Posted by brdgt on 2007-02-08 08:24:56
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Welcome!
I think that the general consensus has always been that fewer folders is better because we have the search function. I think once you stick around for a while you'll notice that there really isn't enough information produced on a daily basis to support separate folders for all of those topics.
Personally, I feel that the more folders we have, the less sense of community there is. We really aren't a "how to" craft site, but a community of people interested in crafts, DIY, domesticity, feminism, etc. I think more folders works for a site like Craftster, but I like to think we're different :)
Posted by jean on 2004-12-17 08:48:04
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yeah! it's great to teach the little ones how to craft; especially the boys. i love the image of a 12 year old hanging out with a bunch of ladies, drinking tea and having snacks. very cute.
Posted by Katrin on 2005-04-18 15:50:20
Post Subject: Vintage craft books
Lately I've been finding lots of how-to craft books from the '60s & '70s in thrift stores, and I've begun to amass quite the little collection. Does anyone else collect books like these?
There seem to have been a lot of multi-volume series of these books, so it's easy to pick up several at a time, cheap. At first I just bought them for the cheezy dated photos and language (one set uses the adjective "gay" to describe almost every project). But then I started noticing something: The books are good. They cover a huge variety of handicrafts, and they do it in depth.
The instructions are usually detailed enough for a beginner to follow, but never condescending or oversimplified. The books don't assume the reader is completely ignorant, and they don't treat crafts like a fad that's of interest to only a chosen few. They take for granted that crafts are something normal people do.
In these old books, crafts are not:
- Something hip and trendy (meaning mostly for the young, who'll likely lose interest quickly and move on to the next thing)
- Arcane knowledge that's in danger of being lost (meaning it's good that somebody knows this stuff, but those who do are eccentrics)
- A political statement (neither saying that crafts are a quaint but non-essential pastime for those unfit for real work, nor angrily out to prove they're the opposite of that. Crafters simply take pride and satisfaction in their creations, without worrying they'll be appreciated for the wrong reason.)
Many of these books are from the era of my childhood, and they reflect the attitude my mother and her friends had: These are fun and useful things that anyone can do, including you, and here's how. Much as I do appreciate the updated styles in the newer "revival" books (and simply the fact that they exist), there's a wealth of valuable knowledge in taking a look back.
Posted by cherriesontop on 2004-11-07 07:37:49
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i have many childhood memories and im alot younger then many of you so i guess the memories havent ended yet. but anyways here are jiust some i can rememeber:
my mom has her BA and was a graphic designer. she even designed a shirt for Levi's(it has a tiger on it, which she drew, my dad STILL has that shirt) now she is a kindergarten teacher and she is so crafty with her students! my mom being her crafty self, got us (my little brother and me) involved in crafts at a very young age.
*fingerpainting, drawing rainbows flowers and people, cutting and pasting, from age 2.
* making collages and paper dolls. i even rememeber having an infactuation with a certain baby from a certain cartoon ( not telling which cartoon!) and my mom drawing the cartoon- baby on 2 separate pieces of paper and stapling them together after stuffing them with cotton. so it was kinda like a doll for me.
* i also loved making jewerly out of random beads and sequins. my mom still has braclets, necklaces, etc that i made her.
* learing to sew at age 7. i sewed alot of mini-pillows and then later barbie clothes. i rememeber my mom helping me with a floor length dress and triangle-bandeau top.
* around age 11 i started sewing purses out of old jeans and then writing random words to describe myself on them. i love those purses and i think i will have to go make one after this post.
* around when i was just about to turn 12 i learned how to crochet. i crocheted book marks alot and crocheted a belt. just recentley i crocheted myself a beautiful black-with-bright-pink-edging scarf out of chennille and i wear it very often:)
* ever since i was little i'd always help my family when they'd cook. i loved helping make homemade pizza with my dad or mom. i got more interested in cooking when i was 9 and i absoloutley LOVE to cook!
* i drew alot too. i have countless pictures that i drew.
some might say my childhood is not over since i am not yet an adult. i am fine with that because i do not have any desire to grow up. any ways, looking back, i feel lucky to have a crafty mother to guide me along the way during each and every one of those crafts. i cant wait to show my future kids how to craft!
