One of my much-missed activities during these lockdown days is the Saturday morning crafters’ market at Hogsback. The memory of green grass and lazy, friendly conversations with other traders and customers has become a pastoral idyll for me. Before I lapse into maudlin verse, let me announce an exciting virtual morning market that will take place tomorrow (Saturday 16 May) where you will be able to browse from the comfort of your couch.
This is the brain child of Tracy Jeffery who started a collective called TRADE two years ago to promote her upcycled handmade items under the label of Kisma Kreative. She generously took other crafters in Grahamstown/Makhanda under her wing and there will be a range of items at the virtual market — from fresh baked goods to works of art.
My craft market stock is locked up (down?) at Hogsback but I will be trading with items I have made recently : a set of A4 textile artworks; draught excluders from Shwe-Shwe fabric and one-of-a-kind calico totes containing a hand-stitched kantha circle.
Fabric scraps make excellent, solid stuffing for these fabric sausages that keep the draught from creeping in under the door. Following my quilt-making spree during lockdown, my scrap bag was overflowing so I decided to put the offcuts to good use and make Shwe Shwe draught excluders.
Next week I will write about the series of textile collages I have been making. The title of the series is Containment and I have not yet come to the end of ideas for more pieces on this theme.
My regular readers will know about my obsession with the ancient Bengali stitching tradition called kantha. The circular kantha patterns have been used to give a distinctive edge to a calico tote. The bags are lined, with an inner pocket.
I’d love to visit an art fair, crafters’ market, or a similar venue, strolling along and admiring creative work, maybe purchasing a few. How I miss those days! I surely hope it returns someday! Clever idea using scraps for the draught excluders, and I like those bags. I need to do more stitching in the evenings!
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They day everything comes to pass, so hopefully art fairs and craft markets will return and we will appreciate them all the more. Thanks for reading and commenting, Wendy
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You’re nothing if not resourceful my dear Mariss!
Can’t wait to read about your new and growing “Containment” series. Something for me/us to savor during off/on lockdown crazy days!
peace
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Thank you my dear Laura. Yes, strange days
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I know the feeling of missing the market! it is indeed bleak! But luckily we can still carry on creating, regardless.
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Yes, we are lucky to be able to make work. Thanks for reading and commenting on my little wail of woe. (The online market worked nicely.)
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Wonderful recycling to keep that pesky draught out! I’m glad you were going to have the online market and your opening paragraph to this post reminded me of all the things we had in our lives before the pandemic that we may not of appreciated as much as we should have; or we did appreciate them at the time but now we really really appreciate them 🙂 and miss them!
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Yes, life has changed utterly. Thank heavens for online communications
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I know 😀
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