The ‘You Can’t Go On a Train Without a Backpack” Craftplosion

Late Saturday night, on an enthused whim, my glorious friend Rena and I leapt upon the idea of taking a train to Chicago on Sunday morning for some pre- St. Patty’s day fun. Never having been on a train before and only having visited the Windy City a small handful of times, I vowed to go to bed early, so that I would well rested for this adventuring. Of course, Pinterest and Craigslist pet oogling  swept me away (Dan and I are getting a dog in the fall!), and I came to my senses around Midnight. Figuring that I should probably pack at night, because 7:30 comes far too early for a nightbird like me, I began shuffling things around in my room. Contemplating how to transport my always-over-prepared regiment of stuff, I came to the sudden horrifying realization… I don’t own a backpack anymore!  I was a bag lady (tote) in college, so I must have given mine away after high school… and my camelpak won’t do…

Fie! What to do?!

Suddenly, in this moment of panic, my crafty senses took over, and I declared, “I shall craft a backpack!”

I had barely begun rummaging around my craft room when I stumbled upon one of my Pad’s (Padre, Dad) old shirts, a soft red corduroy button-down. I seized upon it and quickly snatched up a pair of sewing scissors, my trusty tapestry needle, and a bobbin of antique weaving yarn that I have been saving for its color and strength.

 

All ready to go!

 

 

Improvisation time!

Settling down with Sweetness, the cutest crafty kitty ever, I set to work.

 

 

Firstly, I decided that I wanted the bottom of the pack shorter and much more curved than the bottom of a button-down, so I cut off a few inches at the bottom, and started whip-stitching around the edge to create by pack’s base. I love the decorative, hand-made vibe of whip-stitching, don’t you?

 

 

Tucking in the extra material and stitching, I curved from the base of one sleeve, down, around, and back up to the base of the other, giving us a pretty well enclosed ‘pack’ shape.

 

 

I had planned on stitching the end of one sleeve to each side of the pack’s back, but after fiddling around a bit, I decided to switch things up. Sewing the bases of the sleeves together would give me so much more versatility!

 

 

 

Now we have a reversible knapsack that can loop over your shoulders and ride comfortably on your upper back…

 

 

 

 

…Or a side satchel if you are wearing a bulky coat or need a great range of arm motion… perhaps freeze tag?

 

 

You can even do this odd fanny-pack like thing with it… disc golf here I come!

 

 

Holy Guacamole! I whipped that out in an hour! Chicago, here I come, upcycling the whole way!

 

… We didn’t actually end up going… but I’ve got my upcycled pack of creative explosion, and plenty of ideas to refine my design.  What do you think about adding a hood?

Craft on, my lovelies!

The Art of Crafts

 

These days, swept up in technology moment to moment, rushing through jobs and life and relationships, it seems so ironically logical that the time-consuming use of one’s hands to create has been deemed a fanciful hobby. Everyone is touched by this mentality, from the Wall Street big shot who as never made something with his hands, to you, sitting at your computer instead of creating (not that I’m encouraging you to hop off at this very moment…) Everyone has cracked a joke or two about the crazy, knitting cat lady, or the tasteless housewife who spends hours making bedazzled toilet paper covers… Yikes.

 

 

But tell me, why in the world has craftsmanship come to be viewed as such a useless hobby? For pretty much the entire history of humanity, those skilled with their hands were an integral part of society. Craftsmen such as tailors, cobblers, weavers and blacksmiths hand-produced the materials that communities relied upon for function and entertainment.

 

My friend Tim, of Fernand Footwear, is an extremely talented modern-day cobbler.

 

Once the industrial and technological revolutions swept through, people were so thrilled to have quicker, cheaper goods that craftsmanship has largely faded in common society. But do cheaper, mechanically and mass-produced goods help humanity?

 

Weaving, Factory-style

 

We have lost the human touch, the love and care that goes into producing goods that one claims with pride. Mass-produced goods take away local jobs and reduce the skill level of laborers in factories to mindless drone work. They harm local economies as the money they make is channeled back to a big corporation outside of the community… Oy, I think I should save my rant about corporate evil for a later date… In summary, the decline of handmade goods has done a great deal of damage to our local communities.

