Why I Gift Handmade

Making is in my genes. My grandmother, Ida, taught me to crochet sitting side-by-side on her Iowa sofa when I was 8 years old. She taught me to macramé in her dining room with the work held in place by a hook stuck into her ceiling. I learned the basics of sewing on her ancient Singer. She sent me home with crochet hooks and yarn and I eagerly dove in. A week with her during the summer was a retreat with my favorite co-creator.

When my family made the two hour drive to visit she often had a new handmade doll or toy waiting for me and my sister. She made afghans for each of her ten grandchildren in our high school colors to celebrate our graduations, a goal she didn’t have the opportunity to achieve. As an emerging maker, I was fascinated by what she could conjure with yarn and fabric and her two beautiful hands.

The things Ida made were more than clever creations. They were love incarnate. The dolls had blue eyes to match mine. Their dresses were my favorite colors. There was love in every stitch. I feel that love nearly 30 years later, that high school graduation afghan draped across my lap as I write.

This is what drives much of my own making. And certainly what drives me to gift handmade. The initial idea for a toy or a quilt or a scarf or a sweater for my beloved. The subsequent search for, or creation of, the perfect pattern. The selection of materials that will delight and outlast. The thoughts of the recipient with each pass of the needle. The joy of sending the finished project with a small note that says “I made this for you.”

When the ideal gift is outside my maker skillset {ceramics, for example, for which I have no talent} I seek another maker who will pour the same love into making that perfect gift. Someone who takes joy in adding her own note of “I made this for you.”

If you’re a maker, or love to gift handmade, I invite you to shop handmade supplies and a limited number of finished products at my Etsy shop.