The Sunday Times
12 October 2008

Cross-stitch and embroidery - with an added modern sense of fun - are a booming business, finds Claire Sawers

Over coffee and Jammie Dodgers in a Dennistoun living room, three Glasgow businesswomen are having a meeting. They have already talked marketing strategies and website maintenance, now it’s time for any outstanding business. Josie McKay, who runs the knitwear company Ding Dong Designs is thinking about adding a new product to the range - hand-knitted plates of beans on toast - and wonders if it would sell well. She already does a roaring trade in knitted finger puppets of Björk, David Bowie and Princess Leia.

Clare Nicolson, a textile designer who sells her bird-shaped home accessories to department stores in Paris, is looking for a good supplier of vintage buttons. Carrie Maclennan, an entrepreneur who makes luxury bath products, shares her tips on how to create the perfect victory rolls - the 1940s hairstyle that curls hair into glossy tubes on both sides of the head.

All three designers are members of a growing group of young creatives bringing a new twist to the arts and crafts scene in Scotland - and this time there isn’t a hint of tie-dye or wicker in sight. Scotland’s “crafters” are updating traditional techniques such as embroidery, silversmithing or knitting, giving these a modern makeover.

“We call it the neo-craft movement,” explains Maclennan. “We might still be making tea cosies or cupcakes, but we are trying to do something a bit more subversive with it. Modern arts and crafts don’t need to follow any rules; we make up our own.”

She got into the scene three years ago after attending a craft fair. “I was astounded and utterly inspired. It looked like so much fun and I couldn’t believe people were making a living by it.”

Maclennan is helping to organise this month’s Made in the Shade fair, designed to showcase the work of young designers, and nurture this grassroots DIY industry. From a shopper’s point of view, it’s a chance to buy something one-off and spend a little time wandering around in a 1950s time-warp. Maclennan has already sorted the soundtrack for the day - Doris Day, Elvis and Rat Pack crooners. Stallholders will be getting in the mood by wearing seamed stockings, beehives or floral pinnies. “Even wearing red lipstick for the day counts,” laughs Maclennan. The free event is taking place at The Lighthouse and hosted by the Creative Entrepreneurs Club.

It’s more than just a chance for Maclennan and friends to live out their 1950s retro fantasies though. The day is meant to show shoppers an alternative to the high street, where they can pick up something handmade and unusual. Among the wares for sale from the 60 stallholders will be frocks from Wendy Richardson’s Flossy and Dossy range (inspired by an imaginary cocktail party hosted by Audrey Hepburn and Clare Grogan), old-fashioned corsages and garters by Crikey Aphrodite, and a selection of “granny chic” soaps by Lady Wurlitzer.

Claire Brown, a designer who has been organising Miso Funky craft fairs in Glasgow for two years, will also be there, selling her “hand-stitched in hell” range of doilies and frilly coasters. On close inspection, the dainty cross-stitch spells out slogans like “I heart gin”, “What would Delia do?” or “f*** the dishes”.

“We might still be making tea cosies or cupcakes, but we are trying to do something a bit more subversive with it. Modern arts and crafts don’t need to follow any rules; we make up our own.”  

“People seem to enjoy the chance to get away from the mainstream,” says Maclennan, who organised the first Made in the Shade market back in May, which almost 3,000 people attended. “Instead of picking up something that loads of other people will be wearing up and down the country, you can find little vintage treasures, or lovingly made items. It just makes it a bit more special.”

Scotland’s craft community has been slowly growing for several years, with knitters, bakers and seamstresses spreading themselves like a patchwork quilt of home-spun talent across the country. Now, as consumers are becoming more conscious of the ethics behind what they buy, seems the perfect time for them to step out of the shadows (or the bedrooms and attics where they have been feverishly working away) and into the spotlight. Events such as Made in the Shade hope to make the public more aware of these designers, while the backing of the Glasgow Craft Mafia provides a network to promote them.

Despite the vaguely threatening name, the Glasgow Craft Mafia doesn’t go about leaving papier maché horse heads on pillows, or breaking dressmakers’ fingers. It’s part of the worldwide Craft Mafia Familia which was founded in Austin, Texas in 2003, and this is the first branch to sprout in Scotland. It was set up by a Glasgow jewellery-maker who had seen the Mafia online. After applying to licence the name, she and a group of other designers launched Glasgow Craft Mafia last February. “I’d read about the Austin Craft Mafia and their idea appealed to me,” explains Jo Gurney, who runs the online jewellery boutique, Stella My Star. “I liked their irreverent style. They seemed to have been born out of similar circumstances to our own; they had a DIY approach and had decided to band together for mutual benefit to promote each other and share resources. One of the few rules that Craft Mafia has is that all members must have a website because a key requirement is that they link to each other’s sites for cross-promotion.

Clare Nicolson, official spokesperson for the Glasgow Craft Mafia, helps promote and run the group’s website, whilst juggling her own soft-furnishings business. Her chintzy designs and digitally printed fabrics are in big demand, and she currently supplies stockists in Australia, Japan and America from her home in Dennistoun. “Working at home can be lonely. Sometimes I need to talk about collage and painting!” she laughs. “The Mafia has enabled me to meet fellow crafters and other creative people.”

Nicolson is taking part in Made in the Shade along with several other Mafia members, including McKay from Ding Dong Designs. “I was one of those Blue Peter kids,” says McKay. “I always had a box full of ribbons and buttons, and I was forever making something or other. It’s amazing to be part of this whole arts and crafts scene now, and watch it gain wider appeal.” McKay has a full-time job over and above running her online shop, and insists she is in the knitwear business mostly just for fun. “We all get ourselves quite excited before the events,” she says. “Everyone looks forward to the fairs, and a lot of our friends take part, so it’s a chance to hang out.”

Maclennan is hoping the second Made in the Shade event will be an even bigger success than the first. “It’s good to show people craft isn’t just for old ladies,” she says, adjusting the head scarf over her Bettie Paige fringe. “It’s good for the customer too, as they can speak to the person who made the scarf or the brooch they are buying. Plus, we have such a good time doing it, all us crafters always end up swapping our stuff at the end of the day.”

Made in the Shade, The Lighthouse, Glasgow, October 25 and December 6-7; wearemadeintheshade.com, www.glasgowcraftmafia.com