Is Handmade Crafting a Dying Art?

Today's world is ruled by the manufacturing companies. Everything from the clothes we wear to the cars we drive are manufactured. But what happened to the days when most things we used were hand made? It seems that more and more people rely on things bought from the store and lost an appreciation for things that can be made by hand. Sure there are advantages to each but what exactly are they.

We all have to buy clothes. Prices vary widely from a few dollars for a t-shirt to a couple thousand dollars for that perfect armani suit. But in todays world you can get the look you want for half the price if you make it yourself. While manufactured clothes are quick and readily wearable, sometimes the quality just isn't that good. By todays standards though, manufactured clothing just doesn' t last as long. In some cases things may last a year or two, and in some maybe only a few months. Home made clothes however depending upon the skill of the person making them can last for years and in some cases even be tailored for different people, much like children. Something that was made for an elder sibling, can be resized to fit a younger sibling. And the variety of designs and fabric are limitless.

Another way clothes can be made is by knit or crochet. While manufacturing companies have machines who can do these things for us, once again the quality just isn't what it would be if they were homemade. Manufactured items are also mass produced while something that is knit or crocheted by hand is unique in each way. While the designs for things like scarves, sweaters and baby clothes are the same, no two handmade thing are quite the same. And while you can just as easily go out and purchase something, crafters who make things by hand do it with love and a sense of pride behind it. Things that are made by hand can also be passed down to the next generation of family members. Baptism and christening gowns have been known to change hands from generation to generation, as well as baby clothes, even handmade wedding gowns going from mother to daughter.

Clothing is not the only thing that can be handmade. Furniture can be handmade as well. Some would say that yes it is easier to simply go to the store and purchase that nicely designed bedset with matching dressers, but the quality of these things is nothing compared to that of things handmade. Most furniture these days are made from pressboard, which for major manufacturers is cheap and easy. These things have a very short shelf life. If gotten wet or moved mutiple times pressboard furniture falls apart quickly. Handmade furniture takes time and care and tends to last longer through the years. It also can be passed on through the generations.

The very cars we drive too also don't last as long, and can cost us thousands of dollars in upkeep. There are society's like the Amish who simply don't deal with them. They still have carriages and wagons, which have to be handmade, a craft that takes years to learn and costs little in the way of upkeep or even crafting. Among the Amish, many of the handmade crafts survive and flourish as tourists purchase these things out of sheer whim. Even the island of Mackinaw in Michigan, flourishes as a living Victorian community where alot of things there are still handmade. Where Horses and carts that have to be handmade are the livelihood of the island as motor vehicles have been banned to preserve an almost lost way of life.

Programs that taught skills for handmade crafts used to be taught in schools. Now they have been replaced by other things and are no longer considered a necessary part of one's education. The days are long gone when the knowledge to sew clothes for your family are no longer needed in a wife. Mothers no longer sit and teach their daughters, or daughters no longer wish to learn.

So if this folk art, as it is now referred to is dying out, it is up to us to help preserve it. To learn the skills some of our parents grew up with. To teach each sucessive generation an appreciation for things that are handmade. To enjoy today that which could very soon be lost to us forever.