Craft Cartel takes on Sydney
Image: Cecilie Knowles
Yep still catching up on blog posts..
A few weeks ago the Craft Cartel cruised up to Object Gallery in Sydney for We Craft This City.
And we had a riot!
The opening was delicious with a lovely turnout of people on a sunny Saturday morning. Might have had something to do with the champagne and yummy treats from the Frankie books on hand. Thanks so much to all the wonderful people who made the treats, seriously nom!
The highlight of the day was the workshops. Sadly I missed the first one as I had to sneak out for some breakfast. The second workshop was the Craft Cartel one and we initiated the locals into the joys of handmade ammunition. It was such fun. I just adored the intense looks of concentration as everyone negotiated the wool, hooks and loo paper rolls.
The next workshop was the Knitty, Gritty, Loopy plarning workshop. As a recent crochet convert I was pretty keen to get into this one and had fun making my own little crochet bowl. And I must confess to a couple of little sneaky goes since I’ve got back. It’s addictive!
And of course we had a bunch of stuff exhibited in the gallery. The Craft Cartel had a stockpile of knitted and crocheted ammunition.
And Casey and Ann had their rad embroideries
And I had the Sampler, the Oh Sorry, Was that your Land? piece, the QR code time series (which I still haven’t really blogged about properly, but you can get the feel for the project by reading these posts) and a new piece, Make Revolution
Some readers may recognise this piece as a Groundswell design. When I saw the original poster design a couple of years back I just knew I had to stitch it! It was stitched direct on linen and took me months and months (and almost my eye sight!) to complete but I’m so happy with it. I was super proud to get some great feedback about this piece during the show. Massive thanks to David Morgan for giving me permission to use the design!
After the opening day, there was a screening of Making it Handmade at the Mu Meson Archives. Wow! What an amazing venue! I highly recommend all you Sydney types out there check it out if you haven’t already. There was a full house and quite an interesting conversation took place at the end of the screening. The film is certainly provoking debate and I’m planning a Craft Cartel podcast interview with the director, Anna Brownfield real soon so we can get into some of the issues in more depth.
If you still haven’t seen the film, it is available for purchase now on DVD! Perfect present for that crafter in your life. Especially if YOU’RE that crafter in your life.
And yes, Sydney was fabulous to visit. The highlight for me was definitely checking out the Oh Alfred! fence installation at Alfred Park. I took far too many photos to post up here so check out the whole gallery on our Facebook Page (may as well Like us while you’re there 
). Do check them all out – such phenomenal work! The installation was on a temporary fence surrounding the park upgrade and was based on the community’s memories and experiences within the park. Truly stunning and overwhelmingly inspirational!!
Thanks for having us Sydney I hope to be back soon!
For the love of craft,
Rayna
Sydney, here we come
When I first moved to Australia, Sydney was my first stop. I have an aunty there who’s always been a great friend and at the time some old buddies were based there. I wasn’t there long but it sure was a crazy time. And while Sydney is probably not the kind of place I would chose to live in, it’s definitely a place I like to visit.
Sydney always invokes memories of sunny days, tropical storms, plenty of trees and fabulous bird life. It’s definitely one of those big cities that is so diverse geographically that it’s not hard to find a spot where you feel like you’re in a small town.
So I was pretty excited when Casey and I were contacted early in the year to see if we’d bring some work up for an exhibition. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here!
This Saturday Object Gallery is opening We Craft This City. The Craft Cartel will be there displaying our stockpile of knitted ammunition for the Stop the Pulp Mill campaign. We’ll also be holding a workshop so you can join in and make your own. No experience necessary of course!
We’ll also have some work on the wall. Casey has a couple of pieces in the show and I’m showing three of my larger pieces, including a brand new one, and a series of small pieces. I’ll do a full write up with pictures after the opening.
Also in the show and holding workshops are the awesome Ebony Bizys and Knitty Gritty and Loopy.
And then! On Saturday night is a screening of Making it Handmade in Annandale. There’s not many tickets left so if you want to come you should get yours quick smart! After the screening, there’ll be a short Q&A with the Director, Anna and Casey and I. Do hope you can make it to see this awesomely inspiring film.
xox
Rayna
p.s. apologies on the lack of blogging recently. If you haven’t heard, we were broken into and had our laptops stolen. I’m still waiting on our insurance company to replace them! In the meantime I’m using a dreadfully slow computer that HATES the internet. It’s hard I tells ya.. Normal sporadic service should resume shortly (I hope).
