Locafacturing

For some perspective - An article about Indie Maker, Rob Honeycutt, who started making messenger bags in his garage, and then moved into low-volume manufacturing.

I could yammer on for hours about the value of local making, even at their scale, but it's interesting to think about that point when Indie Makers make that decision to leap out of the home studio to the factory floor, and what value they bring to their community and customers by doing so.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/02/we-still-make-stuff-in-san-francisco/70946/

Sara McIntosh of Sara's Shoes and Krispy Fringe

This week has been a pretty cold one, even for Chicago, but I braved the bluster and hustled over to a new shop on Damen Avenue in Chicago, to interview Sara McIntosh, veteran maker of custom footwear.
Sara made time to meet me on her day off, and we stepped into Krispy Fringe, the hybrid boutique and workshop that she and her business partner, Kristy Kladzyk, just recently opened together. The space is a feast for the eyes, feeling more like a place for vintage collectibles, than for custom-made shoes and clothes. After oogling the shoes and clothing, discretely nestled amid random objects - from dismantled violins to a Bionic Woman action figure - we sat down at the workbench in the cobbler shop that Sara has set up in the rear half of the space.

Free-troit

Having grown up in the Rust Belt, I've seen friends and family buy livable houses in safe neighborhoods for pennies on the dollar one would pay in Chicago, Bay Area, or the Northeast Corridor. In places like the Ohio Valley, or around Pittsburgh, there are old commercial and industrial buildings sitting abandoned, some of which could be acquired for the cost of just transferring the deed from a grateful owner. A wealth of opportunities for low overhead lay out there in the places most people would prefer to ignore. I really enjoyed this story about a maker who became self-sufficient by setting up shop in Detroit. Here's the statement from her website about her products:

Cyberoptix Tie Lab founder Bethany Shorb has applied her experience as a sculptor, couture, costume and graphic designer to transform a much maligned business necessity into a subversive object of desire with her witty hand printed neckwear. Cyberoptix ties and scarves are represented by more than 200 stores in a dozen countries: from Fred Segal in Los Angeles to Libertine in Western Australia. A paradox for the times, Cyberoptix Tie Lab operates one of the largest eco-friendly, solvent-free print shops in the country right in Detroit while providing a seditious, punky fashion statement for executives bound to the neck noose, and a sharply styled alternative for those who don't need to wear a tie, but chose to do so. 

Her products are definitely cool - I've seen them in numerous boutiques in Chicago - but I'm curious to know if she's 100% self-sufficient on just sales of the Cyberoptix products. Bethany also apparently supplements her income with a side-career as a notable costume designer and musician.

Another thought comes to mind, which is a personal criteria I actually developed in one of these Rust Belt towns. I really like walkable and bikeable neighborhoods. In Chicago, one can find cheaper living or shop space, by simply heading into underserved or distant parts of town. Aside from the risk of crime, I don't want to go back to being tied to a car as a link to the rest of my life, and I also don't want to feel compelled to stay inside all the time, behind locked doors. I'm eager to hear what Bethany has to say about where she lives in Detroit, and if it affects her lifestyle. Stay tuned!

My Favorite Mirror

Here's an interview in Craft Mag with a couple that have been able to support themselves entirely on the things they handmake. At the time of this article, they had set up shop in Northern Indiana, and had quit their jobs to be full-time touring makers.

Since then, they've started a new venture, called Overdue Industries, making items from used books, and they have moved back to New Jersey. I'm hoping to set up an interview with them, and maybe we'll find out what they've been up to lately.

“Etsy saved my life”

That's what Yokoo Gibran says, now that she has quit her job in a copy center to pursue her Etsy-driven career of making knit scarves and accessories. But it's been alot of work: 13-hour shifts, and 50+ customer contacts a day. “this is the hardest job I’ve ever had.”

And she's not the only one busting her hump to make it on Etsy. Here's the scoop: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html

This article from last year is a good examination of the Etsy miracle and myth.