Choosing and Preparing Craft Supplies for Swapping

Tripping over bins and yarn balls, I realize: nobody in their right mind needs twelve glue guns, yet somehow, I do. Swapping only works if you offer stuff people actually want, not bags of mystery buttons or faded construction paper. Don’t even get me started on hauling it all—totes, boxes, masking tape, chaos.

Culling Your Craft Stash

Yarn knots. Pens that only work upside down. Ribbon that tangles itself at night. My stash is a mess. Culling shouldn’t be soul-crushing, but when I stare at the pile, I swear the pom-poms are plotting a revolt.

I stick to the “if I haven’t touched it in a year, it’s out” rule. Quilting cotton? Keep two yards, tops. Glitter tube lids from 2022? Out. Little Red Window says focus on what you actually do now, not what you thought you’d do during the Tie-Dye Apocalypse. I split stuff into three piles: keep, swap, donate (never just trash—someone’s always making sock puppets, apparently).

Half-used stuff is fine if it’s clean and not chewed by a hamster. Side note: a friend swapped unopened cross-stitch kits for a diamond painting kit (HubPages). Practical. If you’re emotionally attached, maybe just…don’t bring it.

Selecting High-Demand Supplies

Nobody wants felt scraps shaped like chickens. Trust me. Swappers fight over unopened packs, full skeins, cutting mats, rotary blades (covers, people, covers), and new ink pads. Decorative stamps and unopened stamp pads disappear instantly—HowStuffWorks says scrapbookers go wild for them. Beads and findings? Jewelry people light up.

Check your stash for hot items: Cricut vinyl, unopened Mod Podge, washi tape rolls. Old paintbrushes and dried glue? Don’t bother. If you’re unsure, ask in local groups—sometimes they post “most wanted” lists before events. Makes life easier for all of us.

Packaging and Transport Tips

Duct-taped grocery bags? Yeah, that disaster cost me a dozen buttons once. Never again. If you actually care about what you’re hauling (or you’d rather not pick glitter out of your car upholstery for eternity), just grab lidded plastic bins or, at least, a half-decent cardboard box. For the tiny junk: zip-top bags, scribble on a label, and do yourself a favor—write what’s inside. “Variegated thread, purple/blue mix” means something; “thread” is a joke.

Stacking stuff is a whole thing. Don’t bring bags that flop and crush everything—use boxes that actually fit in your trunk. Someone at a swap once told me to rubber band like items together. I thought it was overkill but, honestly, it keeps pencils and rogue knitting needles from rolling everywhere.

Drop your stuff off early if you can. The good tables fill up fast and, trust me, nobody’s digging through a heap at the bottom for your “treasures” (https://www.craftsupplyswap.org/). Oh, and slap your name on your containers if you want them back, but, honestly, don’t get attached. Someone always grabs the wrong bin during the chaos.

In-Demand Craft Supplies at Swaps

Don’t trust anyone who claims to know what’s “trendy.” It’s always the weird fabric scraps, mystery tools, or some random bit of grosgrain ribbon that saves a project at the last minute. My friends text me for fabric leftovers more than they ask to borrow my car. Every swap table is a mess of panic and hope, and I’m always there, poking through piles, trying to figure out if the yarn’s usable or just a rat’s nest.

Popular Fabrics and Yarn

You’d think slapping your hand on a stack of fat quarters makes you some kind of genius. But it’s always the oddball polyester blend, that faded batik, or grandma’s lumpy wool that disappears first. Quilters? They’ll fight you over batiks and novelty prints, ignoring piles of ugly fleece for a single scrap of linen.

Nobody cares what you paid for it. If it’s a pain to sew or jams your machine, it’ll sit. I watched someone leave with a garbage bag full of upholstery fabric—said she had “plans.” And let’s be real: merino wool skeins are unicorns, but there’s always a mountain of tangled acrylic in colors nobody admits to liking. Anyone turning up their nose at remnant bags never tried to finish a baby blanket at 2 a.m.

Sewing Notions and Tools

Have you ever seen adults fighting over a rotary cutter? I haven’t either—I’m too busy checking if the blade’s even sharp. That’s what you get: half-packs of snaps, zippers in absurd colors, measuring tapes so stretched they’re basically abstract art.

I’ve swapped jars of buttons, bias tape (double-fold, obviously), and scored glass-head pins that turned out half-bent. Nobody cares. Quantity over quality, except for scissors—those better work. Someone once told me to never swap your last seam ripper. “You need one in every room.” Maybe they were joking? I’m not convinced.

Bring extra thimbles or bobbin cases and you’ll make someone’s day. Also, you’ll hear wild stories about machines eating bobbins and relationships nearly ending over tension settings.

Paper, Stamps, and Patterns

Scrapbookers? Ruthless. If there’s patterned cardstock or a paper pad with more than two sheets, forget it. I watched metallic embossing powders break up a friend group once. Nobody cares about swapping old die-cuts or stencils.

Old stamps, rubber or acrylic—someone always wants them. Even if you hate cats, somebody’s kid is obsessed. Patterns—sewing, knitting, stenciling—those are gold at swaps, especially if you stumble on a vintage Vogue or a not-ugly holiday sweater chart. Organizers on Little Red Window say so, and I agree.

Adhesives are weirdly valuable. Glue dots, archival tape, roller adhesives—especially if you can’t stand glue sticks or rubber cement headaches (three crafters claim it’s a thing). The last pack of clear corner mounts always vanishes; metallic inkpads stick around forever.

Beads, Buttons, and Ribbons

The bead tray is pure chaos. Plastic, wood, glass, seed beads rolling everywhere. Sometimes you luck out and get a jewelry maker’s sorted stash; sometimes it’s a tangled nightmare, but someone finds a match and acts like they won the lottery. That’s the point: the hunt. Nobody’s checking for perfect pearls.

Buttons? Basically currency. People swap jars of them. Someone always claims a “good button” saves an outfit, and, honestly, they’re right. I once traded a box of random vintage buttons for silk ribbons and don’t regret it. Ribbons show up in every flavor—satin, grosgrain, organza—usually tangled, sometimes snipped for gift wrap, sometimes tied onto bookmarks because nobody wraps perfectly with satin ribbon the first go.

The real prize? Weird stuff: imported trims, hand-dyed silk, woven bias tape. And it’s always the “I’m just browsing” person who leaves with three spools of velvet ribbon she “didn’t need” until her next project. Some swaps? You can show up empty-handed and just browse, see Dakota Valley. Someone’s throwaway is your missing piece when you’re desperate for that last half-meter.