Info, news & debate
Papermaking
How to grow your own woad: from seed to harvest
A natural dye you can harvest from the garden, textile artist Teresinha Roberts of Wild Colours explains how to grow your very own ‘indigo’ woad plant.
Meet madder, woad & weld: traditional dye plants of Europe
In this post, textile artist Teresinha Roberts of Wild Colours tells us all about the top three European dye plants for use in natural dyeing: madder, woad and weld.
Join our new online community Living Low Impact
We’re excited to introduce our new Facebook group Living Low Impact – and you’re invited!
What we’re losing: the joy and satisfaction of crafting things by hand
The video below shows various stages of the production and finish of a 1-metre tall puppet by Jan Zalud. Jan makes all sorts of things – crafted by hand from wood.
The price of the average wedding is now over £20k; how to do it for much less and give the finger to ‘Brides’ magazine
Flanked by an advert for the Ocean Club honeymoon resort in the Bahamas, with young bride and groom toasting a glass of champagne, Brides – “the UK’s number 1 bridal magazine” announces to its readers that “Planning your wedding starts here”
The future will be handmade? The prospects for craft skills in ‘developing’ countries
The Future will be handmade? In the information age, the question has an absurd ring. But I ask after listening to Ashoke Chatterjee at the Artisans House in Mumbai. As a long time President of the Crafts Council of India, Chatterjee tells us that ‘The Future will be handmade’. The question mark is mine.
Craft skills are too important to lose
How many people do you know these days whose work involves traditional craft skills? For every craftsperson in the UK, there must be a couple of thousand working in telesales.