Talking Craft and Crafting Craft
Hi folks
How are ya? Things are cruising along rather nicely in Radical Cross Stitch land; projects slowly coming to completion, babies growing nicely, plenty of baking going on. Goodness this winter is a bit chilly isn’t it? Really can’t wait for Spring and Summer to brighten our lives again.
In the meantime, there’s a couple of events coming up you should know about.
Firstly, as part of the State of Design Festival, the Craft Cartel is going to be part of a panel discussion during the Counter Point project at Melbourne Central. Together with Citizens of Elysium, Clothing Exchange and The Social Studio, we’ll be chatting about the social and environmental realities of consumerist culture and what the alternatives are. I’m really looking forward to this event, there’s some great people on the panel and it’s part of a really interesting and subversive larger project. I do hope you can come along!
(click on images for larger view)
Next up on the events calendar is SUPER TOP SECRET and I truly can’t tell you about it yet. But it is ACE!!!!!! and it’s about craft and it has some other super people involved and it’s in Melbourne on August 1st. So put that day in your diary, I swear I’ll tell you all the details as soon as I can. One word though. SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Ok one more word, POPCORN.
Flicking over in the calendar a bit the Craft Cartel are heading to Sydney in October to participate in We Craft This City at Object Gallery. We’re pretty super excited about this one! We may even be heading up a bit earlier to do some sunny, spring time crafting in the park to get people ready and excited about the show. Will let you know if that happens. But what’s definitely happening is some hard core Craft Cartel knitted dynamite action. And you can be part of the fun! Just pop over to the tutorial and grab yourself some wool. We’re trying to get the worlds largest knitted ammunition cache together. We’d LOVE you to help!
Finally 3CR subscribers would have already got your copy (I think..) but the theme of this years Radiothon was ‘Handmade Radio’ and the lovely Nicole asked me to help her make a handmade radio tutorial. Nicole did some ace instructions for a plushie radio and I contributed some patterns for some speech bubbles to come out of the radio. Pretty darn fun!
And to help with the super important efforts of keeping community radio on air, I will pledge $20 for anyone who sends me photos of their completed hand made radio. G’arn!
(click on images for larger view)
Extreme refashioning
In other news, the Craft Cartel has been a bit blimmin busy.
Last weekend kicked off the Anti-Gentrification Festy Fest in Fitzroy. We got together with Earthsharing Australia and started talking about the crazy state of our economy and what impact it’s having on creative peoples, and young people. And we thought it was a bit mad that this boom bust system which seems to be all about property speculators totally cashing in everytime a community starts making things a bit more blimmin interesting. It seems to us that the world would be a much radder place if we could all afford to make and grow things and hang out in our communities. looking after each other more. Instead we’re all stuck working stupid hours in boring ass jobs trying to pay the rent which never seems to stop going up. And don’t even think about buying a house ’cause the baby boomers have got all the land locked up and are quite content charging younger generations whatever they can to fund their retirement.
SO
Rather than sit around bitching and moaning about it or throwing our arms up in dispair that we can’t do anything about it we thought let’s get some creative people with creative brains together to try come up with some SOLUTIONS.
The festival has started brilliantly with a giant gory craft session with the old Tote hotel carpet as our chief material. Casey donned a ballgown made out of the stuff by the stupidly talented Kathryn Jamieson and thanks to some hardcore stinky branding, festivalgoers got to take home their own Tote souvenier doormat. Also on hand was a mad fun Lagerphone making workshop.
Best of all the bar was aflush with wonderful conversations about potential models for change and plenty of stories were told about histories of creative resistance against the landed gentry.
The festival continues with an exhibition in the windows of the Workers Club with the Ballgown and other crafty carpety stinky artifacts. And finishes off on the 27th at the Workers Club with the DIE YUPPY, DIE! concert and festy fashion jam.
We’re also putting together a zine of IDEAS and THINGS YOU CAN DO to smash the property monopoly that has our beautiful creative selves captive. If you missed out submitting your idea at the Festival in the weekend, you can submit an idea via our website. And we’ll pop it in.
