I was planning to meet up with a friend at the February craft show at Rosehill in Sydney. I went to the website to check the date and discovered that the February one is no longer running. So that leaves the August Rosehill one, and the June Darling Harbour craft show.
I guess its not that bad really. After all, in recent times its been more and more taken over by paper crafts which aren’t quite my cup of tea. Sometimes I wonder why its called the Stitches and Craft show, because there don’t seem to be many “stitches” on show…
It seems that more and more, people are wanting less and less. That is, to put in less and less effort. For me creativity is about working on a project that takes time and an investment of effort. I am not usually one who will whip something up in an afternoon (though it can be rather liberating to do this occasionally!).
I think I’m rather out of sync with much of the rest of the crafting population in this. I am happy to do time-consuming, finicky, attention to detail, in depth projects, whereas on the basis of what is being promoted at many craft shows these days, many others are not. Hmm… just some musings…
I’m not meaning that I am in any way “better” than those who want “quick”, because to be realistic, that’s how many people start their journey into crafting. But I just hope some of those people will move on from their diet of milk, and onto solids, in good time. I hope that they move from the quick and easy onto the slow, laborious and highly rewarding, more highly skilled areas of the craft world.
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I feel much the same as you. I much prefer a piece that a put real effort in. Taking my time to make sure I have every detial in it the way I want it. It gives great satisfaction to know you have finished a job well done
I am due to demonstrate Japanese Embroidery at the Stitch and Craft show in Manchester, England this weekend. I was at the last one in September and agree entirely with what you say. Lots of visitors stopped to admire the embroideries on display but sighed “I don’t have the time and/or patience to do that”
We were able to tempt a few to a taster weekend, hopefully we will be able to tempt a few more this time around. Most of those who signed up had seen us at an earlier show so perhaps they had cut their teeth on the quick and easy projects that prolificate the show and are now ready to develop new skills.
Hello. This year The Stitches & Craft Show is being run by the new owners Living Creatively. Reed Exhibitions (the previous owners) cancelled the February show in 2007. Living Creatively took over late in 2008 and we're busy preparing for a bigger and better show. They'll be a lot more sewing, embroidery, fashion parades, inspiration, new workshops and classes and the Australian premiere of Handmade Nation – a documentary on the rise of the indie craft movement in the US. They'll be lots to see and do and really worth a visit. We'd love to see you there in August!
Hi Diane and coral-seas,
I’m glad that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Good luck at the show coral-seas! I feel daunted by Japanese embroidery too, though! 🙂
Hello Anna,
Thanks for your comments. I hope that the show is as good as you are promoting it to be.
“Indie craft” doesn’t sound much like highbrow embroidery though, and that’s what I’m hoping to find…
I’m just not sure that these shows really cater for my market anymore.