So I wrote last week a post asking “Is my making fast fashion?”. And then I did a video on Instagram discussing similar topics in a slightly different way. And as always, you lovely humans ha...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/making-fast-fashion-some-more-of-the-grey
We all have the capacity - and often the desire - to deny truths that show us engaged in things we know aren’t ideal. To minimise, avoid, distract and rationalise our way to feeling OK with our...
These yarns feel very different. Yarn 1 is more hardy, Yarn 2 is lighter and softer. Anyway so then I sat down to do the knitting. And just for the fun of it, and a smidge of curiosity, I knitted...
Being super reductive, I often think of my craft as a reminder, daily, momentarily, that all three of these things are true in this moment. I capable of doing good things. There is something kind...
Craft is a process that isn’t simply a straight line from materials to object, but rather it is an energetic feedback loop that cycles through the life-elevating process that is hand making. Ma...
We have so many of these endings in life. The last few days of school holidays. The last few pages of a book we loved. The last weeks before a move in a house that has been a place of joy. The en...
So this week I made something that turned out to be (subjectively) pretty ugly. Obviously that wasn’t my intention. I was looking to create something gorgeous to honour my friend’s fresh baby...
At this time of year we are often making plans. Plans for our lives, and plans for our making. It’s a time full of possibility, and for me is one of the funnest parts of our making practice. Wh...
I wanted to talk skills today because I had another one of those conversations over the weekend where someone told me a story about how they had once tried to make a thing - but that that thing h...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/the-four-skills-we-need-to-make-something-beautiful
In overwhelm we are unable to think coherently, strategically, and this can lead to a kind of listlessness or ambivalence where nothing feels exciting and possibility is absent. Now of course it ...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/moving-through-crafty-overwhelm
So I don’t do resolutions - but I do do tweaks. I look at where I’m at in the new year and make small changes if needed. And this year I have been thinking about #10minofmaking, and what I ha...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/on-why-10minofmaking-isnt-instagram-glam
The wonderful Petra’s dream project - she spoke about her coat at Soul Craft this year. Hello lovely crafters, I've been thinking a lot over the last few weeks, about the part confidence p...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/on-growing-our-confidence-and-how-making-isnt-hard
Makers like us want to make in a way where we aren’t making our slow fashion = fast fashion. We want to make in a way that is intentional and conscious and not overly excessive. But figuring ou...
“I care very much about taking all the magic away, because you keep attributing your work to other forces and all that can do is disempower you. Really I feel that strongly. I can do what I do,...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/2021/2/25/making-as-experience-and-graft
My favourite part of writing this blog, and sharing my work via instagram, has been the learning and the growth that has come from being part of this community. And one of my favourite learnings ...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/2021/2/16/redefining-success-in-craft
So here is my theory, my hypothesis if you will. Maybe the sheer number of WIP is what is causing my making practice to feel stressful and job-like. Maybe the associations my brain is making betw...
Rather than planning what to make - how about we plan how? How do we want to feel as we make this year. Let’s set some intentions….
I made us a thing! A wonderful, nourishing and inspiring thing called Soul Craft Online! Soul Craft Online is an incredibly special, guided, interactive festival-style gathering created to bring ...
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/2020/11/15/soul-craft-festival-has-gone-live
Our feelings don’t have fences. Our feelings matter. Our feelings - whatever they are - bleed out into all aspects of our life and our capacity to deal with what is thrown at us. They impact wh...
This here is a VERY simple modification to add a balloon sleeve to the wonderful Wiksten Shift and if you are happy to break a few rules it is an alteration you can do with VERY little fabric!
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/balloon-sleeve-wiksten-shift