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Also,
Craft Cartel presents:
Vogue – Bike Fashion Jam
DIY BICYCLE GEAR WORKSHOP TO KEEP THE COPS & THE FASHION POLICE HAPPY
11:00 – 13:00
Saturday 19 June 2010
Coburg Library
Cnr Victoria & Louisa Streets, Coburg
Craft Cartel, alarmed by sights of fluoro lycra clad cyclists and equally aghast at the thought of coming a cropper while partaking in our favourite form of transport, are proud to present a solution: High Viz Vogue, a DIY bike fashion workshop.
The event, which is part of the Moreland City Council Coburg Carnivale, invites members of the public to adapt helmets and other clothing bits they’d like to make roadway and catwalk friendly, or to start from scratch using supplied materials. Local designers Miss Viz will be on hand to provide guidance and there will be displays of innovative bike fashion solutions such as designer Ann Maher’s ‘biker bustle’.
The event will culminate in a fashion parade with prizes supplied by Crumpler and will be followed by a celebratory ride through Moreland to parade the new hip gear led by Sugar Spokes all female bike crew.
“We don’t think riders should have to choose between having a sore body and being an eyesore,” says Cartel co-founder Casey Jenkins, “You can look hot while you’re cycling and still keep yourself safe, we’re going to show you how.”
Free! No experience necessary! All materials supplied. Ace prizes from Crumpler to be won.
Embroidery Porn
This is probably going to be my least safe for work post ever, so if you’re looking at this at work. Make sure you’re the IT guy, or the boss – unless you’re a primary school principal…
So last night the Craft Cartel hosted the second Trashbag Rehab – craft workshops for people overdosed on cutesy crap. And like the first one, it was packed. We even had to turn a fair number of people away this time. It was craziness! I was most impressed at how seriously every one took it. At one point I thought ‘gee it’s a bit quiet..’ and then I realised it was just that everyone was concentrating so hard! Love it.
We even dragged out the boys in blue. I understand it was a noise complaint. But they were wooed with a serenade and a breasty embroidery gift to take back to the watchhouse. Even the police need nice walls, people. But I reckon no one should tell the Herald Sun eh?
So on to the pictures..
That last one is one of the demonstration models made by me before the event. And it’s for sale. G’arn you know you want to.
UPDATE: Our porn made it to the hallowed arrrrts page of The Age, hello visitors!
Textile Tragedies
Over the weekend I had the immense pleasure of attending the Melbourne Social Forum. It was a super inspiring weekend and I made some amazing connections with lots of people. I was there under the banner of the Craft Cartel to both run a workshop and a stall.
I had a super awesome time with the stall. Not really ’cause I sold heaps of stuff but it was a great opportunity to meet some customers face to face. And nice to sell some things I’ve had for a while. And some new things! Like my police tape wallet I made last week. Sold it to this nice young lad who’d been feeling real guilty about buying a $1.50 wallet obviously made in a sweatshop, especially since it started falling apart real quick. Not only did I help him with a new wallet made out of Victoria Police TRASH (naughty litter bugs) but I showed him how to easily repair it if it starts to show signs of wear. I’m thinking I’ll make a couple more of these and put them online for sale.
What was most fun for me running this stall was having the opportunity to talk to people about the sustainability issues around textile production. It seems that with an increasing environmental awareness there’s plenty of people who know they should be conscious of water, energy, fuel, and paper consumption but there is little awareness about the massive waste that’s occuring with textiles.
What I found was that people understand that they should be aware of the materials that new clothes are made of. There’s a good awareness of the environmental impacts of cotton growing and the benefits of wearing bamboo and hemp. But not many people realised that most of the environmental impacts of cotton production isn’t the growing of the cotton (although that is definitely a big issue!) but also in the processes of turning cotton from raw material into cloth, especially coloured cloth!
And that’s just the production of material.
What really concern me is the massively ineficient use of fabric in our society. So many clothes are being worn only a handful of times and then literally ending up in a landfill. It surprised many people to realise that only about 8% of clothes donated for charity actually get resold. Most of it is shredded for things like filling furniture. But a fair heap of it is too dirty and torn or whatever and ends up being turfed.
We need to be so much smarter with our use of fabric. We need to start by buying better quality clothes that are made from good quality sustainable fabrics and made to withstand a fair wear. We need to learn to repair the clothes we have so they last longer. We need to think of other uses for our clothes when we’re finished using them. We need to ensure we donate all wearable clothes in a nice and clean condition to our op shops so they can be sold again.
