Our hands, our hearts, our souls

on the lost art of handicrafts

the intricately HANDmade clothes of our ancestors. why is it that we now have machines that make our clothes for us and yet they are as bland as ever? you can't get the same soulful complexity as when the hands weave. Life creates life.

I have these memories of being a kid visiting my family in Macedonia. I would stay with my grandmother in the home my mother grew up in, with my two cousins who lived there. Whenever I would come my grandmother loved to give me things she had made, as grandmothers do. Things from long ago. She would open up the big wooden armoires in the room where I slept and sort through piles of wool blankets and handmade dolies. She would take out these beautifully made wool cardigans and vests, socks and sweaters and want to give them to me. I would look at them in awe, and ask her in my broken Macedonian, "You made these!?". My little Canadian city brain was very impressed with what seemed like such a complex skill I hadn't been exposed to much.

They were extremely well done with fine details and seamless finishes. I loved them. I asked why she doesn't still make such beautiful things anymore and she said "For who? Nobody wants them". My heart sank, that confused and saddened me. Perhaps a part of me that was born and growing up away from my grandmother and only able to visit her on short, sporadic trips enjoyed having something that connected me to her, that she had made with her own hands, that she wanted me to have. It made me feel connected to her and that was really special to me. But looking at my cousins and all the kids I knew there, they wanted nothing to do with such old-fashioned and unappealing things. It was social suicide to be caught out in the world with an ugly thing like that on, so the kids said. Dramatic, yes, and so revealing of how these grandmother and grandfather skills and wisdom were viewed. They were unappreciated, and not only that, but seen as repulsive. One of my cousins went as far as to fight me on the matter when I wanted to wear one of my grandmother's cardigans out into town and actually refused to join me when I wouldn't change. I walked alone. It was very interesting to me. I thought it was quite a shame because these creations, these skills, they were not only beautiful but so valuable. The fact that the next generation I was seeing in front of me wanted nothing to do with them meant a great loss was taking place. Wisdom and connection was being misplaced. My grandmothers didn't need any pattern guide or online tutorial to just know how to make these things. They grew up learning it. Not just one pattern or another, but the underlying skill level that allowed them to create their own designs off the top of their heads. Why has such a craft been so devalued?

handcrafting was never a solo endeavour. it invited women and men to gather, to work together, to gossip and share stories and laugh. that is the soulful thread interwoven in working with the hands.

I asked my grandmother to teach me how to knit, but that first time was hard for me to get. I wanted her to pass down her knowledge to me, yet it wasn't until a couple years later that I got more serious about it and tried again. I found it enriching to learn the process of weaving different designs and patterns, to form them into garments that can be worn for generations. I now notice the behaviour of my cousins as a turning away from the old ways, and a desperate desire to be accepted by a society that is moving towards technology, progress and modernity. They wanted nothing to do with that knowledge of my grandmother, and my grandmother no longer felt a purpose to continue her crafts. Her old creations collecting dust in draws. My heart cries out for that.

When I learned how to crochet and knit, my hands began to move of their own accord. Each stitch was like putting into place a fabric designed a long time ago. Rewoven with my hands. I watched my grandmother making these incredibly intricate sweaters, tablecloths, vests, you name it. I always found it quite amazing at the skill level that was simply a part of her identity. Any grandmother, anywhere in the world will have such skills. Things like knitting, lacing, weaving baskets, working leather, making clothes are such valuable and practical skills that were just a part of life for them. Part of their sustenance. How they enjoyed spending their days. Something purposeful. It was something learned through simply living, from seeing others work the threads, from having the time and space to create. Yet these are not just grandmothers’ crafts. These women practiced their art in their youth, and have decades of experience under their belt. It wasn’t something they picked up when they got older. It was taught to them when they were children. Now all these crafts seem like they are only practiced by grandmothers because we have gone generations not passing down these practices to the children that need them.

Most women today have never even picked up a pair of needles. They have no idea about making beautiful things with their hands. It's considered merely a grandmother's task. Unproductive, outdated, something done when you have nothing better to do. There has grown a reliance on stores to stock everything that one needs. In that people have grown dependent on things outside of themselves and their communities. They see that as progress. As a blessing to not need to knit that sweater yourself anymore. The more you can get other people to do what you need, the better. Although it is a blessing to have options, it shouldn't diminish the value of true handicrafts and of learning skills for yourself. Of bringing the products, knowledge and worth back into the hands of makers.

handicrafts and mothering always went together. the mothers were always the makers.

