ONCE the domain of geeks and grannies, craft is back in vogue, writes SARAH HUDSON
"I can't believe there are craft lovers out there - whether they are knitters, sewers or do crochet - who don't blog," enthuses Jodie Carleton.
"There's such a huge craft blogging community in Australia that sometimes - it sounds stupid - I feel like my head will explode.
"There's just never enough time to look at it all."
- HANDY BLOGS
- Jodie Carleton - http://vintagericracblogspot.com/
- Pip Lincolne - http://meetmeatmikesblogspot.com/
- Bushfire appeal - http://handmadehelpsout.blogspot.com/
- http://www.etsy.com/ - buy and sell all things handmade
- http://rabbitwithpolkadotsblogspot.com/
- http://quarterofaninchblogspot.com/
- http://imnotcharmingwordpress.com/
- http://craftblog.com.au/about/
A blog is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for the public to read. Here are some Victorian-based craft blogs:
Call it old-world contemporary or funky traditional, either way craft - once the domain of grannies and geeks - has made a comeback. There's a new generation taking up needles and threads.
Spearheading the trend is the humble computer: a rapidly growing body of crafters is adding technology to their tools of trade.
Craft blogging has seen a boom in the number of people - from teens to 70-somethings - adopting a craft, but also an explosion in the crafts themselves. There's traditional knitting, felting and quilting to the modern digital art, Japanese amigurumi and paper craft and many more.
Blogging has become a global social sisterhood, with crafters sharing enthusiasm, feedback and techniques.
Ballarat-based Jodie, who is self-taught with no formal training in either craft or computing, calls herself a "kitchen table crafter" and makes everything from dolls to costumes, with a specialisation in using selvedges (maker marks on the very edge of fabric) under her Ricrac trade name.
Her blog counter shows about 2000 hits per day and she now has something of a cult following, with strangers at a recent craft show commenting on her creations.
"There's a whole world out there of people sharing tips and techniques and lending support. And I have developed great friendships," says Jodie, 39, who works four days a week at a Ballarat primary school and who started her blog in 2007.
"A British blogger came to visit me the other day. I posted the fact on my blog and suddenly there were 20 women here to greet her.
"Craftspeople who blog are also very generous.
"I put out calls for people to send selvedges and other items. I've received about 200 parcels in the mail from all over the world - the US, UK, Chile, Spain, Malaysia.
"Craft bloggers, for instance, have raised a lot of money for the Victorian bushfires.
"I get so much from my blog. Without it I would never have taken my crafting as far as I have.
"Blogging and crafting now go hand in hand. I spend as much time doing one as the other."
She also sells her goods online through etsy, a site dedicated to handmade goods and supplies.
Jodie says if you can email, you can blog and that blogging is ideal for country women as many bloggers live on outback stations.
And many craft bloggers also have a strong idealism behind their work.
"There's a real movement away from rampant consumerism, so it's not just about making cool things, but a philosophical movement.
"Some craft bloggers, for instance, use soy-based inks."
Jodie says blogging has revitalised the craft world, allowing a burst of creativity to enter the scene.
"The line between traditional craft and new-wave craft, as some people call it, is blurring.
"There aren't the crocheted coathangers so much any more. I'd say we have moved sideways from that. What we are doing is not necessarily any better.
"I get a lot of older women, in their 80s, saying how happy they are seeing young girls continuing the traditions."
Pip Lincolne not only runs a craft shop in Melbourne - Meet Me At Mike's - and has just released a craft book of the same name, but for the past two years she has also been an avid craft blogger, running two blog sites.
She says the craft blog movement is a "complete coup".
"I think a lot of people used to think craft was daggy or only for artisans or nannas," says Pip, a mother of three.
"But I think blogging has allowed us to interpret craft - the things our grandmas did - in a new way. It's a nod to nannas but with a twist."
With a creative family - even her dad sewed - Pip has crafted all her life. While her skills cross all fields, sewing is her preferred medium, dabbling in crochet and printmaking on the side.
Many of her creations have a touch of the magical about them, with her muse being Enid Blyton and innocent, joyful childhood play.
"I do love the era. In the past 10 years there's been so many bad news stories and there's a lot of cynicism," she says. "I don't have much time for doom and gloom and I think craft, for many people, allows time to zone out and spread some sunshine."
Meet me at Mike's by Pip Lincolne, Hardie Grant rrp $45. See above for one of Pip's patterns.
- CHECKLIST
- Craft & Quilt Fair, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank, July 23-26. www.craftfair.com.au or ph: (02) 9452 7575.
