Meet Your Nominees!

Each and every one of these amazing crafters has contributed to the creative community in their own unique way. You sent in your nominations and now we're delighted to reveal the shortlist for the 2021 CraftWorld Awards. Take a look through the nominees and cast your vote!

The Grand Prize

All winners will be invited to the CraftWorld Weekend, an exclusive online crafty retreat packed with talks and workshops from much-loved figures in the craft industry. The retreat will be held online in February 2022, so you can nominate anyone for an award – no matter where they live in the world – and they will still be able to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event. Everyone who nominates or votes in the CraftWorld Awards will also be in with a chance of winning an invitation to the CraftWorld Weekend, to learn new skills from some amazing crafters.

Designers

Whatever your craft, designers are the shining light in our little crafty worlds. They're the creative people who come up with new ideas and create patterns and projects for you to follow.

The Nominees

• Adaku Parker is a sewing designer. You said: The owner of Dovetailed, and designer of some of the most eye-catching Love Sewing patterns, Adaku never fails to wow us.
• Amber of Divine Debris is a crochet designer. You said: I love Amber's designs - she always makes me feel like I want to get my hook out and start crafting!
• Ashlee Elle of The Dream Crochet is a crochet designer. You said: Ashlee creates some of the most beautiful crochet pieces along with etheral photography that is just out of this world!
• Cathy Andronicou is a papercraft and sewing designer. You said: I'm nominating her because she is an inspiration and a hard worker & driven.
• Chloe Birch is a knitting designer. You said: Freelance sustainable knitwear designer, Chloe is all about sustainability, inclusivity and wellbeing, and has designed for key brands including West Yorkshire Spinners
• Chloe Redfern is a sewing designer. You said: The master of cute embroidery and home decor, Chloe is so good at explaining her techniques so we can stitch along at home.
• Cornish Emma is a papercraft designer. You said: So much technical experience inspires others and is thoroughly nice person all round whenever other crafters engage in discussion on crafting.
• Frances Long is a papercraft designer. You said: Frances is an asset to the paper craft world in that she creates the most amazing projects and tutorials, and then walks her students through each step to create mini albums that become treasured heirlooms. She is an inspiration to anyone who might be uncertain about attempting projects that look complicated, because under Frances’ expert, gentle guidance explaining every detail in her sweet melodic voice, her students come away with not only a beautiful mini album to treasure, but also the confidence and motivation to continue challenging themselves! Frances is also a skilled artist in other mediums; she crochets and does watercolour painting among many other talents!
• Helen Shrimpton of Crystals and Crochet is a crochet designer. You said: Helen designs beautiful crochet items, some of which she gives as free patterns. She does them as Crochet-Alongs, with videos to teach people how to do new and interesting stitches. She is also wonderful at helping people if they get stuck
• Hunter Hammersen is a knitting designer. You said: I just love watching Hunter's designs develop, piece by piece. They're so clever, and make me think of my knitting in new ways.
• Jane Burns is a knitting designer. You said: Knit & crochet designer of mystical, mythical and marvellous children’s garments and accessories
• Jenny Rushmore is a sewing designer. You said: Before Cashmerette, I didn't sew because I couldn't find patterns in my size that weren't frumpy. Jenny has totally transformed the way I see sewing, and in turn my own body. She's just incredible.
• Juliet Uzor is a sewing designer. You said: Sewing Bee winner Juliet has such a great eye for fashion, she never fails to disappoint with her hacks of fun fabric choices.
• Kerry Lord of TOFT is a crochet designer. You said: Kerry is an author and designer, particularly known for Ed's Animal Menagerie.
• Lou Withers is a papercraft designer. You said: I love her mindful moodling sessions!
• Louise Walker is a knitting designer. You said: I am totally in love with Louise's whacky creations! She's such a lovely person too, I was lucky enough to meet her at a show once and she was so kind to me.
• Lynette Jasper of Pretty Gets Gritty is a papercraft designer. You said: Watching Lynette create her projects is just so inspiring! She's also been running online craft workshops which have een a real lifeline.
• Meg, Sew Liberated is a sewing designer. You said: Sew Liberated is one of my favourite new brands - everything Meg creates makes me want to find fabric and start sewing straight away!
• Noriko Ho is a knitting designer. You said: Noriko Ho has been knitting, crocheting, and spinning for over fifteen years, and began designing professionally at the end of 2014.
• Rosina Plane is a crochet designer. You said: Mosaic crochet designer extraordinaire Rosina loves playing with a huge range of textures and colours
• Sachiyo Ishii is a knitting designer. You said: Sachi is a talented toy designer like no other, turning her hand to anything!
• Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Craft and Made to Surprise is a papercraft designer. You said: Sam works tirelessly to bring us kinetic, interactive and static card designs, gift bags, albums and other paper crafts. I don't know how she does all she does, but she definitely deserves all the awards.
• Sylvia Watts-Cherry is a knitting designer. You said: A huge intarsia fan, Sylvia wants everyone to enjoy this colourwork technique.
• Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts is a crochet designer. You said: A crochet and craft enthusiast, Toni shares inspiration and education for makers of all skill levels.

