Craft, Elevated
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 08:12AM 
I claimed not long ago during an interview that most of my color inspiration comes from one place: stolen shamelessly from the mind of Joelle Hoverson. Just last month I was chatting with Joelle, all the while trying not to be too obvious about the fact that I was mentally memorizing the inspired combination and exact shades of the electric pink tank top and rosy taupe blouse that she had on, planning my new throw cushions while we dicussed.... oh I don't remember what. But I remember that pink very well. Honestly, if I didn't think it would strain our friendship I would call her regularly from the nail salon and make her pick toenail polish for me via Skype.
Last summer my husband and I were staying with Joelle at her weekend house upstate (which, yes, is exactly as ridiculously beautiful as you imagine it would be) and she showed me some early photos from her newest book, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I sort of lost it. I kept trying to pull the laptop out of her hands and onto my lap, twisting my neck around to maximize the computer screen's angle. I should point out that I'm not much of a knitter, and as lovely as the projects in this book are, they are only part of what was struck me about this book. It sort of hit me, at that moment, what Joelle had accomplished, both with this book and in this massive marketplace of craft and design that she has had a heavy hand in helping to build. She has, effectively, upped the ante.
But wait, let me back up to one of my most favorite other relevatory moments. My friend and photographer John Gruen and I were driving around the Berkshires looking for a location for the elusive cover photo for Weekend Sewing a few years ago. He knew of a lovely house, so we tracked down the owner at his business and explained our project to him. He was a middle aged, long-haired gentleman, in Birkenstocks. "Sewing? he said, "A book about sewing?" and then the expected "My mother sewed all of my own clothes." I thought it was over there, but it wasn't even getting started. "That was," the man continued, "of course, before women decided that they should all put on shoulder pads and walk around on their toes and go back to work, because they wanted to feel important." John has watched me put my foot in my mouth several times, which is probably why his head snapped around to face me and his mouth opened a little bit and his eyebrows went up in anticipation of what I was going to say, which was too bad for him because he missed the very beginning of what I was now seeing, which was this ass of a man in front of us standing on his toes and walking back and forth, swishing his hips and scrunching up his shoulders and declaring in a small, feminine voice, "Look at me! I'm very important! I have very important work to do!". The fact that he was in Birkenstocks made this especially horrifying, they dragged behind his raised feet in a way that made him look like he was sliding around in his mother shoes. he did this for much longer than you might imagine, back and forth and back and forth. I opted for a nervous laugh rather than a well deserved "F*** You." (I had just promised TC that I would stop using that word before dark). When we were back in the car waiting for the engine to warm up and, in my case, silently calculating what it would cost to replace every pair of shoes in this man's closet with a pair of six inch heels, John looked at me and very calmly (thats John's style) said: 'I don't think men should ever make fun of women by walking around on pretend high heels and making voices." Ditto John.
But Mr. Ass was wrong about something else, at least by my calculations. Women didn't stop knitting and sewing because they just decided, about one and one half generations ago, that they didn't want to do it anymore, or because they could not resist the allure of shoulder pads. Women decided to stop knitting and sewing (and, arguably, cooking) because it was suddenly (and for the first time in american history) no longer economically advantageous to make your family's clothing by hand. It was cheaper to buy it. That had never before been the case, but suddenly it was the indisputable truth.
The American housewife has always been a small business manager of sorts, you design a way of life around a budget and try to apply as much thrift and ingenuity as possible, you develop skills and proficiency where they are needed, you select your suppliers and materials carefully, and you try to finish the month with something left over, and if we get lucky the whole thing operates with at least some opportunity for creative expression. If its less expensive to buy something than it is to make it then the only proper decision, from a business manager's persepctive, is to buy it. That's just simple Home Economics. And buy it we did. Buy it we do. That's another topic altogether. But you can see how this very important shift has had such an impact on all of us, because in some sense it began a dependency on the companies that now make everything for us. I have taken part (or compulsively dominated is probably a better description) many discussions about why making things by hand feels so good. Is it such a mystery? If consumerism has become about our physical dependence on others to make things for us, then making things for ourselves is one of the most empowering - if not downright rebellious - things that we can do.
Oh dear, this was going to be about Joelle and I haven't mentioned her in a very long time.
