Handmade Nation and Clothkits

Future Craft Scotland is holding events around Scotland this month, celebrating the world of craft. As part of the celebrations in Dundee Faythe Levine's film Handmade Nation was being shown in the DCA, along with questions for the director afterwards. Touring the USA the film interacts with a number of craft makers and looks at the development of craft, through the growth of the internet and the rise of craft fairs. It was an interesting and enjoyable evening. If you haven't seen the film or the book then I suggest you search it out.

Then this weekend in the Telegraph Magazine there was an article about Clothkits. Check it out, it's really quite interesting. I've talked about Clothkits before, a British company that during the 1970s and 1980s offered pre-printed fabric kits to make a range of clothes...my mum made many of these kits for me. Following it's demise, Kay Mawer bought the rights to the name and it's catalogue and relaunched a Clothkits collection in 2007. A piece of my childhood now revived.....the next generation, fascinated by craft and the handmade, learning to love the patterns and simplicity of the idea....

Here's one of my favourite childhood memories! I made my first every softie out of the remains of the furry lining!