How much is your craft hobby costing and three ways to save

Binge buying craft supplies can easily add up, but if you want to play the long game, here are tips from avid crafters.
‘Safety Yellow Woman’ by Sophia Cai. Photo: Supplied, courtesy the artist. A bright yellow sweater with ridiculously long sleeves and black stripes is laid out on a green metal bench. Cai speaks on the cost of her craft.

Craft hobbies are popular pastimes that can steer our minds away from the stress of life and work while offering a blend of repeated, therapeutic actions and space for creativity.

However, the costs of craft materials can quickly add up, especially with cost of living on the rise. Quality yarn, boutique fabrics, machines and studios can require exorbitant amounts. There are an abundance of craft community memes such as ‘buying craft supplies and using them are two separate hobbies’ and ‘why buy it for $7 when you can make it yourself with $92 of craft supplies’.

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Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.