Just throwing out some suggestions:

1. Differentiate between crafting a finished item and component items. Finished items like a tunic should be the items that take longer to produce. Component items like lining, cloth, or thread should be produced very quick and relatively pain free to create.
2. Speed up animations like how they were sped up for DOL
3. Give crafters (and gatherers) more interesting things to do with their job besides sit in town. They could have their own form of behests via hamlets; i.e. help the hamlets rebuild a workshop, chop down some trees, whatever.
4. Allow items to be recolored after they've been produced. Process should be quick, simple, and award minor SP/EXP.