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Crafts CouncilLearning

Craft careers


In Partnership With

Find out how to start your career in the craft sector with our series of job profiles and interviews with experienced makers


In Partnership With

  • Craft business

  • Ellie Mac, an embroiderer based in Brighton. Photo by Jo Thorne.

Craft generates £3.4 billion for the UK economy each year, with the contribution of the wider creative industries now growing at twice the rate of the UK economy. British craft has never been so sought-after and craft skills are revolutionising industries from aerospace to architecture.

Explore this page to gain personal insights from makers on the challenges they faced and what they've learned so far in their career paths.

Our Craft Journey series highlights a wide range of routes into craft careers, from making and design, through to roles in teaching, curating and writing.

You can also view twenty job profiles, containing practical advice on what to study, what you'll need to know and what skills are required.

You can find a downloadable pdf for each craft journey and job profile at the end of each page.

Download our craft careers school pack
Download our craft careers infographic

Further reading

  • Find more roles in the creative industries at Discover Creative Careers
  • Gain careers and skills advice from the Office for Students (OfS)

Craft journeys

  • Craft careers

    How Matthew Warner became a studio potter

    • Craft education
    • Craft business
  • Craft careers

    How Jasmine Carey became a pattern cutter

    • Craft careers
    • Craft business
  • Craft careers

    How woodturner Darren Appiagyei built his business

    • Woodworking
    • Profile
  • Craft careers

    How Tatty Devine started their jewellery brand

    • Jewellery
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Theresa Nguyen became a silversmith

    • Profile
    • Silversmithing
  • Craft careers

    How Ella Fearon-Low became a jeweller

  • Craft careers

    How Caren Hartley became a bicycle builder

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Lewis Piggott became a craftsperson

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Jacqueline James became a weaver

    • Textiles
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Sam Andrew became a ceramicist

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Chloe Moore became a Senior Product Engineer

  • Craft careers

    How Leigh Hodgkinson became an illustrator

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Sophie Huckfield became an artist

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Jazmine Miles Long became a taxidermist

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Millie Ashdown became an exhibition builder

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Riya Patel became a curator

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Amber Butchart became a fashion historian

    • Fashion
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Priya Khanchandani became an editor

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Emily Johnson became a creative director

    • Craft careers
    • Ceramics
  • Craft careers

    How Gareth Wadkin became a Textiles lecturer

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Taneesha Ahmed became a gallery educator

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How Michelle McCormick became a Gemmology lecturer

  • Craft careers

    How Tom Sutton became a craft educator

  • Craft careers

    How Agnis Smallwood became a weaver and weave researcher

    • Craft careers
    • Textiles

Craft job profiles

  • Craft careers

    How to become a bookbinder

    • Craft careers
    • Bookbinding
  • Craft careers

    How to become a blacksmith

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a casting technician

    • Jewellery
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a ceramicist

    • Ceramics
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a chain maker

    • Craft careers
    • Jewellery
  • Craft careers

    How to become a clock maker

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become an embroiderer

    • Textiles
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a musical instrument maker

    • Musical instrument making
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become an enameller

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a fashion designer

    • Craft careers
    • Fashion
  • Craft careers

    How to become a glassmaker

    • Craft careers
    • Glassmaking
  • Craft careers

    How to become a prop maker

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a sculptor

    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a shoe maker

    • Shoemaking
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a stone carver

    • Stone carving
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a taxidermist

    • Taxidermy
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a textile designer

    • Textiles
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a textile maker

    • Craft careers
    • Textiles
  • Craft careers

    How to become a wood worker

    • Woodworking
    • Craft careers
  • Craft careers

    How to become a basket maker


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Read more

  • Craft business resources

    How to write a business plan

    • Craft business
    • Resources
  • Craft business resources

    Sell and showcase your work overseas

    • Craft business
    • Resources
  • Craft business resources

    How to present ideas to a client

    • Craft business
    • Resources

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