Western-Wear Designer ‘Jukebox Mama’ Paints with Thread
Sarie Gessner—known for her Western-inspired suits, custom embroidery, and passion for music—is dressing some of country and Americana’s brightest stars for the stage.
Regalia for All Seasons
Mike Dangeli’s Chilliwack home is a gallery of First Nations art. Every wall and shelf showcases tribal regalia carved, painted, and/or woven by Dangeli himself, one of his sons, or another Pacific Northwest artist he admires. His own output is enormous; at one point Dangeli was producing 40 to 60 major pieces a month. “There…
Listen to “Chemicals in our Clothes: A Conversation with Sustainable Fashion Expert Alden Wicker”
Have you ever opened a brand-new package of clothing and been hit with a strong whiff of petroleum? Journalist Alden Wicker took a deep dive into the chemicals commonly used by the fashion industry in her new book, “To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion is Making Us Sick—and How We Can Fight Back.” Craftsmanship Magazine…
Cuba’s Madres (y Padres) of Invention
Since the communist revolution of 1959, Cuba has been on an economic rollercoaster. The country has lurched from dependency to self-sufficiency, in a bubble of isolation where technological time stopped. Our correspondent, who in 2016 visited the artists and self-taught engineers who have kept Cuba running throughout its bizarre ride, updates us on Cuba’s declining fortunes in the years since.
Written and photographed by ROB WATERS
Mending: An Ancient Craft for Modern Times
Traditional DIY basics like clothing repair have become covetable knowledge again. With the fast-fashion machine on notice for its abysmal climate footprint, could this be mending’s big moment?
Made in Prison: A Craftsmanship Mini-Documentary
Inside some Italian prisons, female inmates are using discarded fabrics to handcraft a range of goods to sell, and learning valuable job skills—literally stitching up their lives behind bars.
Story and film by LUISA GROSSO
Watch “Made in Prison”
Inside some Italian prisons, female inmates are using discarded fabrics to handcraft a range of goods to sell. By learning valuable job skills and life skills, these women are literally stitching up their lives behind bars.
The American Folk School Movement and ‘Slow Economics’
Rather than looking to big corporate employers like Walmart for economic stability, could more rural communities in the U.S. welcome a slower growing, more sustainable economic partner?
Berea College Students Craft a Bright Future, Tuition-Free
As U.S. student debt balloons to $1.75 trillion nationally, calls for loan forgiveness and low-cost or free college tuition programs are getting louder. Sound impossible? Kentucky’s Berea College has been tuition-free since 1892 — and offers an education in craftsmanship to boot.
