Crafting ethics: A summary

The poll's at 111 responses which is pretty good and actually the percentages have generally stayed constant from the beginning which indicates to me that it's representative - of my readers anyways!

What I find most interesting about it is that most people fall smack in the middle of the debate, no-one chose the options that either completely condemned copying or that condoned it.  So despite the rather virulent comments about copying left on some of the blogs, it seems as though most of us are ready to give it a go and everyone is willing to contemplate it, even if we don't go through with it. We're also not big on buying when we think we could make it ourselves!  I think to really judge the mood out there you'd have to do a survey and allow open-ended answers because it's very hard to judge what people think when you only give them a few choices.  However, I get the impression, and it'd be interesting to hear what you all think about it too, that people are fairly happy to copy things they see on the internet with a few conditions. Either they keep it to themselves all private-like (out of shame? I don't know and I actually voted for it!) or they use it as inspiration (I voted for this one too). Not that I'm entirely sure how seperate inspiration and copying really are at times! Based on the 'other' answers, crediting the original designer seems to be considered the right thing to do, though I really stuffed up on #3 and should have made it two, one option with credit and one without.

The two questions that I think are actually most interesting are #5 and 6 because they deal with the grey area surrounding this issue. The others are more clear-cut in their morality, more black and white.  Although I didn't vote for either of those choices I'd have to say that I'd probably come down with a yes for 5 and a no for 6.  Why I would think it's ok for me to copy a big company but not an independent is completely unexplainable in any logical way, does it have to do with helping the little person vs. 'sticking it to the man'? The chances of getting caught by either party? The feeling of being closer to someone who might be a fellow blogger? The fact you know what they look like?  I mean really, if I have qualms about that kind of thing doesn't it suggest that perhaps I have a feeling that I'm stealing?  #6 and the 10% is, from what I can gather, an crafting urban myth. Though that's based on the idea that creators have some control over their product/pattern/idea which appears not to be the case in large part in the States though perhaps not in the rest of the world.

So that's just my very quick take on it and while there were no huge surprises in the results I think it's interesting none-the-less.  Would love to hear your thoughts and comments!  I won't close the poll down, perhaps just pop it in the sidebar somewhere and revist it in a bit.

Infringing or not?

On Sunday we went out to one of our favourite events - the monthly Coatesville markets. It's such a fun, relaxed market full of great food, produce and crafts. We haven't been since before Christmas and I noticed a real upswing in the number of stalls selling handmade softies. Actually I should say Softies with a capital S because I'd say 75-80% of them come directly from patterns published in the books Softies and More Softies by Viking Australia and Softies by Therese Laskey, plus a couple from Melly and Me patterns. Seriously. So what does one do in these cases?

I had a really good search through my two Softies books and couldn't find anything about copyright or selling items made from those patterns which seems unusual - does that make them fair game? Would seem to. I don't know about the Laskey or Melly and Me patterns, though I'd be surprised if they didn't have some sort of restriction. So there I am at the markets on a beautiful sunny day, my daughter falling in love with the beautiful stuffed toys - and they were lovely - and not able to enjoy the wonderfulness because I knew where those patterns had come from and I don't feel they should be selling them. But on the other hand it's just nice to see decent toys available at extremely reasonable prices (possibly too reasonable actually). Sigh. Moral conflict sucks. There used to be a woman there selling some toys from those books and I wasn't sure if I should say anything at that point, but now she seems to be selling more her own stuff and there's these new stalls with the knock-offs. I'm so not the kind of person to confront them over that, and hey, maybe it's actually legal if there's no disclaimer in the book? So what do you do? Look the other way? Blab to the market organisers? Tell the authors? How would they enforce sellers at an out-of-the-way country market? Buy them and save myself the trouble of making them? Or end up buying a legit pattern for a Melly and Me giraffe because your daughter and her friend just about wet themselves over the ones for sale? Well in the immediate future probably the latter, but the other options are still there...

ETA: it seems I might have been talking out my ear on this one (legally speaking if not ethically), read what Marielle has to say in the comments).

