The maker space at Fiber Rhythm offers large and small craft items for rent.

When creative people are drawn into a new passion – or are just trying out a new brand of tools or equipment – the cost can sometimes be prohibitive.

Of course, with activities like beading, knitting, or crochet, the outlay of resources is usually relatively small – and it’s easy to borrow from crafty friends. But others, like machine sewing and quilting or pottery can mean a bit of a financial leap.

Luckily, some stores – large and small – offer tool, equipment, and creative-space rentals to serve their customers and, hopefully, create new ones.

From At-Home Rentals to In-Store Use: How Retailers Are Adapting

For instance, Dawn Seymour, owner of Fiber Rhythm Craft & Design in Portland, Ore., offers rentals to serve her community of crafters and bring more customers to her store.

Fiber Rhythm offers two categories of rentals. For smaller items – such as a 12-inch knitter’s loom, spinning wheels, 8-shaft table loom, 10-inch table loom, or a rigid heddle loom – two-week at-home rentals are available – for non-smoking homes – for fees ranging from $25 to $75.

Two-week rentals can be renewed if no one is waiting — just like at the library.

Fiber Rhythm also has a craft space behind its retail area.

“People can come in and use our equipment here in the store, mostly the larger stuff. We have knitting machines, including several Silver Reed models and we also have a circular sock machine.”

Fiber Rhythm also has a couple of floor looms, a sewing machine, a drum carder, and a linker.

“All of that equipment stays here and people can come and use it while the store is open. This equipment can be rented for two hours or up to four weeks.

“For the circular sock machine, for instance, the rentals are by the day because we might have to switch out the cylinder,” Seymour said.

While the store sells some of the equipment it rents, the rental fee will be deducted from the purchase price. Fiber Rhythm does not carry all of the equipment it rents for sale. The store also offers classes that involve some of the rental options.

Challenges and Adaptations in Equipment Rental Programs

Gwen Brown, of Gwen Erin Natural Fibers in Hubbard, Ohio, has tried equipment rentals, also. Brown used to have take-home rentals of tools.

“When I originally began my rental program, I offered a spinning wheel, small rigid heddle loom, spindle, carders, combs, blending board, fringe twister, and frame loom. A deposit was required with a credit card on file. We would go over all the equipment, and I would make a note of the items going home with the customer. The wheel was the only item I ever rented out. Despite a lot of online enthusiasm, and some in-store enthusiasm, very few people actually used the program. I thought it would have been a great way for people to test expensive equipment before buying or have access to a tool that is only used occasionally.”

Customers were permitted to rent the item for seven days and could rent for another seven days if nobody else has requested that item. The program hit a snag when the store changed insurance.

Left/Top: Gwen Erin Natural Fibers in Hubbard, Ohio received a lot of initial enthusiasm for their rental program, but it was not well utilized. Right/bottom: Woolyn in Brooklyn rents looms to beginning weaving students. After the class, they can reduce the purchase price by the rental fee.

“My rates went way up and so I changed insurance companies. However, the new insurer would not cover me if I continued to allow people to remove items from the shop. We discussed my options, and the agent said I could allow students to use the equipment in the store.”

In store rentals have not been well-used either, she said.

“I will admit, I have not advertised the new program. I had to quickly make the change away from the original program and did not come back around to make the necessary arrangements for the new program. I do allow students who are taking the beginner weaving class to return as needed to finish the project. Other than that, there isn’t much activity around the rentals at the moment!”

Rachel Maurer, owner of Woolyn in Brooklyn, rents looms to beginning weaving students.

“People take home a loom for a week while they work on their project. The price for a loom rental is $30 for a week and if they decide to by the loom at the end of class, the rental fee is applied to the cost of the loom. Otherwise, the only option would be for people to have to purchase the loom for the class and that would add over $250 to the cost of the class. Most people would not be willing to spend that for a beginning class on top of the class fee,” she said.

The rentals help the store’s as well as the customer’s bottom line.

“It works for us. I’d say we have a 50-75% purchase rate from people who have taken the class. And many people opt for a wider and more expensive loom,” Maurer said.

JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts also rents equipment. While the retail chain did not respond to requests for information, the JoAnn website lists the equipment available for rental and the rates.

For instance, at select JoAnns, you can rent a Glow Forge 3D printer, a Grace Long arm quilting machine, various models of Cricuts or a Silhouette Cameo 3 (the latter only in Columbus, Ohio) The website will direct potential renters to the nearest site for the machine they want. Not all stores have this service.

Rentals are by the hour at select stores and vary in price. A Grace Long arm quilting machine, from a store in Dubuque, Iowa, for instance, costs $15 an hour to rent in the store.

Libraries and Retailers Expand Access to Crafting Tools

Local craft guilds may also have equipment to loan or rent to members. And smaller tools for crafters and DIYers are becoming more common for-loan items at some library system.

The Wauwatosa (Wisconsin) Public Library, for instance, offers creative kits. From knitting to sewing to home repair, these kits may be checked out for 21 days and cannot be placed on hold.

There are also kid-friendly paper crafting kits for different ages that could include a banner creation set, a party decoration set, confetti punches, 5-inch non-stick scissors, rulers, pencil sharpeners, fun paper edgers, or for older crafters, a detail knife, scoring stylus, metal ruler, paper trimmer, scissors and circle cutter. The tools were donated to the library by Fiskars. There are also food design, floral design and home décor kits.

Other libraries in the Milwaukee County system, and across the state, offer button machines, Cricuts, heat guns, hot-glue guns, pom-pom makers, crochet hooks and even Chrome books.

The Milwaukee Tool Library (no relation to the library system) is a lending library of things, where anyone can check out tools and equipment for just about any DIY project you can think of. Membership is free. There are similar “libraries” across the country.

Some libraries, similar to retailers like Fiber Rhythm offer maker’s spaces. For instance, the Fond du lac (Wisconsin) public library has a maker space with a 3-D printer, button maker, drawing tablet, embroidery machine, Glowforge Pro Laser, Mayku Multiplier, printmaking press, serger, sewing machines, Silhouette Cameo 4, sublimation printer and heat press and X-Carve CNC router.

While libraries offer these services strictly to benefit the community, retailers often see a tangible benefit. Fiber Rhythm, for instance, sees an increase in yarn sales from its endeavors.

“And that’s not a bad thing,” Seymour said.