Finding craft communities online

[fernweh]

I have recently gotten into sewing/quilting and soap making. I’m looking for an online community that is craft related. Not to buy/sell but to discuss and share ideas, tips, etc.

Is anyone a member of such a community or know of one that would be welcoming to newbies?

ETA- I know there is a craft board here but it hasn’t been active in sometime, I’m looking for something with more action.

[ssmjlm]

Facebook has a lot, I'm in one for silhouette machines.

[sent]

FB is full of such groups that share ideas and tips across lots of craft stuff. I follow groups on making mosaics & stained glass even though I own zero supplies. I just like admiring people's work and reading about the process. For a while I followed Cricut craft groups but had to leave the groups when they got on my nerves. The groups may help you find where the local crafters are as well. I've seen the mosaic group discuss where locals meet at places across the world.

I don't know of message boards though or even how to find one. The message boards I belong to (including this one) seem to have run off many over the last decade in favor of the dopamine hits from social media. I've been reading Reddit on various topics that would have formerly been on a message board. Not sure how active crafters are on there, I've never searched.

[strawberry]

The Little Green Bean! Missy is a great teacher. Her classes & patterns are so good. Great for the beginner and advanced. She has a sewing squad that sounds like just what you are looking for in an online community. She and All the members are so encouraging and positive. Priced at $39/month currently and well worth it in value of classes and patterns available. Her Instagram is incredible. I love her projects and crafts so much. I finally feel confident at sewing after watching her YouTube tutorials and making her patterns. She’s fun to follow on Instagram and keeps that space there a positive, politics - free space.

[mala]

I'm running out the door but I'll post some FB soap groups in a bit.

[tacokick]

Mostly Facebook, unfortunately! If you search what you make, I bet a bunch pop up. I’m in more than one about some very niche and obscure regional fiber arts.

[Scout'sHonor]

There are also many craft related subreddits! www.reddit.com/r/sewing/

[nospaekae]

Soapmaking Forum - www.soapmakingforum.com/

Lots of old timers that freely share their knowledge.

[mommyatty]

For sewing and quilting there’s one called Shiny Happy People that’s connected to the Shiny Happy World site. She has tons of free sewing patterns for beginners. I love her, and the FB group is totally zero drama.

[Leeham Rimes]

I was also going to suggest Reddit. I found resin art recently and I’m terrible at it but it’s still fun creating disaterpieces haha.

[mala]

On Facebook there's Sew Whatever, primarily it's for bags but there's plenty of clothing and general sewing discussion, too. Saponification Nation is general soapmaking. Nurture Handmade has a FB group.

On reddit there's r/soapmaking. For sewing there's a bunch, r/sewing, r/sewingforbeginers, r/sewhelp, r/garmetsewing. I don't quilt but I gaurentee there's a subreddit for it.

[mrspez07]

This was the main reason I started doing IG, I followed accounts that inspired me and then end up seeing a lot of the same people liking and commenting. I am very disappointed IG is discontinuing the # follow feature, and that sucks for following a style or a specific pattern, unfortunately.

As far as quilting, there are a lot of local guilds, and many of them have an online presence. The Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) is a huge and mostly progressive community both on and offline, if that's your aesthetic.