 

Weaving on a floor loom... quite a different feel, eh?

 

So lets do something about this! If we begin to take back the idea of local, handmade goods, we can bring money back into our communities, support local artists in their love of craft, and piece by piece, bring the human touch back into our lives.

 

Handmade costumes? You bet! That is me on the right, baring my teeth!

 

I have always loved working with my hands. Growing up, I dabbled in everything from weaving to diorama-making, and as I have found myself more and more, I have realized I am in love with artistic crafting. Last fall I started a natural jewelry business called Earthseeds Designs, an incredible learning experince and lesson in organization.

 

Felted Acorn Earring, copyright Earthseeds Designs...

 

Right now I am back in the dabbling stage, trying to hone my skills and diversify my ideas to form MittenFolk Designs, which will contain Earthseeds, as well as several other lines. Several local crafters and I have formed an artisan collective, where we shall make, advertise, and sell our crafts through cooperation and community. The name, Collective Wings, is a hat tip to the lovely and talented Elyse Marie, owner of Little Wings Designs and leather-worker extraordinaire.

 

The Little Wings/ Collective Wings workshop, Elyse's lovely work.

 

We have grand plans, reaching out from pop-up shops to summer music festivals and artisan markets, but right now we are all working away at creating and stocking up on our pieces. Once summer hits, our lives shall be a whirlwind!

Last night, at our Weekly Wednesday Work-night, not only did we crochet, cross-stitch and weave, but we also got to watch water boil! … that is our catch-phrase for the awesome art of natural dyeing!

 

Watching water boil is sweet!

 

I shall expound more upon this incredible art at a later date, but suffice to say, using acorns and daylily heads to change the color of cloth is a beautiful well-neigh extinct art form.

‘Twas a delightful and productive night, and we all parted feeling psyched for our future craft endeavors!

 

Lovely crafters Megan and Kelsey, working away.

 

Don’t forget, preserving folk arts preserves our humanity.  Use your minds, your hands, and your hearts… Craft on! Folk on!

Michigan Hellos

Hello World! Welcome to Michigan! Here, frolicking on the sunny lakeshores, blanketed under lake effect snow (but not his year), or strolling through a music festival with our friends, we Michiganders embrace life to the fullest.

 

We love Michigan!

 

I am a Michigan native and a Michigan lover, and I shall be your host on this glorious voyage though all kinds of folky adventures in our beloved state.  Folky… reveling in exuberant life and love, sharing heart-felt music and dance, working toward a better world for all… crafting, carving, hiking, cooking… deep conversations and good beer…  hugging trees, animals, and everyone you meet… art, art , ART!

 

My friends, the fantastic Fauxgrass Quartet, playing at Harvest Gathering 2011.

 

A longtime hiking, flower-smelling, player-in-the-forest, I have fallen in love with the idea of natural living whole-heartedly in the last year. Although it is- as counter-intuitive as it seems- more difficult and costly to transition to a natural and organically-based life, I have realized that I cannot knowingly embrace a life that is intrinsically harmful to everything beautiful and true in this world.

 

Our world is far to precious...

 

So I started taking steps. I started shopping more and more at the Farmers’ Market, a stronghold of our West Michigan community. I fell in love with cooking, and began to cook with mostly fresh and organic foods, developing my culinary skills in both tasty and healthy ways. This past year, my friend and I planted and harvested an organic garden in her backyard, and I learned that freshly picked purple beans rank among the world’s delicacies. I planted several semi-successful container gardens, watering them faithfully, and mourned when the lack of sun in my backyard led to eggplant death. I have been working on saving, recycling, and upcycling everything from mason jars to old tee-shirts (once I get it running, you can see my craftiness in my etsy store). I unsuccessfully started a small compost before I realized that my current apartment setup simply is not conducive to one; then I started saving my compostables to contribute to my friends’. I check out just about every book on homesteading and organic farming that comes across my desk at the library, and devour them voraciously. I still have a very long way to go to make a real dent in the world, but the more I get involved, the more enthused I find myself…

 

Foraging in the fall forest

 

In the words of May Erlewine, one of Michigan’s most beautiful souls,

“What makes you alive? It’s not what you take; It’s all that you give…”   …what wisdom…

Here we go, my lovelies!

-Alex