ok well just one more... these photos are so addictive. Here we have women making dolls and stuffies. I love the chicken. Maybe some time I'll post a picture of my wild kindom of stuffed animals.

Here's another craft from the past... That woman on the left? Yeah she's making a rug. Nope not a rag rug, but more like those crazy oriental ones.... This picture is also from 1935 same WPA projects, but its from Sparta, Georgia this time.

By-gone crafting?

I havn't realy posted anything in a couple of weeks, since I think that all posts should be accompanied by photographs. (and I'm to lazy to move the photo from the camera to the computer) But I came across an image today that I wanted to share. It was taken in 1935 in Decatur, Georgia (which is right next to where I live) and shows what women were crafting way back then. This was a class offered by the National Youth Administration and its purpose was to give women vocational skills while empowering them to overcome the great depression. They crafted everything from clothing to matresses useing flour sacks, carbboard boxes, corn husks, and recycled clothing and material. (Sound familiar?) At noon they were taught how to make a simple dish, which they ate for lunch. All of this sounds pretty fun actualy. I have several rl friends who complain that they would like to know how to make stuff or how to cook. Maybe its time to revitalize the work of the National Youth Administration.... (oh and check out the woman making the softy frog on the left, how cute is that?!)

Sewing room

In true leming fashion I wanted to post a pic of my sewing room, so here you go! Thats the view looking out into my side yard. Hard to believe that I live in the middle of a major metropolitan city huh?

First Item Up

I just posted my first item for sale on Etsy. For some reason this has incited panic. Dose anyone else go through this process? I'm all excited to get to the point of selling an item, but actually doing it makes me very nervous....

Patterning

Today I'm drafting patterns for stuff for the shop. I'm glad I kept all my drafting tools from the days when I was majoring in Interior design! Yesterday I went and got a book shelf from Ikea to hold all my fabric. I got the biggest standard one they had, yeah... didn't hold it all. So I've got half my fabric neatly organized. Funny how the stash of fabric grows when you aren't paying attention. Like that 30yds of linen over in the corner.. where'd that come from. Actually most of my stash seems to be from times when people have asked me to make something for them and I bought the fabric, and then they backed out because they quit doing whatever it was they needed it for. I've seen that some other people in crafting,I hate that word, lets call it artisan land, in artisan land, have gone on fabric diets. I think I'll stay with the fat stash...

Day one...

Ok, I'm still working on how all this stuff works so bear with me. I've been trying to set up my Etsy shop, and make this blog thingy, and build up an inventory for said shop, all on my evenings and days off. During the rest of the time I'm a digital archivist so I spend my day at the computer typing up encyclopedia-esk entries for photojournalism collections at an archive/museum. My passion lies in making things though, and my regular job only allows me to preserve things other people have made. So with the encouragement of my friends and loved ones I'm off to start working on the dream...