Art Beat Handmade Philly

I have a business on Etsy. It’s a wonderful marketplace that enables craft artisans to sell their handmade items and purchase supplies from other sellers. There is also a strong contingent of vintage articles for sale. Many vendors have a unique spot in the middle. They sell vintage supplies such as clothing and craft patterns from the 1900s forward.

Once of the really nice things that Etsy does, that you won’t find on eBay is the forums. Oh eBay has forums, but nothing like Etsy’s forums. Etsy forums are well organized places to find help articles and get questions answered. I’m continually amazed that busy craft people take the time to explain the ins and outs of how to do this or that on Etsy.

Besides the forums, Etsy encourages the formation of teams. A team is a group of artisans that have something in common with other artisans; be it geographic or common interest, such as quilting and a city center. Handmade Philly is one such team. So what does a team do? A team works together to promote their businesses. One of the ways they do this is to have sales at the same time or get together to make people aware of the availability of handmade items. Artbeat is an example of getting the word out about handmade items.

Artbeat took place on Saturday, August 15 in West Philly, a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several people including, yours truly, presented workshops on how to do the things we do. I, of course, taught a come and go quilting class. What is a come and go quilting class? Well, it’s a new term I devised for lack of anything better to call it. Imagine a craft show where people who pass by watch a demonstration of a quilt being made. Now take it one step further. The quilter has simple patterns available with pre-cut cloth bundles which the crowd is welcome choose from and sit down at the quilter’s machine and actually learn to quilt. I had several people who wanted to try. It turns out two of the people who wanted to try, had never used a sewing machine before. It took them a little longer and they needed a bit more help, but all who tried walked away with a completed quilt block. I’m incorporating the things I learned into the patterns I create. I learned that even a simple term, I use all the time, like “basting,” is unknown to people who have never sewn. There are people who have no desire to make clothing desperately want to learn to quilt. What an eye opener. It’s amazing how or experiences influence our modes of thinking.

While I was teaching beginning foundation piecing, others taught things like making art money. I didn’t get a chance to experience this craft, but lots of people did. They made money using paper and markers and seemed to really enjoy it. What’s the point in that? I don’t know, but it certainly wasn’t to try to fool people and pass it off as real. Next time I run into her at some team meeting I’ll get the low down on it.

Then there was the knitter who was teaching people how to knit. Seated near the knitter was a woman who was just putting the finishing touches on her queen size quilt. She sat and chatted and hand stitched the binding on her quilt. It wasn’t long before someone else procured a needle and they had their own little quilting bee.

There was also a woman teaching how to make recycled journals. She used heavy weight paper for a cover and pages cut from magazines to create little journals for carrying in your pocket or purse. I got to be involved in the project just long enough to complete a journal. It made me think about all the paper I take to the recycling center and gave me some ideas that I want to try out before I share them.

The last table was a young couple. The wife was teaching how to make magnetic frames for pictures on the refrigerator and other metallic surfaces.

While all the demos were taking place there were several musicians making use of the open mic provided. I heard music produced such as I’d never heard before. Some I liked better than others, though those who were playing, definitely knew how to make their chosen instrument sing.

For more information about Etsy and the handmade movement, check out Etsy.com.