So, back to the beginning.... When I got back from visiting Joelle, I called Melanie Falick, who is both mine and Joelles editor and also a good friend. I told her that what I saw in Joelles book was exactly what I wanted to be able to do with my next book. I told her that Joelle's was the first craft book that I had seen that would guarantee the reader / maker, through the guided selection of materials, exceptional grasp of the laws and temperments of color, and versatile, timeless design, a finished project that would be more valuable (I'm talking street value here) than anything that could be purchased for the price of its materials. "Everything looks like something you would have seen for hundreds of dollars at Takashamaya, but simple to make!" I said, dropping the name of every handmade-obsessed New Yorker's favorite now-closed department store. "I feel completely inspired by what she's doing, and I want to do EXACTLY the same thing with More Weekend Sewing!" Melanie was quiet for a minute, and then told me basically to calm down and try to think of a premise for my next book that was actually my own.* Melanie is quite good at keeping me in line.
What Joelle (and Denyse Schmidt, and Natalie Chanin, and some other very talented people, some of whom I feel very luck to call friends) has done is to elevate craft to the place that it needs to be in order to take hold in our society as anything more than a hobby. Her books, her business, and her being are about quality and art and making things by hand that are functional and beautiful, things which will hold, indefinitely, an intrinsic and real value.
More Last Minute Knitted Gifts is actually sitting on my desk today, which is what prompted me to post this in the first place. I need to swing by Purl, maybe tomorrow, and pick up some crazy beautiful yarn. I only knit one Christmas gift a year (and admittedly half the people on my list will be getting a box of Trader Joes Chocolate Covered Peppermint JoJo's, which I have not yet learned to make by hand) and this year I've decided that Denyse would look excellent in the beret on page 70 with those cute short little bangs of hers poking out. I doubt that I will make it out the door before spending an hour choosing and buying yarn for this blanket, which is almost sensory over-load. I hope Joelle is there so that I can rope her into helping me pick colors.
*I am indeed working on a new book with Melanie Falick, but its not More Weekend Sewing. I'll keep you posted!
Reader Comments (37)
Wow. This is so true. It echoes sentiments raised by Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about growing food and cooking and what has been lost by relying on convenience foods cooked by low-wage workers. It also reminds me of the book Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes. I have been rereading those books this summer as I have delved into my more crafty side, sewing, knitting, etc. Thanks for writing this, it is so important. Also, LOVING!!!!!!! my studio sale box. It prompted me to do a "farm studio sale" of my own. I will be using my funds at the Denyse Schmidt Studio sale in a few weeks! So much wonderful and creative goodness. Much Love.
I am SOOOO excited!!!!
And thank you for the beautiful, thoughtful, honest post.
There is so much about this post that I love. I think that people are starting to appreciate handmade more now is because it is unique. And you don't see a lot of "unique" for sale these days.
I cracked up when I read: Oh dear, this was going to be about Joelle and I haven't mentioned her in a very long time.
You are too funny!
Love your take on things...
It's similar to what I have been thinking about a lot lately: Is there a middle ground between craft and art? I quilt and I don't consider my imperfect but loved quilts to be museum pieces, but I think it's a shame to call something that took so much love and time to make a "craft." Maybe my answer is that the word craft has gotten a bad rap lately...seems like that might be changing.
Heather, this is lovely! I kinda want to print it out and hang it in my studio - it's inspiring and true.
You are amazing and inspiring. I love reading your blog and feel connected to your spirit. Loved what you wrote about the reason for the shift away from homemade...that never occurred to me and it is so, so true. I so wish I could attend your retreat in Palm Springs but don't think I can swing it b/c of money. Look forward to that book, lady. And, btw, we registered at Takashimaya when we were married...way out here in the desert..so many years ago. I still have some ridiculously thin square hand-made japanese ceramic plates that are too fragile to even look at :)
Heather, I love this post! I have always admired Joelle's color sense--I used to work on a craft magazine in NYC and would walk over to her stores at lunch hour for inspiration. (And, I'm no longer living in NYC, but am SO SAD to hear that Takashimaya is gone. Sigh).
Anyway, thanks for putting your finger on the whole idea of making with this quote: If consumerism has become about our physical dependence on others to make things for us, then making things for ourselves is one of the most empowering - if not downright rebellious - things that we can do.
Wonderful. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.
'I don't think men should ever make fun of women by walking around on pretend high heels and making voices.'
agreed.
I am not sure I could have kept my mouth shut on that one. You're a better woman than I.
I've decided that Joelle just sees color differently than the rest of us regular folk. It's like she was born with a third eye for color. Walking through Purl you can see it on every shelf..
I love this post. Thank you for writing it. It's a more well-thought-out and reasoned response to "don't you know you could just buy _____" than my usual "yes but I enjoy making _____".