Long forgotten is the skill to know how to make your own clothes, weave your own baskets and tend to your own animals. Of taking time to make your baby their own sweater. That special heirloom item that can be passed on to many babies afterward. Things that hold meaning, made with your own hands. The knowledge that you can pass down to your children. That is generational wealth. Something meaningful. Something of high quality made right in your own home or in your community. Our grandmothers practiced this as second nature. It has been an innate part of life for as long as there has been life, not only because of necessity but because it gave purpose. A spark of inspiration. An opportunity to sit in circle. To share and exchange knowledge. It is a foundational element of true connection and a flourishing community, let alone the practical life skills and creative knowledge it offers. 

Why is it that the value of handicrafts has diminished over the last century? More emphasis has been placed on having a successful career and making money than on the joys of creating functional and beautiful things for your family and community. I'm sure most of you have seen the comparisons between this modern age’s architecture compared to a few decades ago. The detail and beauty that went into the most mundane of things simply for the desire to make something more beautiful. Today, people just want to make something as cheap as possible. As simple as possible. As little detail as possible to appeal to the most amount of people. It's lacking in soul. You can see it in the mass building of houses and condos, in cars, in something as simple as a park or a bench. Humans, especially in the western world have lost that joy for making life beautiful. That pleasure in taking a moment to notice the details of a thing - there aren't so many details to notice anymore -. That ecstasy in bringing colour into their lives. Why are so many people drawn to a dreary black and white life? A world that has lost its soul. The loss of the art of handicrafts runs hand in hand with this phenomenon. People think “I have better things to do”. What exactly is that better thing? What is better than making something with your hands, than teaching your children timeless knowledge, of knowing you are carrying on centuries-old wisdom? I will never understand.

Now we have the independent woman archetype that finds more value in what she offers the workforce than how she makes and tends to a home. Not how she creates beautiful things for the pleasure of working with her hands. Not how she raises her babies. Not how she carries on the legacy of her grandmothers. Few long to remember and carry on the knowledge of handicrafts. The skill of making their own things. Of using the wisdom that has been taking shape for millennia. Not letting it be forgotten. 

music and dance are a part of a handmade, soulful life. where there is space for people to practice their art, there is people who dance. where there is laughter, there is song

How different would life look if more women saw the value of gathering together to make a quilt for a friend's matrimonial? Or a Blanket for their first baby? Imagine how much meaning and spirit would be held in such a garment. Woven with love and devotion. Patience and laughter. Imagine if women felt the joys of regular hangouts to knit together and share stories. Handicrafts, women's work, and gathering all move in one pulse. Women have always gathered together to work and play. Many hands make light work as they say. Women have always passed on to each other the details of a new knitting pattern or an improved design. No gatekeeping such essential skills. It was more fun to share and exchange. I honestly think it would make us a lot more fulfilled than grinding that 9-5. More happy than a lonely life. More abundant than keeping what we know locked inside our chests. 

There is medicine in handicrafts. There is medicine in learning the skills that our grandmothers and grandfathers carried. There is medicine in working with our hands. In unravelling a hurried lifestyle and instead creating beauty in what we do. Weaving wisdom that can be shared with others. 

I've been on a journey of weaving soul into my home. Dismantling the minimalist culture lacking in detail and true expression. Inviting in colour, art and magic. Humans are innately artistic beings when we allow ourselves to express it. Art is making. Art is that which sparks passion. When we create space our life opens up into a canvas for our artistic expression. 

Traditionally in a close-knit community, most people would have a wide range of skills and the knowledge to do different crafts. Yet usually, everyone had their one thing. The craft that they practiced more, that sparked passion in their hearts and became proficient at. Everyone in a community had their craft. Their art. And so it was a community that filled every niche that was needed. There was a woman who made the finest cloth, the softest buckskin, the most beautiful baskets, or a man who made the toughest knives, the best tools, the loveliest instruments. Everyone was tending to a craft that not only brought immense joy and development of skill but filled a necessity in the community. Perhaps nowadays such things aren’t so much a necessity, it's easy to find a cheaper, more readily available version of whatever we are looking for, lacking though in quality and soul. But what fun it would be if we filled our own niches as a community. If we all took the time to master certain skills and uplifted each other through the quality of craftsmanship. It would be fulfilling. Joyful. Woven with (he)art and soul.  

This makes me think of the holi days that are coming up in December and the influx of shopping and gift-giving that happens. What if instead of buying a gift we took the time to make one. What if we accepted the invitation to expand our capacity for art and beauty in our lives. If we saw the value in taking our time, in making something with our own hands. In imperfection and learning just for the pleasure of it. To give someone a gift woven with our own hands, that actually embodies the time and energy we desire to share with them. That, to me, is a precious thing. These are traditions that live on through our hands.