All About Charity Crafting

This lent I had a surge of motivation to both use my crafts and time for good – and clear some of my left over balls of yarn.

I made 6 worry monsters for my friend, which were donated to the local hospice. They have a pocket for the mouth and children can write down their worries and put them inside the monster to gobble up’. I also donated two to the Nurture Room at a local school.

I haven’t made granny squares for ages so I made what ended up looking like a Christmas blankets. 5 rounds of granny crochet, Dk yarn and 4mm hook x 25 squares makes a nice sized lap blanket. This was donated to my local community centre who will make good use of it for someone in the local area.

It wasn’t just the yarn that needed using up – I had a whole pile of scrap fabric too. You know, the awkward bits like after cutting out trousers that are a struggle to use. So, I sewed bonding hearts for the local neonatal unit, again requested by the Knit and Natter group.

And finally, if my halo hasn’t been polished enough, I made worry worms. These were, again, for the Nurture Room of a local school and the feedback has been delightful with how much they have helped the children. I can’t take full credit-my friends surprised me with almost a hundred of them and I did a lot of sticking on eyes.

I have had experience of charity crafting over the years and it was a joy to get back into it. This got me thinking and today I’m going to share with you the dos and don’ts of crafting for charity.

I have made a YouTube video, which is below. Or, I have made no-nonsense bullet points further down, in case you prefer to take things that way.

Please do share in the comments what you like to make for charity and your experiences.

DO…

• take the opportunity to de-stash. I enjoyed the challenge to be creative by putting different yarn weights together and exploring different textures.
• Check what the charity want to receive. For example, have they already got enough baby items? Or, do they even accept what you want to make? Excess stock or items that cannot be used by the charity is a bit of a nightmare for them. Some organisers do this from their home and don’t have the room to stock lots of things, let alone finding a home for things they cannot make use of.
• Adhere to their safety rules. Check first. Will they accept safety eyes on teddies? Do they need the ball band information for washing instructions?
• Include your details so that they can send acknowledgement. Email is best as this does not cost the charity anything (unlike post) and is quicker for them to do (unlike phone call).
• Make something you would like to receive. It can be tempting to rush, storming through your stash or making things as chunky as possible, but it is important to ensure the item is still practical. For instance, I used my wool for the worry monsters as they are unlikely to be washed. A blanket, however, should be machine washable. Also, chunky yarn may not be suitable for an animal charity as little claws can get stuck in the gaps larger stitches create.

DON’T…

• Don’t be disheartened if they cannot accept your make. For future, it it better to find somewhere and look at what items they accept rather than make first and finding somewhere to donate. I had this problem when I really wanted to make teddy bears for children, and did, but it was actually quite hard to find somewhere that would accept them.
• Ensure you don’t forget to make your items from easy care materials, such as cotton fabric or acrylic yarn. Also, include a care label to ensure your items live on and can be cherished through time.
• Please don’t ignore the charity’s guide lines. Otherwise, it may mean your hard work is disposed of as it cannot be used. An example is baby items not being in red or black. Furthermore, the Dress a Girl Around the World charity does not want to accept clothing in fabrics that are camouflage, see-through or with western imagery (Harry Potter etc). This could negatively impact the recipient.
• Most of all, don’t forget to have fun and this means also not over-committing. It is much better to make a smaller amount of quality items and actually send them off, rather than stock pile. Remember that crafts take time, so send them off as soon as you can. A charity may put a call out for a particular items, then have enough 6 months later. So do check they still need your item before sending.

Well, I’ve enjoyed today’s little blog.

Take care, Rachel G x