Local & Community Heroes

These are people who have made a real difference in their community. They can be event organisers, shop owners, workshop teachers or anyone else who contributes to the vibrant community of crafters.

• Corinne McManus is part of the sewing community. You said: Masks For Extraordinary People is a non-profit volunteer organisation in SE London making fabulous funky face masks, from home, for people whose lives have become extraordinarily challenging. 75,000 made and donated about 30,000 environmentally friendly face masks to essential workers since April 2020
• Glynis Bakewell is part of the papercraft community. You said: I love Glynis's workshops! She's such a talented designer and I can't wait til she's doing in-person classes again.
• Kayleigh of Shrimp and Doodle is part of the papercraft community. You said: She has turned a thriving online business into a physical shop which opened this weekend. It’s been a battle to get the shop in order since she signed the lease and she’s been a complete hero!!!
• Maggie Page is part of the sewing community. You said: A haven for crafters, this amazing Dunfermline shop offers endless choice, expert assistance and a lovely, warm welcome from Maggie.
• Sara of Black Sheep Wools is part of the knitting community. You said: All through lockdown she has done videos and Facebook posts that have kept me going (and no doubt countless others!). It often feels like she is in the room having a cuppa and yarn natter with you, and it would be nice to show her some appreciation for her efforts.
• Sarah & Robin is part of the sewing community. You said: The Fabrics Plus team have been fantastic in keeping people crafting and inspired over the past year, they deserve a treat!
• Sarah of Stamp Addicts & Stamperama is part of the papercraft community. You said: The work that Sarah and the team have put in to this show is amazing! I'm so excited for the Newcastle show in February.
• Sarah Wheatley is part of the knitting, weaving and embroidery community. You said: Sarah is the pillar of our wool community here on outnsmall town of Derbyshire. With her help, I went from a very low point in my life to living my best life with her help. I am not the only person she has helped there are so so many more. She really truely deserves this award.
• Sew Marvellous is part of the sewing community. You said: volunteer sewing group based in South Birmingham, making items for charity and community groups. Email us at sewmarvellous@gmail.com
• Sophie Keaveney is part of the crochet community. You said: For the last 3 years, Sophie has ran a great local workshop called Crochet & Rose. This didn't stop throughout the pandemic, as it moved to an online setting and kept everyone crafting and everyone's spirits up. Sophie volunteers her time to do this, and its open to everyone - from experts to beginners - she supports everyone with their crafting needs.
• South West Stitch Fest is part of the knitting and crochet community. You said: This fabulous local festival went ahead in November and was so much fun!
• Southern Wool Show is part of the crochet and knitting community. You said: Love this festival! So friendly and packed with gorgeous yarn.
• Starlight Knitting Society is part of the knitting and crochet community. You said: Such a warm and welcoming space, full of beautiful yarns
• The Foundry Works is part of the knitting and crochet community. You said: Fantastic local place to buy yarn.
• The Wool Clip is part of the fibre arts community. You said: The work The Wool Clip collective do is wonderful. They do so much to celebrate everything wool!
• Toni Darroch of Stamps By Me & Stamping Together is part of the papercraft community. You said: Toni did an amazing job of organising a lovely event for papercrafters. It was so lovely to see events happening in person again!
• Yarningham is part of the knitting and crochet community. You said: Fab festival, and I loved the magazine they created. Really talented group.

Online Stars

This past year more than ever, finding community online has been a lifeline for so many of us. We want to recocgnise those crafters who share their creativity online.

