Last night, Anna Brownfield’s film ‘Making It Handmade’ had its television premiere on ABC2. Wowee! Bravo Anna. The film features the crafty lives of four ladies (Gemma Jones, Casey Jenkins, Rayna Fahey and Me) and talks about all kinds of good stuff, crafty-like.
Anna had to chase me to get me to be in this film. I am quite skittish when it comes to discussing my place in the craft world. It makes me feel like a bit of a show-offy tosser. But I love Anna. And I love her commitment to her work and to this DIY life. So despite being quite ill, I did take part and I am very glad I did. I am proud to be part of something so fab (despite my watery eyes, croaky voice, unbrushed hair etc!)
My segment focused on Moi, our shop and the crafty ladies of the Brown Owls.
Gemma talked about the meaning of craft to her, and crafty trends and we got to sit in on her Kaotic Kraft Kuties gathering too.
Casey talked about radical craft, using craft as a woolly, glittery fire-starter to encourage dialogue on all kinds of issues, from lady parts to explosives and plenty in between.
Rayna talked about crafty activism, taking us on a knit graffiti mission and chatting about making craft your own and turning our backs on crafty commercialism.
In addition to we four…
Faythe said some GREAT stuff about the realities of crafting as a job, as well as strewing other pearls of creative wisdom. In case you don’t know, Faythe is the super-smart lady behind the book and film Handmade Nation.
Justine talked about the contagious wave of handmade life that is sweeping through our suburbs.. and how fantastic that is! Justine is the editor of the much loved Mixtapezine.
In true DIY style, Anna conceived, shot, edited, produced, packaged and marketed this film herself. Now that is crafty.
You can watch Making It Handmade on iView for a limited time
You can buy Making It Handmade on DVD here :: (please note that Anna also makes feminist erotica films, so don’t be startled when you pop over there!)
Do you know, when I was growing up our house was FILLED with dressmaking patterns, DIY manuals, Golden Hands, Family Circle… all kinds of things that made you want to make things (and read things too!) If there is one thing I can say to people who want to foster crafty times in their household, it is that you should surround yourself with encouragements like these. Um. Actually there are two things.
1. Surround yourself with encouragements
2. Just have a go
What do you think? How would you encourage a crafty life…? Or how do you get your crafty inspiration? Did you watch this film? Will you? What did you think?
xx Pip
I just watched this on iview this afternoon while 'handmaking' (I hadn't read your post about it at the time), and was delighted to see some people I "knew".
As someone who dabbles in selling handmade (I make cloth menstrual pads), I could totally empathise with Faythe regarding her comments on the realities of handmade business.
I loved the cross stitch activism!
Hi Pip!
I just watched Anna's doco on iview. I thought it was really cool.
I agreed with what one of the ladies said about making stuff out of other stuff – I really don't get crafts like "scrap booking" (that doesn't involve any scraps!) that are expensive and all tied in with mass production.
I have an economics degree and I think Capitalism is a pretty efficient way to organise society, but I think that we have lost track of the point of the economy, to make people happier. I hate commercialism and it makes me sick to go to the mall at Christmas! All those people buying all that useless stuff!
I don't know what point I want to get across, but I thought it was a good documentary and you and the other interviewees represented the young crafty community quite well.
I also wanted to mention how proud I am of my siblings – we are all really creative – my brother draws and paints and is in a band, one of my sisters is a great crocheter, drawer and painter, my other sister is a creative cook, sewer and general crafty person and I knit, crochet, sew and make stuff. Handmade gifts and things made out of other things are always a large component of the gifts we exchange at Christmas. I wish I knew why we were all so creative, but I think it has to do with our grandmothers and being relatively poor, we learnt the enjoyment that you can get in making do.
I really enjoyed watching that. What I enjoyed most about your bit, was that you were really genuine and authentic. I like that about you. I think you're the type of gal who will always stay true to herself no matter what, and that's really special. Thanks for sharing! xo
I watched with head phones on, glued to my mac, whilst my baby slept, with my latest project in hand, Macrame!
What a pleasure, what a community to be apart of, to be inspired by!
Thanks to all involved.
Pippa ๐
Thanks for your pearls of wise words, Pip. After a non crafty childhood envirnment I am enjoying having the freedom as an adult to indulge somewhat more in making and doing – thanks to your encouragement I will increase the crafty prompts in my life.
