They called it Stitch’n’Bitch. It wasn’t what you were stitching – or bitching about – that mattered, really. My mom and her friends would gather, armed with the latest neighbourhood news and leave a few hours later with a wall hanging or a tea cozy. It was never so much about the activity as it was an excuse to gather, create and connect.
Now stitch’n’bitch is back in a big way, and with a decidedly modern twist.
“We were really inspired by the women who came before us, with quilting and sewing circles,” Andrea Hanki said.
Hanki is one half of the duo behind Made Social. The company hosts upbeat craft workshops complete with a confetti toss, cocktails and cake. Demand is huge: events consistently sell out, at about $100 a spot. In one year of operation, they’ve grown from hosting just over a dozen people, to holding multiple seatings of 20 crafters. Even more impressive when you consider word has spread entirely online.
“I don’t think it would have grown as quickly if we had not used social media,” Christine Shankowsky, the other half of Made Social, said.
Hanki, a professional photographer, and Shankowsky, a graphic designer, know the importance of visual marketing for today’s audience. They capture the planning, progress and success of their events on Instagram – communicating often with their more-than 8000 followers.
“We use Instagram almost exclusively to market Made Social,” Shankowsky said. “We’re a really visual business and brand, and having photographs and showing people what we do and who we are has really been the best way for us.”
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They are not alone – nearly 17,000 people follow calligrapher and stationery designer Justine Ma on Instagram as she details her days of creating cards, prints, mugs and more from home. She estimates the bulk of her business comes from the image-sharing site.
“You kind of have to juggle what you can juggle and have a work-life balance, and I think having online website sales is great because you don’t necessarily need a brick-and-mortar — you can have online, you can have this cloud of product and still reach your audience,” Ma said.
Flexibility and freedom are key to a new wave of entrepreneurs who have found big success by capitalizing on a renewed interest in handmade goods. Participants in Made Social workshops have tried their hands at plant hangers reminiscent of macramé in the 1970s, stitched words of positivity inside embroidery hoops, mixed up bath oils, and created yarn and wood wall hangings. There’s an irony here: goods that harken back to an earlier era – being marketed through the latest technology.
“It’s a different way of doing business,” Marissa Loewen said.
Loewen’s On the Spot Pop Ups brings attention to shows and sales where the focus is on handmade goods. “It’s no longer just a hobby,” she says, “it’s not stress relief – it’s actually what people are doing for their business.”
Big business too. Loewen produced the recent “Etsy – Made in Canada” pop up show. She says it attracted nearly 450 vendor submissions for some 200 spots. Her work also includes helping creators hone their business and marketing skills. Interest in being a “makie” is high – and the ability to work from anywhere – and sell to anyone – is part of a winning formula.
“Being a freelancer is very convenient in my life right now. I have a two and a half year old daughter, so hours are flexible, I don’t have to be creative from 9 to 5 – nobody’s dictating when I can work,” Ma said, from her dining room table/workspace, with young Ruby playing not far away.
Between them, Hanki and Shankowsky have five kids – and they readily concur.
“We’ll work in the mornings when our kids are at school, or in the evening after they’ve gone to bed,” Hanki said.
“Or sometimes we work when our kids are running circles around us,” Shankowsky interjects, as Hanki adds, “or climbing all over us!”
It’s a new type of work-life balance made possible by having technology close at hand – allowing new entrepreneurs to revive handicrafts of the past and catapult their businesses into the future.
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