If you want to spend more time crafting this summer, portable crafts are a great way to do just that. Of course, portable crafts work well all year round, but for this particular season where you can be out of routine, not at home, trying to grab opportunities where you can, they can be particularly effective.

Why portable crafts?

The key benefit of portable crafts is that you can take them with you. Easy to grab and go with you as you move about the summer. Whether that’s travelling to and from work, out and about with family or on holiday.

Organising them so you have everything you need in one place is a great benefit. You don’t need to spend your precious crafting time searching for things. I have a collection of small bags or zipped pouches like this one.

My 5 favourite portable crafts

Crochet

I always seem to start a crochet project on my summer holiday. Quite often a wintery one. I’m not sure why; it’s just happened that way and now become a bit of a habit. I have a small zipped pouch with my yarn, hooks, scissors, stitch markers and pattern. I was surprised how easy it was to crochet a jumper using this setup. I worked on one piece of the garment at a time. Once I’d finished a piece, I left that at home while I worked on the next one. There are plenty of smaller crochet projects that would work as well. I’ve previously had a stack of granny squares in my zipped pouch.

English paper piecing

This is one of my new favourite crafts. I love that it’s easy to feel like you’re making progress whether you only have the energy to baste a set of hexies or have enough to sew a whole block together in one go. At the same time it’s a great slow craft. One to really embrace the process and be present.

Embroidery

I’m a big fan of an embroidery kit and often keep mine in the packaging it arrives in. Popping it in my bag when I leave the house. Everything is all together for me to grab and go. It’s easy to do 1 piece of the design and feel like you’ve made progress.

Bargello

Another of my new favourite crafts. One of the things I love about bargello is you don’t need to keep referring back to a pattern. Once you’ve started you can follow your previous stitching and keep going until you’ve got to your desired size.

Knitting

Similar to crochet, whether you’re working on a smaller project or a garment, you can collect everything you need into a small bag and take it with you.

EPP flowers

Bargello

Not sure what to take?

Some questions to ask yourself to find the best portable craft for you:
Which craft(s) are you really enjoying/looking forward to at the moment?
Is that craft easy to transport in a small bag?
Do you have everything you need to work on that project?

A note about travelling

If you are travelling out of the country do check before you travel about which crafting supplies you can take with you.

Need some help?

I’ve created a free planner to help people spend more time crafting this summer. For your free download click here.

Sophie is passionate about helping people prioritise their wellbeing. Realising they deserve time and space to explore their creativity.

She offers face-to-face and online workshops, events and courses. Looking beyond the individual workshop to the whole person.

Her aim is to help people spend more time crafting.

Sophie runs West Plum Studio, based in York. Her services are available online and face-to-face across Great Britain.

Find out more about West Plum Studio on the website www.westplumstudio.co.uk and on Instagram @westplumstudio