The conversation began with a lady in my fitness class asking me about places she could get her sewing machine serviced. She hadn’t used it in many years and knew it needed a tune up before she jumped back into sewing. We chatted about that and before long the conversation came around to fabric.
I commented about the cost of fabric today and she was confused. Very confused.
It took me a few moments to figure out that she had no idea that it was cheaper to buy clothes and home goods than it was to make them.
She was really, really dumbstruck that the cost of fabric and supplies often exceeds (sometimes far exceeds) the cost of ready-made. Which of course begs the question, why would anyone make anything - clothes, quilts, pillows, placemats - when it’s cheaper to buy them?
They make them rather than buy them because it’s not really about the cost.
For makers, it’s more about the cost of NOT making.
Making is a chance for reflection and contemplation, in a life of information overload.
Making is lasting self-expression, in a culture of digital impermanence.
Making emphasizes process, in a world that glamorizes product.
Making is a source of calm, in an otherwise frenetic day.
Making is meditation.
Making is therapy.
Making is identity.
Making is love.
Making is life.
Make.