P.S. I followed your video tutorial to crochet a granny square yesterday – I am so stoked! Thanks for the non frigtening instructions!
eeee! Thanks for the heads up! I've been reading about his doco for a while and I'm so excited to watch it, I'm gonna pop over there right now!
Me and some pals went to see this when you guys had a screening and had the q and a after, it was really fun, huge turnout, great to see so many melbournians enthused about craft! might give it another watch now that its on iview. you were great pip AS IF you could be a show-offy tosser, and we really liked casey if that was the adorable girl who did the flingups, fantastic message!
I think that to live a more crafty life, I actually need to get off the internet a bit… looking for inspiration all the time, there's always another site and another site to look at which is great but sometimes its too compelling to tear yourself away from all the eye candy…. need to head into my craftroom and look at all the stuff I've accummulated and just let THAT inspire me to create something new.
Thanks Pip for being so genuine and real. I loved hearing what you had to say. How do I encourage craftiness? With my girls I make sure they see me being creative and let them join in. I have a special spot set up for them in my studio too. Just recently I started a second blog in which I try to encourage people to insert a bit of creativity into the every day, hence the name Creativity Every Day. I love that creativity makes your day more interesting, especially when you're a stay at home Mum and there is a lot of mundane in-between!
Pip, I loved it . I have just rediscovered sewing and have made three quilts this year . I love the feeling that i have made these myself . They are not perfect but they are uniquely mine . At 41 I am a borm again crafter . Even found my 70's sewing basket .
It was a great show! You were great too. It made me think about why I craft. It has always been in our family too, mother, grandmothers, Aunts, great Aunts. I am nowhere near as talented as the women who came before me but I have the compulsion to make stuff and I see my daughter has it too. So interesting to see the different ways people use their creativeness!
ah…bummer…got the "austrailia only" error message. ๐ Hopefully soon….
oh yay! i'm off to watch it now. i'm sick and sniffly and a bit of iview craftiness on the couch under the doona should perk me right up.
Just watched it in iview.WOW! What a great production.And it really made me think about why I craft and what I want from crafting, and just the multi-faceted sides to craft…..the history, the commercialism, the consumerism, the activism (something I hadn't really focused on before)….so much to think about. And makes me want to be apart of a craft group even more. Thankyou!
Pip, I popped by your blog yesterday afternoon and put a reminder in my phone to watch this. When I told husby he vacated pretty quickly…I LOVED it! It was inspiring, fun, challenging, thought provoking and encouraging. I think you did such a great job, even if you were sick. Anna is a star and I really enjoyed it! Thanks for being such a great example and encouraging person to give things a go in craft!
I love that I can watch it here in the US!
Hello there, I live in Christchuch New Zealand and love your blog!!!!
I really would love to watch 'Making It Handmade' do you know if there is any way I could.
Much Love
Kate 'Crafter' Bloom
I think if crafting is something you've grown up in it is easier to take on. Unfortunately we don't have as much 'quiet' time. My mum and her friends used to get together for a knit and bitch in the evenings and dad said he was always afraid the needles would catch on fire at the speed they were going. We grew up with less of everything so making something was the only option. It was less of a hobby than a necessity. My mum made school costumes, party costumes, knitted jumpers, hats scarves, we made present and I had a ball growing up. I also think the problem now is that we have so much. The $2 shops don't help. Why would you make a child's pirate costume if you are time poor when a store bought items is 10 cheaper. Years ago when we had Medieval Day at school mum and I went to the fabric store bought braids, fabric and fake fur for the lining. It took a few days and I had an amazing dress. Now a Chinese made plastic dress can be bought for $20 sad.
I'm trying to get my children to make something but it is heart breaking when we come to school with handmade stuff and it doesn't look as good and they are made fun off.
But I haven't stopped. I have lots of fabric, lots of stuff, lots of books I'm happy to surround the kids with handmade ๐ e
Oh i watched it and I loved how honest Faythe was with sharing about the realities of having a handmade business.
Rayna opened my eyes a little bit more with the political power of craft. Anna showed it very well!
i'm a terrible craftster (!!!) but i think i get crafty inspiration by doing more, more and more, no matter how simple/tiny the thing i whip up is, because of the feel-good vibes i get after it, knowing that i did it by myself. (like you said…just have a go! seriously!)
Handmade is not about being perfect as it's not created by a machine! ๐