The Case for Handmade

In a world of mass-produced consumerism, there is left little room or regard for the handcrafted. Why opt for the latter when the former offers more finished product for less time, more profit for less effort? Certainly, there is not much about creating things slowly, individually, by hand, that can qualify as more practical or more productive. Where efficiency is given the first priority, other qualities— quality, creativity, among others— must take a blow. Who is to say one is worth more than the other?

Nonetheless, there is a sort of an air of romanticism about the idea of handmade. It’s something of an idealistic fancy, perhaps. Building and crafting things by hand, one may argue, is best left to those who can afford leisure, who have time and resources and patience to spare. Grow your own oddslot food, build your own furniture, sew your own clothing. It’s satisfying, really, to be able to claim that you made something.

If the state of the market for self-produced items may be a bit iffy, the marketplace for it is a mixed bag. E-commerce sites for artists and artisans such as the fabulously coded and designed Etsy allow the soap-maker and the scarf-knitter and the whittler to sell their wares. The things one finds range from “good god, what is it” to “I wish I’d thought of that” to downright impressive. The site itself is well- thought-out, including features such as (the often very aesthetically pleasing) member-curated collections of others’ works or the ability to browse new, neglected shops. A personal favorite is the browse-by-color (which is loads better than ticking “red” or searching “lime green”):

Etsy may have reached a saturation point in volume, however; there are so many items that specific ones are difficult to locate, much less sell. In recent years, quite blatantly mass-produced products (often from China) have flooded some sectors, and have been listed as handmade or vintage (which is allowed) when it is evidently neither. People have complained— site owners have studiously ignored, understandably— but life goes on. It’s really less about the commerce than about the feeling of finally having a community that not only valued but catered to crafters, then having it infiltrated by commercialism.

The conclusion? Keep art-ing it up, my creative friends. Do it for yourself, do it for others. There’s some intrinsic value and plenty of satisfaction to be found in what you create yourself.