It's also a celebration of crafts! We asked people why they craft and the answers ranged from wanting to learn skills to saving money to self care.
Similar to why Kandy and I craft.
Here's what we said....
I craft
because I love to create. As far back as I can remember I
have been crafting, making stuff for friends and family as well as lots of
stuff for myself, often turning useless/worn-out things into useful things.
Growing up
there were regular visits to the fabric stall on the market and to the
Alladin’s cave like haberdashery (that I completely fell in love with). Fancy
dress costumes were made not bought, and the cucumber monster and home-made cake were
always a feature of any birthday in our house.
As well as
crafting and making novelty party food, we made things for fun and for gifts.
In the holidays my Mum would have us baking, cross stitching, making peg dolls,
tie-dying etc. Throughout my teens I continued to craft, making jewellery,
clothes and curtains using craft as a form of self-expression. My work now
revolves around making and the process of crafting something still excites me.
In an
increasingly manufacture driven and wasteful world I
believe that D.I.Y and craft skills are more important than ever. We need to
get the next generation crafting so they know that things don’t just magically appear in shops
and that you CAN make things yourself.
Craft is
important to me because it's empowering, it allows you to create; whether it’s
a fancy dress outfit made for a few quid, a patch made from an old worn-out band t-shirt that you treasure or a novelty cake for your BFF. Craft gives the option
to mend your clothes and make them last longer, to make a special gift for a loved one and in
so many ways, to express
yourself.
Kandy
When I
thought about why I craft and make things I came up with a bunch of reasons,
all bouncing round my head, then I stopped for a moment, organised my thoughts
and realised, they could all be summed up in four reasons.
Craft as necessity
I guess this one could be split in two. Necessity in that you want to have something but can’t afford to buy it.
I grew up with very little money, my mum who grew up on a farm was really into home baking, sewing and a belief in doing it yourself. Wanna decorate, do it yourself, wanna fit a carpet, do it yourself, want a cake, do it yourself. She taught me many skills from a young age and whenever I wanted to gift a family member something I just made it. When I was a teenager with no money and a love for dressing up, I made my own weirdo clothes and accessories, like a budget Gregg Araki film.
But also necessity in that I NEED to be making stuff.
I’ve made stuff continuously since I was a child, it’s just something I’ve always done and something I have to do. If I’m not creating I feel like a part of me is missing, like my purpose is lost. Creating things, being able to take something that was floating around your brain into a physical thing.
I guess this one could be split in two. Necessity in that you want to have something but can’t afford to buy it.
I grew up with very little money, my mum who grew up on a farm was really into home baking, sewing and a belief in doing it yourself. Wanna decorate, do it yourself, wanna fit a carpet, do it yourself, want a cake, do it yourself. She taught me many skills from a young age and whenever I wanted to gift a family member something I just made it. When I was a teenager with no money and a love for dressing up, I made my own weirdo clothes and accessories, like a budget Gregg Araki film.
But also necessity in that I NEED to be making stuff.
I’ve made stuff continuously since I was a child, it’s just something I’ve always done and something I have to do. If I’m not creating I feel like a part of me is missing, like my purpose is lost. Creating things, being able to take something that was floating around your brain into a physical thing.
Craft as skill sharing
All my craft skills were picked up along the way, self-taught, from my mum, from my granddad, a friend here a friend there. I love learning new skills and I love passing skills on.
I craft to spread the joy of it.
I volunteer at a youth centre and teach crafts to young people aged 8-11. I love that I get to skill share with a much younger generation than me and that traditional crafts are still engaging to young people.
All my craft skills were picked up along the way, self-taught, from my mum, from my granddad, a friend here a friend there. I love learning new skills and I love passing skills on.
I craft to spread the joy of it.
I volunteer at a youth centre and teach crafts to young people aged 8-11. I love that I get to skill share with a much younger generation than me and that traditional crafts are still engaging to young people.
Craft as art
The past few years I have been referring to myself as an artist. There are many reasons why it took me so long to give myself this title (class, education, skill amongst some of them) another one being that traditional crafts are so often frowned upon in the art world.
Recently there has been a rise in needle craft and yarn craft being taken seriously in the art world and it’s something I hope continues.
Traditional craft can be art.
The past few years I have been referring to myself as an artist. There are many reasons why it took me so long to give myself this title (class, education, skill amongst some of them) another one being that traditional crafts are so often frowned upon in the art world.
Recently there has been a rise in needle craft and yarn craft being taken seriously in the art world and it’s something I hope continues.
Traditional craft can be art.
Craft as activism
Whether that’s crafting because you want to avoid society’s consumerist culture, you want to reclaim crafts from ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ days of crafting, you want to empower yourself with a skill, you want to be self-sustainable, you want to get a message across, you want to support a cause, you want to take care of yourself.
Crafting can do it all.
Whether that’s crafting because you want to avoid society’s consumerist culture, you want to reclaim crafts from ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ days of crafting, you want to empower yourself with a skill, you want to be self-sustainable, you want to get a message across, you want to support a cause, you want to take care of yourself.
Crafting can do it all.
These are
the reasons why I craft.
Seleena
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