Posted by punkinpie_prod on 2005-11-25 14:13:45
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Out of all of the forums that are out there, this is one of 3 that I frequent. Why? Because I also agree that getcrafty seems to be about the crafty lifestyle not just how to craft. I enjoy the blogs greatly and love the album feature but beyond that you have done a great job at cleaning up any junk that tries to ease its way in.
Competitivness doesn't thrive here. This place has a wholesome feeling.
I enjoy it the way it is.
Posted by anthrogirl on 2006-10-24 13:28:31
Post Subject: Getting radically crafty
About a month ago, I was at the Union Square Knit-out in NYC. I noticed that there was a table giving away info on making baby's hats for charity- preemie babies in many non-western countries need hats to protect their adorable little heads. More recently, there wasa poster in the NYC subway, extolling the love of volunteer work- it showed a woman who sews and makes items for the homeless.
Many of us here talk about making things for ourselves, our families, and our friends. Yet perhaps we should start sharing ideas on how to make items for various causes. Maybe a new cause could be chosen every two months, and people can send needed homemade items to the appropriate places in their home towns or countries, but all under the rubric of 'GetCrafty'. For instance, I'm in the middle of a big crafting project for which I'm getting paid, and then I have to finish my winter gifts- but I'm already gathering yarn with which I can make hats for preemies all winter. What I want to do is save them and send them all out at once. I also want to start making items like gloves, scarves and socks for the homeless and people in hospitals, particularly children's hospitals. Many of those children get no visitors at all. The same goes for older people in old age homes.
Instead of concentrating on the trendiest 'new' crafts, wouldn't it be fun and positive to maybe start groups that go into old age homes and learn from older women how to better our skills, while helping them to feel useful and wanted? Wouldn't it be wonderful to take scraps of fabric and make quilts for sick children and babies? How about starting crafting groups that teach the mentally ill, prisoners, and the economically disadvantaged how to make things for themselves- not so much for sale, but for a sense of accomplishment and self-worth? I'm curious as to whetherthere would be any people in the NYC are that would like to get together maybe once or twice a month to chat, make fun things for a cause at a time, and send those items off to people in need, or to arrange to help others learn how to craft themselves? But not just in NYC- how many of you are willing to help create what might be called the 'Get Crafty Ladies Volunteer Brigade' and put the radical idea of helping others while helping oneself into action?
While some of this could happen in person, it could also work like a swap- we could do many of these things without even meeting each other. We ould put links to patterns and groups in need up on the forum, and share info on the best way to tackle a project. It could be that this is already happening and I'm not aware of it- I doubt I'm that original a thinker. But if it's not happening, what would be the best way of doing it?
Posted by soapandwater on 2006-02-02 15:29:38
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Yeah, I'm glad Winston Churchill is so quotable, too, but my only question is how just because something has ties to capitalism that means it's done with capitalistic intent?
For instance, if I knit a scarf, even if I buy all of my supplies from people who make everything buy hand, I'm still buying it-- so, I suppose that is vaguely connected to a basic definition of capitalism. But DIY ethic is not in the same boat of the Incontrovertible Truth of Capitalism as it is now-- which is exploitative along race and gender lines (and creates class difference, which is okay until people are mistreated and left to suffer for something so silly as a difference in wealth).
Furthermore, just because you publish a book and profit off of it does not make you a capitalist, or at least specifically, self-labeled and self-actualized, capitalist. After all, it's quite difficult to live outside of the system, unless you live in a commune-- so, yes, Jean published a book, and yes, she makes royalties off of it, and yes, you need money to buy food and pay rent. But I don't think she A.) makes a fortune off of Get Crafty/Hip Hom Ec or B.) that was the intent of her writing.
In fact, from what I know of Jean, she's been a writer-feminist for quite awhile, and that was her intent, to showcase how to craft one's own life and empowerment in that sphere. The interesting thing about her book is it appeals to everyone from capitalists to socialists to communists, right? Which this means we all want individual empowerment outside of our economic goals.
To be crafty can have serious implications for capitalism-- the more we take our lives into our hands and question our resources, the process of production, and the eventual product, the more we're challenging capitalism.