Because at the moment tons and tons and tons of clothes end up like this every year:
And that creates more of a need for the toxic sweatshop slums spreading throughout the developing world
Does that make you sick? I sure hope so.
So after plenty of conversations to fire me up, I really enjoyed presenting the workshop ‘The Fabric of Resistance’ which was about radical craft history, both contemporary and historical. And looking into the ethics of contemporary craft which really dealt with some of the issues around sustainability and production.
We had an awesome session and were super lucky to have it in a beautiful hand made Mongolian Gur. Which I sadly didn’t get a picture of but I’m tracking one down to put up here. Thanks to everyone who came and made the workshop really successful. And for those who didn’t, here’s the slideshow:
Yes, another world IS possible!
Craft Cartel Podcast Episode 9: Faythe Levine
Hooray it’s Episode #9 of the Craft Cartel podcast, and we talk to Faythe Levine about her brand new documentary film “Handmade Nation”
by Sublime Stitching.
Rayna has a great chat with Faythe about the film, making zines, the GFC, and yes, Paris Hilton comes up again! Check out the Handmade Nation website and blog and Flickr site to see pics of the Aussie tour and of course, the Paris Hilton pics. A MASSIVE big thanks to the awesome people at in.cube8r Gallery in Smith Street for helping to make this interview happen!
The track off the podcast is Craft Talk by Leslie Hall. It’s Craft-tastic! Check the video:
Next up we bring back the zine review section and review:
The Thrity Crafter from Apartment Cat
Sharp and Pointy – a craft zine by mir UPDATE – you can buy it here!
Outdoor Knit: the graffiti knit kit from Outdoor Knit
And a bit of an update on the Craft Cartel. Check out the Fashion Jam pics here, read about Trash Bag Rehab here, and the Melbourne Social Forum here, and the City Press workshop here!
Phew!
And as always we’d love to hear from you, comment below or drop us a line. And don’t forget to check out the archive if you’re new round here.
The best way to listen to the podcast is to subscribe and download today!
If that doesn’t work you can download the file directly from here.
We really don’t like advertising very much round these parts, so if you like what you hear, please make a donation to help support future episodes. It’s what an add-free world sounds like.
More media!
Welcome to all our visitors from The Age! Please come on in, grab a cup of tea and make yourself at home. It is lovely to meet you 
For you other visitors who rambled in from elsewhere, welcome too! And you might wanna look at the article ’cause it’s got lots of great people in it. Even better, go check out a paper copy of M (that comes with the Sunday Age) and see the super stunning picture of Pip on the cover and the spunky Gemma on the inside.
It’s a good read too. It was nice to see what other people round the traps are thinking about it all. I recommend checking out all the people in the story cause they’re all doing great stuff!
Isn’t it nice to see the media finally sitting up and taking notice to all this cool crafty stuff going on. Much more interesting than nudey photos if you ask me.
Those of you who came visiting looking for something a bit crafty, possibly a bit smutty and definitely a bit boozy to come along to, check out the next Craft Cartel gig on April 5th at Bebida. Yes, Trash Bag Rehab is here for anyone who’s overdosed on cutesy craft crap.
Read all about it here. It’s gonna be a regular thing and it’s gonna be dirty, dirty fun. See you there!
Media whores!
Since craft is totally the new black and recession chic is all the rage, everywhere you turn these days there seems to be a story about craft and how it’s practitioners are saving the world.
And we’ve been in some of them, yay!
Here’s an article that was in the Sunday magazine in last weekend’s Herald Sun, I think it was in the Daily Telegraph(?) equivalent in Sydney.
Click on the images to see them big.
Radical craft wins! And Brendan who wrote the story is a top crafty bloke too. He makes jam! mmm jam… And is was great having a big chat with him!
Casey and I were also on the sunday artsy program on 774ABC Radio in Melbourne just before I buggered off on my overseas jaunt. It’s quite the funny interview. I recommend a nice cup of tea and a 10 minute sit down while you have a listen (click to play or ctrl+click/right click to save).
Bring on the global craft takeover.
Flock n Flog
Possibly the world’s first ever craft market as a form of direct action protest against land speculation. How could you miss it?