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What resources are people currently using to learn about crafts?
Hi there! Thanks for contacting Wonder for details of resources that people are currently using to learn about crafts. The short version is that people learn about crafts through resources including online courses, such as the micro-courses offered by Coursmos; YouTube video tutorials, some of which have millions of views; websites, such as UK Handknitting, which offers video tutorials and information about knitting groups where people can knit and learn together; apps offering everything from tutorials on a phone to thread tracking and a yardage area calculator for quilting; and blogs, with knitting blogs seeming to be hugely popular. A deep dive of my findings is available below.
METHODOLOGY
For the purposes of this response, "crafts" (more formally known as "handicrafts") has been defined as an activity, usually in branches of the decorative arts, that requires skill and involves a high degree of "hands-on" craftsmanship rather than just skill with a machine. Art Encycopedia says "there are hundreds if not thousands of different varieties of handicrafts", and lists a number of activities that fit into the category. These include:-
- textiles
- woodcraft
- papercraft
- pottery and glass crafts
- jewellery
My approach to researching the resources people are currently using to learn about crafts, such as those above, involved a number of online searches, which took me to some useful "best of" lists for resources such as blogs, websites, and apps. Further research led me to look into other ways that people learn new skills, such as through online courses and video tutorials on sites like YouTube. A summary of my findings is below, along with some examples of the resources that I found during the research process.
ONLINE COURSES
Online course providers such as Coursera are well-known thanks to the recent proliferation of MOOCS. Many of these courses are offered in partnership with leading universities and, as such, focus on academic subjects. However, a number of online course providers now cater to those wishing to learn crafts, and there is even a crafts course provider called Craft University! Creative Live is a provider with dozens of craft tutorials and courses, including Quilting, Upcycling, and jewelry making. Craftsy's instructors teach skills including sewing and quilting. Skillshare offers over 14,000 classes in total and has a section on its website exclusively for crafts. The courses range in length, from a few minutes to a few hours and deal with skills such as flower arranging and notebook making. Another online course provider is the Russian-born Coursmos, which incubated at Happy Farm in Ukraine before moving to San Francisco. Coursmos offers extremely short courses, the idea for which was born out of a YouTube study showing that almost all users watch videos up to three minutes long in their entirety, while longer ones often get abandoned in the middle. An example of a course offered by Coursmos is a 3D Origami Cat Tutorial.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is filled with videos offering tutorials in Arts and Crafts. The popularity of these videos can be seen by the high number of views that many of them have. For example, a paper beads tutorial has been viewed more than 378,000 times, a rolled paper project has been viewed over 1.2M times, while a Magazine Roll-up Crafts tutorial has been viewed more than 2.75M times!
WEBSITES
Many websites are dedicated to crafts and offer tutorials and opportunities for people to learn. Official organisations, such as UK Handknitting have short videos showing how to knit, how to purl, and how to create a slipknot. They also offer details of knitting groups, where people can knit together and learn from each other. The Victoria and Albert Museum's website provides information about craft exhibitions, as well as events for people to learn.
APPS
In keeping with modern technology, people learning about crafts can use a variety of apps to assist them. My research found a number of "best" lists, that included a "thread tracker" app, the Creative Bug app, which offers tutorials, and The Quilter's Little Helper, where "you’ll find a calculator for backing & batting, [and a] yardage area calculator".
BLOGS
Blogs are still a popular way of retrieving information, particularly for a niche topic. A good example is Mary Corbett's NeedleNThread blog, which offers advice and tips on embroidering. Knitting is a particularly popular topic to blog about and my research uncovered a list of the top 100 knitting blogs. Some of these blogs have hundreds of thousands of Facebook likes and tens of thousands of Twitter followers.
SUMMARY
In summary, people learn about crafts through resources including online courses, YouTube video tutorials, websites, apps, and blogs. Many online course providers, such as Coursmos, now offer micro-courses to fit with audience preference towards shorter videos. Knitting blogs are hugely popular, and some have hundreds of thousands of likes on Facebook, while apps offer everything from tutorials on a phone to thread tracking and a yardage area calculator for quilting.
I hope this information is useful. Please get in touch with any further questions and one of our expert researchers will be delighted to provide a response. Thank you for choosing Wonder!