Blame the rent, the burnout, or the group chat that never makes real plans. Gen Z is skipping the club and heading somewhere slower. Across Edinburgh, London, and Belfast, they’re gathering around tables filled with yarn, beads, and the occasional badly drawn dog.
They’re calling it what it feels like. “Crafts are like medicine,” Gabby, founder of Girls Craft Club in Edinburgh, told The Guardian. After an ADHD diagnosis left her feeling unmoored, she started hosting weekly creative meetups. Every session has a theme—crochet, jewelry-making, latte art—and the draw is far more than the crafts. It’s the chance to be present, off-screen, and human for a few hours.
Across the UK, the hobbies your nan swore by are suddenly back in fashion. Pottery cafes are packed. Mahjong nights are full. Supper clubs are replacing Saturday nights out. It’s not irony or nostalgia. It’s a coping mechanism. The Children’s Society reports that more than 25% of 15-year-olds in the UK have low life satisfaction. Many of today’s 20-somethings hit their formative years during lockdown. Their social lives were interrupted. Their sense of stability never really landed.
Why Gen Z Is Trading Scroll Time for Grandma Hobbies
What these hobbies offer is a reset. Not in a self-help way, but in a “let’s paint ceramics and talk s**t for two hours” kind of way. Dog life drawing classes in Sheffield now attract about 40 people per session. Supper clubs in Belfast sell out. Book readings in Manchester feel like concerts. You don’t need to be good at any of it. The act of doing something with your hands and doing it near other people is enough.
Even the data backs it up. A 2024 Anglia Ruskin study found that crafts ranked higher than paid work in generating life satisfaction. Professor Daisy Fancourt, author of Art Cure, says creative hobbies actively regulate stress. Sarah Corbett, founder of the Craftivist Collective, compares the process to mindfulness: stitch by stitch, your breathing slows and your brain comes back online.
Gabby’s craft club is part of a movement, not an outlier. A rebellion against productivity pressure. A nudge away from screens. A reminder that connection doesn’t always have to come through a text thread or an Instagram story. Sometimes, it’s something you can hold in your hands. You might even get to wear it home or give it away as a Christmas gift.
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