Insomnia

I'm posting at 12:52 AM (AM!) because I'm having a wee bout of craft-induced insomnia. I can't stop thinking about what I've done today and what is still left to do and what it will look like and how I'll do it, and what fabric and how it will be constructed and...well you know how the brain works in the wee hours of the morning, even if it's not craft you've got on it. Sigh. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we're going out to get the Christmas tree, and that's going to be so much fun with Hazel, but I'm dreading how tired I'll be. Must try bed again after I hit the "publish post" button.

One thing that I did wonder while lying in bed pretending to myself that sleep was just around the corner, was exactly how cheap this drive for handmade holidays actually is. On the surface it seems like the answer to these difficult economic times, tightening the belts, getting in touch with our thrifty selves, the things our grandmothers took for granted and all that. But really, isn't this a bit wanky? It's a bit like all the secure middle-class kids at Uni going all hippy and pretending they were poor. Maybe I'm going about it in the wrong way, but when I add up all the bits 'n pieces that go into making something I wonder whether buying something wouldn't be cheaper. I suppose we're meant to be buying our way out of this global recession... But seriously, what do you count and what don't you when you're adding up how much you've saved? Not that I'm going to, but even the fabrics I'm using out of my stash have been paid for at some point in the past, they weren't free. Same with the thread, the electricity the sewing machine uses, and say a zipper you had to go out and get, or another spool of thread, or all the makings for an advent calendar. I can honestly say that one was much more expensive than anything at the shops! :P I just feel like a bit of a fraud sometimes with all this pretend economy. I know this completely disregards the happiness that doing this sort of thing brings me and (hopefully) the recipients, but I do think it's a valid question to be asking.

What have I accomplished from my Christmas to-do list so far:
Monster for Isabella - done and handed over
Pillow for mum - done
Little bag for mum - everything assembled but not started
Quilt for Rebecca - finished but needs to be washed tomorrow
Stuffy bunny for Hazel - done and hidden in closet
Monkey for Hazel - done and hidden in closet (I'm so screwed if she figures this out)
House for Hazel - inners done, fabrics sort of decided on.
Nightie for Hazel - fabrics and pattern decided
One monster - sewn but not stuffed
Two monkeys - one head partially done, body cut out, other one has a few face bits cut out.
Nightie for Alex - same stage as Hazel's.

Man, I wish I'd never written this list out, I won't be getting to sleep until at least 3am now!

Where to from here?

I've started this blog as a way to record my progress with various projects - as well as bits 'n bobs about my life and how crafting fits in with it (or doesn't). I realised that aside from being a mum and a wife, I'm an archaeologist and a crafter and those last two really don't have any connection at all to each other. They compete for my time and my attention and it's a real battle to sort out time allocation and mental energy! In terms of an outlet to talk about them, for the archaeology I can publish papers in journals and go to conferences but for crafting? Well I can go to craft shows I guess, although it's not quite the same thing because there's a seller/customer dynamic going on. I can theoretically craft with other people and while I'd love to do this I don't really know many people to do this with. So a craft blog seems like the equivalent thing to a scholarly journal! Hopefully I can manage to write it in the first person instead of reverting to dry scholarly language :P

It seems particularly apt to start this off before Christmas when I've got a long list of things to make for people and therefore many projects and hopefully photos to post! The header picture is from a quilt I'm currently making for my new niece Rebecca (or Rebeccah, embarrassingly we've never seen her name written and Mat and I are arguing about the spelling. I want it with the 'h'.) using Heather Ross' Rabbits and Racecars fabric. I'm using a very simple design from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts which is ideal because I've never actually quilted before! I still need to square it up and put the binding on. I hate squaring up - is it just me? I think I've got it and then I realise it's not square on one edge, or by the time I get up to the top it's not square... It stresses me out. I need some sort of giant square about half a metre wide! I know I know, good enough and all that but I'm too anal to let it go. Was it in Amy Karol's Bend The Rules Sewing book that she urges us to enjoy the process and the gifting and not worry about handing over something perfect? I'm trying very hard to become one with this idea, and I think that sometimes I might be getting the hang of it. I'll always be a perfectionist, but I don't freak out now if it's not perfect. I think that's a happy medium.