How crafty!

There is something under my desk that I am superlatively proud of. It is a sewing machine. My boyfriend bought it for me for our anniversary in November and I am more in love with it than ever. She is a Bernina, her name is Bernette and she has already churned out a number of mangled calico monstrosities, some passably altered shirts and an extremely angry bear.

Not everyone shares my excitement about Bernette. When I bounced into work the day after receiving her, the response to my jubilant, "Andrew bought me a sewing machine!!" was mostly along the lines of, "Um, ok?"

But some people understood completely how thrilled I was. Both my mum and grandma gave cries of delight, but more importantly, so did some of my bestest friends.

It's true! Craft is no longer the sole domain of the elderly. Young, hip, cool people who appreciate the joy of hours spent in Lincraft and Spotlight poring over gaberdine and muslin, who knit beanies on the bus and sell bizarre stuffed toys from stalls at the Valley Markets are, increasingly, everywhere.

This young-person craftiness is driven, unsurprisingly, by a thriving online community. See ThreadBanger.com: an amazing, bespectacled bunch who recently hit 100 weeks of flourishing internet televisation, covering everything from crotcheted hats to spaceman hoodies, and once featuring long-time idol of mine, Leslie Hall (memo to me: make a gem sweater). There are also a number of outstanding DIY blogs: Wardrobe Refashion, DesignSponge, and Miss Malaprop, to name but a few, all contributing to the bajillion ideas currently orbiting Bernette. Magazines like Australian local Frankie also regularly run craft project ideas - in fact, the first thing I ever sewed (all by hand, too!) was the sock-cat from Frankie for my boyfriend, back when we were courting (ha!).

The Craft is gaining momentum outside the actual crafting population, too. The rise in popularity of websites like Etsy.com has put the spotlight of Cool on everything handmade. If you're selling on Etsy, it's a neat way to earn yourself some pocket money and praise for all your hard work, and for some, a step up to bigger things. And if you are an indie dude or chick looking for obscurity of apparel or accessories, what's better than having something handmade by a dude in Arkansas or a lady in Perth? Then there's the added bonus of ensured sweatshop-free labour, supporting small businesses and dealing directly with suppliers - no middle men to make the economic melt-down any worse. Handmade has an awful lot of appeal.

Because people - especially young people, despite what older generations might say about Gen Y - really are concerned about where they source their goods. This is part of the reason Americal Apparel is so vastly popular: despite multiple sexual harrassment suits against the CEO, AA guarantees the welfare of their staff, supplies health insurance even if they're only part time, and makes all of their stock on the West Coast of the USA - people love that. Angelina Jolie and the do-the-world-some-good public attitude of her and her ilk have influenced enough people that the boycotting of sweatshops, child labour and unethical treatment of animals is commonplace. The DIY movement is an extension of that.

And In These Times Of Economic Crisis, making things yourself is extremely cost-effective. Total cost of high-waisted pants whipped up on sewing machine: $30. Identical twins at Myer: $150+. There's also such a sense of satisfaction about making your own stuff, a self-sufficient, if superficial, feeling that immediately translates to smugness as soon as someone shrieks, "Omigah, where did you get your pants?!" For me, the guarantee of individuality is worth the swearing, yelling and stabbed fingers as I clumsily wrestle the ever-patient Bernette, as is finally being able to turn all those op-shop finds that Weren't Quite Right into something Simply Wonderful.

I'm on the tail end of the crafting movement, if I am to be entirely honest. While I absorb more than my brain can handle from the blogs and gawk longingly at my favourite Etsy shops (if anyone wants to buy me anything, anything at all, from these sweethearts, please feel free), I'm new to all of this. I can only knit in a straight line, inevitably smudge fabric paint and burn myself on hot glue guns, and I don't know what a zipper-foot looks like. But my gosh, I love it. DIY is practical, cheap, exciting, creative, and a fabulous community to be a part of, even from the edges. So don't raise your eyebrows when I wax lyrical about Bernette. She means a lot to me.

pendant picture from COGnitivecreations