and the sense of achievement in creating an end product of beauty, which will bring benefit to someone else, will create a huge sense of pride. This in itself will lift their self esteem and provide confidence and motivation for the next step.

Being a part of the community of crafters is also good for their general well being. Friendships are often built around shared interests and the added bonus of being part of a community who produce crafts handmade in the UK adds a whole new level of self esteem and belonging. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is keen to draw young people in who might be on the margins of their communities, and as we know, crafting is an excellent way of integrating people into the community in which they live, through shared work spaces, community projects, fairs and celebrations. A young person could truly find a new sense of meaning and purpose in his or her life through learning a new crafting skill.

As crafters we all have our unique stories of how finding and honing our skill and eventually turning it into our very own business, has impacted our life. We can each testify to the sense of satisfaction we get as we produce crafts handmade in the UK. We know the friendships we have made, the communities we have become a part of and the sense of purpose our crafting business has gifted to us. For many of us, we may also have stories of how our craft has been therapeutic, maybe even life salvaging at times, and offered us not only an outlet for acute anxiety or long term stress, but a sense of purpose and and exciting vision for the future. In a world with so much greyness, we are fortunate indeed to have skills and businesses which create beautiful, praiseworthy products and provide us with so much enjoyment. Here’s to the next generation of young people creating products handmade in the UK and let’s keep our eyes open for opportunities to help them.

Although it may seem very strange, considering we have just finished one of the hottest Junes on record in the UK, anyone working in the retail craft industry will be already thinking quite seriously about Christmas.  Businesses that have craft stores online will already be looking to advertise products that could be used as Christmas decorations, table ornaments, gifts for loved ones and, of course, a comprehensive range of Christmas-themed cards.  It can be difficult to get into the mindset of what you are going to feature as a Christmas range in the middle of summer, but this is the standard time for retailers to be finalising their ranges for this period.  In fact, most will have been working on the basis of being a year ahead with their planning, focusing on a strongly themed seasonal approach to the production and selling patterns.

For the average crafter who is looking to get into the field of selling their products, Christmas can seem like a daunting prospect.  Admittedly, it may feel like you are straying away from your original intentions of turning your hobby into a business. However, you cannot ever discount the selling periods of Christmas and Easter.  For many retailers, Christmas in particular is the one period of time where they can make their best profits and continue to operate as a business. Whilst this can be a stressful time for a crafting professional, it can also be an incredibly rewarding time seeing your items being sold for gifts.

There may not be the same pressures to decorate areas of a store for those operating in the online space, but it’s still necessary to think about how you are going to present your products for the festival season. There is one distinct advantage, in that if you are selling online you can have a section on your website devoted to Christmas products all year round. This makes it essentially the choice of the person visiting the website whether they wish to peruse and browse the products available for Christmas.  For those who are heading out into craft fairs and market stalls then Christmas creation needs to be an activity that you are focusing on right now.  

For example, if you look at heritage organisations such as the National Trust or English Heritage you will see that they will already have begun placing out their Christmas card ranges at the start of the summer and, if not, certainly by mid-August.  It does seem unusual to see these kinds of products being available in the height of summer, especially when there is a heatwave! There is a certain logic to why they do this which might be something that you will want to apply to your own business. In fact, the reason the National Trust and English Heritage have such a wide Christmas range available during the summer months is that most of their shops and sites close after the October half term. Although this is changing and more and more of them are opening for longer, many are bound by restrictions and covenants that mean they must close at a certain time to ensure the conservation of the property. Therefore, the retail manager must take into consideration these special conditions for opening. So, if they have no customers from November through to March how are they going to sell their Christmas lines?

This is a principle that you may be considering yourself.  Are you sure that you want to be working over the winter months attending craft fairs and such like? It’s one of the reasons you may want to consider taking your products into the virtual buying world and get craft stores online.  This enables the customer to come to you rather than you having to go to them at outdoor events.  It may be that you enjoy the interaction that you get with your customers, and there is certainly a lot to be said for this as people do tend to buy from people.  However, many crafters have taken up this field of work so that they can avoid the nine to five grind! Also, many crafters use the winter months to work on new projects and produce new ranges and new items for sale at a future date.  It’s pretty fair to say that the crafting industry is a very seasonal operation, and you have to decide what you are going to get out of it.

Preparing your head for the Christmas months is essential.  Have a range laid out in your mind as to what you are going to sell and begin preparing and making them well in advance of October. You can launch a teaser campaign in your marketing to give people an idea of the items that are going to be available for Christmas. Some craft stores online will also offer pre-ordering so that you can start making items, ready for customers. This will also help to give you an indication of how many products you need to make and shouldn’t leave you with too much surplus that you’ll have to sell in the New Year.  Most consumers are already looking to buy Christmas presents rather than have a tremendous rush over November and December and the crafter can take advantage to this.  

There is a very strong argument for retailers and craft producers to be at least 12 to 8 months ahead of themselves in what they are producing and planning to sell.  While you may not be able to plan ahead as far as some of the major retailers are, you can be sure that they are already planning out Christmas ranges for 2025 as we speak!

Everything else aside, planning 3-6 months ahead for Christmas gets us in the Christmas mood! Let the Grinches say what they want, there’s nothing like Christmas and crafters can play a key role providing unique, personal gifts to enhance this most wonderful time of the year!