Growing up, my grandparents would babysit me and my siblings every Tuesday without fail. We would stop off at the post-office for sweets and a magazine each before my Grandad drove us home. Once at the kitchen table, confectionary consumed, my Grandma would introduce us to a new craft.
For years, Tuesdays were filled with sewing, origami, flower-pressing, beadwork, knitting, quilting, card-making, and wool creations, to name just a few. And it stuck. For Christmases and birthdays, I would ask for more fabric, wool, and tools, and I continue to enjoy making things to this day.
Because of this, I garnered the label “grandma”. I get it – crafting can be associated with being introverted, uncool, and “old before your time.” But if developing creative skills makes me a “grandma,” I’ll wear that label as a badge of honour. Still, it raises questions about how we view art and creativity. Many of these hobbies aren’t just fleeting interests – they’re skills honed over decades and passed down through generations.
Take my Mum, for example. She started sewing at around seven years old, and my Grandmother began at a similar age. Their ability to create quilts, cushions, dolls, decorations, and clothing didn’t emerge overnight. These women nurtured and refined their talents over a lifetime.
And yet many of these women in my life do not see these pursuits as creative. I remember once I introduced my Great-Aunt (a woman who has a whole room in her house dedicated to sewing, knitting, and embroidering) to a friend, describing her as “the really artistic one.” She immediately replied, “Oh no, that’s not me. I’m not creative at all.” Similarly, my Dad’s Mother often insisted her husband was the creative one in the family. And yes, their bungalow was filled with his scenic paintings, but it was also covered in her own textile work, in her quilts and table cloths. I mean, she even made her own Christmas crackers for goodness sake!
In my own home to, my Dad was always considered the creative one, and though his ability to draw and paint are impressive, my Mum’s knitted gloves and cross-stitch cushions are never deemed as so artistically significant. Why is domestic art seen as less creative or valuable?
Crafting is far from easy. It demands maths, measurement, creativity, patience, dexterity, and precision. Yet textile work and crafting are often dismissed as less valuable than other art forms. Painters and sculptors like da Vinci, Van Gogh, and Picasso are household names, while pioneers of textile arts like May Morris and Anni Albers remain mostly unknown.
This divide has been prominent throughout history, be it Ancient Greeks calling domestic crafting too “womanish” or Victorian manuals advising women and girls that sewing and knitting were simply part of their feminine duty. These descriptions of female crafting, however do not detract from their true artistry. Although a lot of crafting, particularly for working class women, was out of necessity (e.g. making and fixing clothing), it was also an opportunity for expression. Mary Queen of Scots, for example, was kept in captivity for 19 years, and spent much of that time embroidering  political metaphors into her needlework.
Despite what stereotypes say about crafting, it is not simply a pastime, but can be a serious opportunity for expression and artistry. Now with more guides and explanatory videos than ever, crafting is becoming excitingly more accessible. We are witnessing a resurgence in crafting, particularly thanks to COVID-19 with  John Lewis reporting a 90% increase in demand for knitting supplies after the outbreak.
With more and more of my friends taking part in this new boom of crafting, I’m finding this hobby a great source of bonding with the women around me. Cosy craft nights are becoming part of the routine with my female friends and it is rare that I see my great aunt without showing her a new project, asking her advice, and her berating me for cutting corners!
For me, crafting is a way to connect with past generations; when my grandma teaches me a new stitch or my mum recommends a certain knitting needle, I know that this knowledge has likely been passed down from mothers for generations.
All this is to say, female crafting is significant for its unifying and generational bond with other women around us. Â Crafting has always been an outlet for artistry, and it should not be diminished just because it lies in the domestic sphere. In a world that is fast-changing, female crafting provides a powerful link between us and the many women who stitched, knitted, crocheted, and weaved before us.