Thursday, March 10, 2011
Is it really handmade if...
So I'm a crafty kind of girl and I like things that make other things easier. For example; I have a cool new Viking sewing machine that, as previously stated, I don't really know how to use. I mean I can use part of it, the sewing part, but it also has an embroidery part which I have only a theory about how to use. Don't worry, there's a class for that, which I took but didn't really understand the details of because I got my machine and then got busy and didn't open it until the day before the class. I will be re-taking that class after I have had time to figure some things out. Now I at least have sort of enough knowledge to attempt to use it, maybe. Anyway, I also have a Cricut. For those of you who don't know, that's an "electronic cutting machine" as described by their website. The question comes when doing projects with either my Viking or Cricut as the majority of the work is done by the machines itself. My part in the project is to prep the materials being used and set up a computer program that tells the machines what to do. After I do that, I can just walk away and let them run. Now I'm not saying that it takes no talent or skill to create stuff with the machines, I'm just saying that it isn't exactly hands on. I suppose that at this point I'm more willing to say that the Cricut projects are more hands on because after you cut them out, you usually still have to put them together with other paper to make something. I'm a little hesitant to make the previous statements because I have friends who do professional embroidery. They do amazing things that look awesome, and have far more knowledge about embroidery than I could probably ever hope to have. I'm going to say that their items are not only "custom", you remember the discusson about that word, but "professional". I'm pretty sure that the prep work they do to ensure quality is both tedious and time consuming, I can't even imagine. Having said all that, I am struggling with a question; Is it really handmade if you use machines to do most of the work? I'm going to say no, but I will give it the "custom" stamp. There, question answered. :)
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