I've been making things my whole life. It never really occured to me not to. I had all the classic store-bought toys but I also made toys for myself out of a need to just be making. I find this difficult to explain to the "you can buy it" crowd. As I've gotten older (and older and older) I've begun to appreciate greatly the connection to my creative roots (grandmothers & mom) as well as the community as a whole. I love that something that was so domestic and expected a couple of generations ago is now perceived as odd and, as you said, somewhat rebellious. What I make isn't going to end up in a museum or earning me money but it is empowering, enriching and it's a big part of what makes me, me.
Rock on!
Another book - Oh happy day!!!
Denyse? What the hell has that slacker done for you lately? I think that beret will look much better on *my* cute bangs. (plus I will dress as a gnome & look after your keys.)
I love this post!
Lots to think about here and a great recognition of someone who is an innovator and leader in our craft movement.
Thanks
I like what you write! I don't like that man! Who ever 'chose' shoulder pads?
I am old enough that I have been through the first craft revolution of the 70s (as a child! I'm not that old), then saw the rampant move to consumerism of the 80's, and now this new craft revolution where I jumped onto the bandwagon with full force. Recently though, I've seen the rampant consumerism creeping into craft and I applaud you for not releasing 70 lines of fabric per month but keeping it manageable and about the craft.
LOVE Purl Soho and visited for the first time just last month.
Dear Heather,
I am speechless! I am so deeply touched and honored to be part of this excellent and thoughtful post!... my goodness, thank you! And, I love that you consider crafting to be an antidote to that horrid man and his kind! Down with jerks who pretend to wear high heels and speak in falsetto voices while disparaging women! Can't wait to hear about YOUR new book!
xooxox, Joelle
ps, I'd love to pick out colors with you any time! I think Denyse probably needs a nice rich fall toned beret... and yes, the blanket.... The yarn we made it with comes in the exact pink in my tank top!
I love those chocolate-covered peppermint Jo Jo's!
(Almost as much as I love this post!)
XO,
Rhea
Heather, I think this might be my favorite post of all time. Sewing is so personal and so important to me and it's difficult to explain to people why that is. You've done just that here. Thank you for the thoughtful reflection here, as well as the humor. I'll be thinking of that crazy man in his Birkenstocks all day now.
PS: I'm also trying to quit dropping the F-bomb. I think I could manage to reserve it for after-dark use only. Brilliant idea!
"If consumerism has become about our physical dependence on others to make things for us, then making things for ourselves is one of the most empowering - if not downright rebellious - things that we can do."
YES. Yes, yes, yes.
Wow Heather, what an amazing post. I started sewing regularly only about two years ago, and it's absolutely changed my consumer patterns. I often find myself leaving clothing stores now without buying anything ("often" considering I very seldom find myself in the mall in the first place) and totally pumped to make the same article of clothing on my own. I then took on a brief, oh-so-brief job project managing the production of Walmart flyers, and the heavily-saturated retailness of it all made me quit.
Anyway, I know it isn't all limited to clothing production, but thanks so much for the colourful insights and anecdotes. Looking forward to another book of yours!
Really, only a man with the looks and voice of Mick Jagger should prance in (real or make-believe) high heels and sing in falsetto. Thank you for your ruminations on the value of crafting in today's economic and cultural climate. I have been waiting to hear what you thought of the book, I knew it make my own thoughts churn. XXX Jean
I really enjoyed reading your post. Thank you.
Mr. Ass deserved so much more than an f-you. I hate to go all feminist on everyone here, but seriously??? That guy is misogyny personified.
I can't wait to see what your new book will be! Also, I have Last Minute Patchwork Gifts and Ms. Hoverson makes the most beautiful things, and the blankets from Purl that you cited make me wish I could knit. (More like wish I had time to really get skilled at knitting.)
I really like how your posts encourage dialog. After I read this one, I wanted to think about it (and pull out my More Last Minute Knitted Gifts--you totally put your finger on why I bought the book) and then I wanted to talk about it. With my mom, my husband, the moms in my playgroup. It was cool because even the non-crafters saw parallels in their own lives--things they now do rather than buy (but also why they started buying in the first place). I would love to live in NYC and be able to pop into Purl for a color fix. Oh, and I love your network of friends and supporters. Such a great brain trust.
I always enjoy yours posts but THIS one SO struck a chord. I could just SEE Mr. Ass struting around on his pretend high heels in his falsetto voice. We have a summer house in VT and during the TAKE BACK VERMONT campaign I would fly in for the summer from Seattle and those same crusty old men would pick at me for being one of those 'left coast elites' and supporting gay marriage. THEN they would tell my DH to 'please control your WIFE!' Thank you for an enjoyable read!