Global Economic Crisis Craft
Goodness, seen the news recently? I’m mildly enjoying the irony of all the free marketeers crying out for state assistance. It reminds me of the old Mussollini quote “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
So given that we’re rapidly heading towards a global depression of a level never seen before, it’s time for you all to be thinking a little bit more about making your lives a bit more self-sufficient. Luckily for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the best time to be planting a whole heap of stuff, so we’re gonna have cranking vege gardens soon. I’m super excited that my tomato seeds I carefully saved from our last harvest are sprouting on the bathroom window sill. And since we have a cranking grey water flow from the washing machine out to the back garden, all our shower water is now going straight to the vege garden out front so it’s humming along.
But it’s also a good time to think about the items you use in your daily life that cost you a bit to replace that you could just as easily make. So I want to recommend a couple of crafty economic crisis projects for you.
Firstly, every one needs knickers. And given most knickers are badly made from cheap and boring materials, it makes a whole heap of sense to custom make your own. LUCKY FOR YOU the ever inspirational paintergirl has got the Kaotic Kraft Kuties DiY Knicker pack for sale in her etsy store.
You get the pattern, instructions and fold over elastic (which I am now quite convinced, is indeed awesome), all you need is an old tshirt or stretchy fabric and scissors, thread and a sewing machine and you are sorted. It says you need basic sewing skills and that’s pretty accurate. I hadn’t used a sewing machine in months, and I’m far from good at using one, and I handled this project beautifully. Although my knickers turned out more art project than functional undies..
But you could make some that look like this!
How hot is that?
And the best bit is that if you get this kit, you can make as many knickers as you desire, you just need to get a bit more elastic and fabric somewhere along the way. This is a perfect project for getting together with a bunch of your best crafty buddies to make. If you do make some, make sure you share with the Kuties so we can all purr over your creations.
And of course a good thing to go with knickers is making your own cloth pads. The last thing you want to waste your scarse dollars on during a global depression is wasteful throw away bits. Plus, cloth pads feel so much lovelier, your body will love you for it, I promise. There’s a great pattern list on the Goods 4 Girls website and while you’re there you might want to get inspired to make some to donate to them while you’re at it.
So, anyone else out there got any hot crafty tips for surviving a depression?
Crafting for a reason
Here’s some late night linky love. So late in fact, I didn’t finish this post until the morning!
My new favourite Etsy store is culturerevolution. Not my favourite store of all time, that’s still Jellyshoe Rebellion, who now have a Facebook Page become a Fan! Anyhoo it’s cause of this super outfit (which I’d never wear, but love anyway)
” It is made out of a recycled t-shirt and striped knit fabric saved from the scrap trash bin… Be environmentally friendly and fashionable at the same time!
Join the Revolution! Recycle, ReUse, Revolution!”
Speaking of which, when was the last time you crafters out there stopped and had a breather and thought about the processes you use to create your works of genius? Do you think about the reasons you craft? What gets you started and what keeps you making? If you’re like me and into thinking about this stuff a lot, I urge you to read “10 qualities of slow cloth” at Red Thread Studio. It just made me want to run in to my craft room and start making stuff so I could sit there and think about making stuff!
For those of you out there who like to make nice things for other people, you might want to check out a couple of posts that highlight crafting for a cause. Firstly the wonderful Mikes crew have started the Softies for Mirabel Auction. You can go start bidding on your favourite softies now and all the profits go to the Mirabel Foundation who are ACE! There’s still room for more softies. So if you want to do something for some kids who will seriously appreciate, jump over and get on board.
If softies aren’t really your thing then All Natural Me has a great list of a bunch of causes that you can craft for. I especially like the Goods for Girls idea. I’m a huge fan of reducing dependence on wasteful corporate products. So I am a huge raving fan of cloth pads.
I always thought moonpads would be yucky and surfboardy like those big horrible pads you got when you were a kid. But cloth pads are so soft and cuddly and comfy. And infinitely better for the planet. They’re easy to make too or there’s a ton of people selling them online. I recommend the Moonpads Store. Lovely product and lovely service. And you can buy seconds (which don’t really have anything wrong with them) for cheap!
And speaking of crafting for good, we can’t forget what comes before the crafting and that’s the designing. And I just found this super inspiring website that all you designers out there should be subscribing to. It’s called ’101 Things Designers Can Do To Save The Earth’. They’re up to 109, so I’m pleased they’re not limiting themselves (although there hasn’t been any posts in a little while…) There’s a ton of useful and interesting links on there and I reckon it’s definitely not just designers that will find this site useful.
Finally a bit of linky love for my own project. I’ve been busily adding more stuff to the Fabric of Resistance wiki. There’s actually a ton of pages on there now, wee! I recommend you go click on the Random Page link on the left and see some for yourself. And hopefully get inspired to add your own things. If you want to help out with a task that really needs doing, visit the community portal and look at the task list. I’m going to start doing some crafting for a cause projects next!
So there’s a ton of stuff to keep you inspired! Anyone else seen any great conscious crafty projects recently?
xox