• Abi Jenkins is a sewing creator. You said: A great source of help with her fun Youtube tutorials and endless sewing inspiration!
• Alexandra of Natty Thread is a crochet creator. You said: Every time I need a dose of colour, I look at what Alex has been up to! The way she uses yarn is simply magic.
• Alice May is a sewing creator. You said: Alice May has a fantastically creative eye and I love the way she incorporates high street fashion inspiration into her sewing, creating a sustainable alternative to fast fashion
• Alyson Chu is a crochet creator. You said: Founder of Moorit magazine, a beautiful mag for crocheters. She's also a fab designer!
• Ann Melvin of Positively Papercraft is a papercraft creator. You said: I love everything she makes!
• Art Angel is a papercraft creator. You said: She is a total inspiration. Give her a Die or a stamp, or any mixed media and she will come up with something incredible and a totally different use for the original product. He choice of materials and colours is wonderful and what she creates as well as being beautiful really does make you stretch your imagination. I love what she does.
• Black Girl Knit Club is a knitting creator. You said: A safe, inclusive and encouraging space for women to build their confidence and develop skills in craft
• Cal Summers of The Scrap Lab is a papercraft creator. You said: Cal teaches Mini Book making at least once a week online for free. She has created a community which many have come to rely on for interaction and her projects are just fantastic.
• Camilla of Knitting Needle Lane is a knitting creator. You said: Camilla works so hard with dying yarns, running online shop and looking after her family. She sadly had to close her Cambridge shop this year but had continued the fight to keep going with her business and now running this from home. Her quality of yarns is superb along with her wonderful customer service.
• Chantal Miyagishima is a knitting creator. You said: Chantal's designs are simple but beautiful and I love seeing her pictures in my feed. I'm still a beginner but I can follow her patterns and end up with something to be proud of.
• Clara Parkes and the Wool Channel is a fibre arts creator. You said: Clara is so clever and this new project is a wonderful celebration of the wool that keeps us warm!
• Eileen Godwin is a papercraft creator. You said: Eileen gives inspiration to all crafters. She shares her techniques and tips to encourage and help people at all stages of their craft journey. Eileen's work is simply stunning from easy clean and simple cards to very involved pieces of work. Eileen always encourages and shows how to overcome mistakes. Eileen will take the time to explain to any individual encountering problems. Since lockdown Eileen has put up at least 2 makes a week, she's done online workshops and been a crafty lifeline for crafters so that they don't feel isolated and can craft along with her online and also show and see makes from anyone who has followed her. You know you've found an extremely talented crafter when the likes of Tim Holtz and Kevin Nakagawa pass complimentary comments on her work.
• Elaine is a sewing creator. You said: Elaine has such incredible personal style, and her blog photography and reviews are a joy to read.
• Jeanette Sloan is a knitting creator. You said: Renowned designer of hand knitting patterns, tutor and columnist for Laine magazine, Jeanette is creator of @bipocinfiber and works tirelessly to boost diversity of the knitting community
• Jen Hewett is a fibre arts creator. You said: Jen has published an incredible book, The Long Thread, which explores the contribution of creative women of colour in the fibre arts community, bringing together a wide range of voices.
• Jen Skinner & Laura Cook of Crifty Crafty is a papercraft creator. You said: Jen is a leader and true inspiration and co founder of the UK Cricut Creators Facebook group. We all love Jen to pieces! What no one ever sees is the number of private messages we get from Jen and her side kick Laura Cook (also nominated). While I was in intensive care fighting for my life with Covid, their support was precious!
• Jennifer McGuire is a papercraft creator. You said: Wonderful inspirational posts, she comes up with such good ideas and explains them so clearly!
• John Lockwood is a papercraft creator. You said: Genuine down to earth and honest. Gives his time freely to explain how to use the products in ways us not so talented can understand and accomplish. His products are super and affordable by and large and all do more than one thing. He supports many other small designers too, even when they are competition to him in the marketplace.
• Knit Picks Podcast is a knitting creator. You said: A podcast about all things fibre and knitting - we love listening, it's like hanging out with friends!
• Laura Cook UK Cricut Creators Facebook group is a sewing and digital crafting creator. You said: Manages our group, selflessly giving time and support to all group members and inspiring us with her creations. Organising FREE craft along sessions for members.
• Lena King is a sewing creator. You said: An inspiring sewist, blogger and the co-organiser of the annual ankara appreciation week hashtag.
• Little Cotton Rabbits is a knitting creator. You said: Julie of LCR started knitting as a way to cope with parenting a severely autistic son. Her blog is a gentle and heartfelt mix of blogging and autism awareness.
• Liz Grylls is a sewing creator. You said: Liz has shown me that sewing doesn't have to be fancy or girly all the time. Her casual, wearable, everyday makes are my favourites.
• Marta Debicka of Drop of Sunshine is a papercraft creator. You said: She demonstrates on Youtube, sharing tutorials, and is very generous in giving away her own paper designs. She also has a beautiful style of cardmaking.
• Mathew Boudreaux, Mister Domestic is a multi-craft creator. You said: Matthew is just an absolute powerhouse! Is there nothing he can't do?
• Natasha Foote is a papercraft creator. You said: She is just the loveliest most encouraging crafty friend. She inspires so many as well on her channel and works so hard. She is unique and clever in her creativity.
• Pauline Turner is a crochet creator. You said: She has been such an inspiration to me and thousands of others around the world. Her International Diploma in Crochet has helped me when I have been going through difficult periods in my life and convinced me life is good and not to quit when times are tough. Crochet is medicine for the soul which I have discovered through this wonderful course because of Paulines dedication.
• Sarah-Jayne of BellaCoco is a crochet creator. You said: She taught me to crochet which has been so good for my mental health in lockdown
• Sasha Reade is a papercraft creator. You said: Sasha has such a joyful approach to crafting in her videos, it's a delight to watch. She also has some super ideas which she shares in an accessible way.
• Shin of Shinysuperhero is a knitting creator. You said: I have so much admiration for the way Shin uses her platform to inspire and uplift the community, using her voice to speak out agaisnt injustice all whilst bringing us so much beautiful yarny goodness!
• Sophie Woods, The Crochet Florist is a crochet creator. You said: This person is so passionate about her work and you can see that in her lovely items .She ensures every package she sends out is filled with love and always an extra little something is amongst the customers order .Always beautifully presented .I would love to see this lovely lady receive an award for her hard work and devotion.
• Traceylou Drage-Baillie is a papercraft creator. You said: She has regularly done lives and many giveaways. She does live tutorials starting from basics. Making things out of things you have in your home. Kept alot of people going through the covid period.
• Vicki Boutin is a papercraft creator. You said: Vicki is a very inspirational artist and crafter, she is also enthusiastic about what she is doing, she encourages everyone to make art, saying it is just a piece of paper and your time. During Covid Vicki has been a bright light when times have seemed dark, with her smiles, happy chatter and encouragements to “do the things”.
• Vincent Green-Hite of Knot Bad is a crochet creator. You said: Vincent's silly crochet videos always put a smile on my face! He's such a great guy, and I love the "yarn punk" community he's created!
• Yards of Happiness is a knitting creator. You said: Dana Williams-Johnson created the blog Yards of Happiness in 2015 to share her love of knitting, and is known for making tiny replica sweaters for her beloved rescue dog

Charity Crafters

You're such a generous bunch! There have been so many examples of folks using their crafty skills to help good causes - these are the crafters who you told us deserve more recognition.

• Alison White has used knitting for a good cause. You said: Alison came up with the fabulous idea of covering Barely Chruch tower in 1,452 flowers. Alison raised £10 per flower for the church and made it look beautiful in the process.
• Elaine Jones has used crochet for a good cause. You said: Really admired Elaine's figet blankets she crocheted for residents of MHA care homes. Such a kind thought.
• Ella Lambert has used sewing for a good cause. You said: Founder of The Pachamama Project, using sewing to help end period poverty around the world.
• Helen Kurtz, also known as Josie Kitten has used crochet for a good cause. You said: Helen has been fundraising for Myositis UK by holding weekly yarn raffles on her Instagram page. She has raised more than £20,000 so far. She has increased awareness of this rare disease and even carried on fundraising when she was diagnosed with cancer this year. She is incredible!
• Julie Isles has used sewing for a good cause. You said: Owner of Threadmill Hayfield and organiser of the Funderwear Jo's Trust charity event
• Laura Nelkin has used knitting for a good cause. You said: Laura organised the amazing Knit for Food Knit-athon, bringing together the whole community to raise money for a great cause.
• Marion Abbott has used knitting for a good cause. You said: Marion kindly took it upon herself to knit hearts for lifted the spirits of the Royal Star & Garter care home.
• Mrs Margaret Annie Clough has used knitting for a good cause. You said: This wonderful lady is my grandmother who will be 102 on 29th December 2021. She crochets blankets for residents in nursing homes, who are usually many years younger than she is. She has been knitting and crocheting for many many years, she taught me to knit when I was about 5 years old and I have been knitting ever since.. I knit cardigans and blankets for our local premature baby unit.
• Naomi Clarke has used sewing for a good cause. You said: Integral part of the Coronavirus Parliament memorial quilt, led by MP Dawn Butler https://www.instagram.com/p/CQnpVdmn6lV/
• The Dropped Stitch has used crochet for a good cause. You said: The Dropped Stitch had a raffle to raise money for Chailey Heritage Foundation.
• UK Handknitting has used knitting for a good cause. You said: I love UK Handknittings charity work. Especially the Hats for the Homeless drive they organised this year.
• Workaid has used sewing for a good cause. You said: This charity based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire empowers young people in Africa (and the UK) to help themselves by developing the skills and knowledge needed to find gainful employment or start their own business. They do this by refurbishing tools such as haberdashery items and sewing machines and shipping them to training centres and self-help organisations.
• Zoe Potrac has used crochet for a good cause. You said: Zoe designed the fabulous Christmas crochet pudding, raising money for The Together Trust a fantastic charity helping young people who live below the poverty line

CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE!

Please note: You will need to sign up for a free CraftWorld account to vote in the awards. By voting you will also enter the draw to win an invite to the CraftWorld Weekend, our first-ever online craft retreat, being held in February next year.