Are you ashamed?

I don't see why anyone would be ashamed of crafting. I think it's an amazing talent and people should take pride in what they make. I make a lot of my own clothes and jewellery and I love getting compliments on my creations

I have alwasy been proud of any talent I hate, be it great or small..as a child I would could not get any thing to make things with , so I found mud for clay, and cut off all the dress belt ties hanging in the closet for material(did not set well with my mother)
But I had a thing about things being even also..lol.I was made fun of when I was 12 becaue I had paper dolls, but I drew clothes for them that was what I loved to do the most, paper I could get alot of.lol.I dont know any young people except on here that do crafts, I tried to intill it into my grand kids when they were little , but they have no desire to do any of it now.But they love what I make.

I totally know what you mean! lol. Growing up I was more of a tomboy, I played every sport for my high school. Road motorcycles off road, hunted and did all those more rugged things. BUT I also made all of my formal dresses for the dances and cooked/baked, painted, made pottery, jewelry and general craftyness all around.

I found out though that if my friends found out about my crafty side, they would have TONZ of jokes and nicknames.(I was in highschool, so keep in mind the mentality of highschoolers lol) Only a few people totally knew both sides of me, one turned out to be my best friend ever (still is even though we live half a world away).

I think that younger people are probally a little unsure about admitting how crafty they are, some times people think your just cheap/poor if you like making your own accessories or clothes. But I also believe that being crafty is becoming more mainstream, thanks to places like this, farmers markets and online ones like etsy.com and the likes. Even guys are admitting how crafty they are

Yeahh I agree with you Pammerz. My mom's a bit of a... snob. And she always says things like "What? You can't afford that, so you made a knock off instead?" I haven't really experienced it with people around my age or when I was in school because most think it's really cool and they ask me to do things for them.

But I know that there a lot of people out there like my mom. And it's sad. If I go over to her house to get my sister or anything she'll pick something out that I'm wearing and will ask "Did you actually make that?" But with a "witchy" way of hers. And it pisses me off.

I'm sure a lot of you are like me and you don't do it just because you can't afford certain things. I like to make clothes because I really enjoy it.

I dont think anyone should be ashamed of their talents. It's a talent, not a curse.

I never got teased about beeing crafty, I got teesed for being a bit of a geek. but oh wells, it never really bothered me. I am just me an original

I'm not sure that they react poorly because they think it is something to be ashamed of, but rather because it is an odd pastime these days, so it's unexpected and they aren't sure what to make of it.
I find that people my own age, which I am going to assume is only a few years above yours, tend to react with positive surprise, like: wow! You bead/draw/sew? I always wish I would have learne that! What do you make?
So, yeah. Give it a few years and you'll see that their reactions become a more mature kind of weirded out

i think now people react a lot more positively to it that when i was younger. No one really knew when i was in school that i liked sewing, as i think like Darling Chelsea said they would've been thinking i was cheap and couldn't afford stuff!! Things changed in College, and i met a lot of creative people even a guy who used to sew and make his own clothes!
Now i make things as gifts for people and i think they appreciate them more than something shop bought as it shows you've really thought about them. So now everyone i know knows i make things and they love it!!

Yeah, well, sometimes I do feel ashamed of my crafting. Why? Well, here in Italy there's a lot of this "macho" mentality so if you're a crafter you're considered one of those women with a lot of time on their hands, usually housewives, all family-centered and "I-want-my-husband-to-be-happy-because-he's-the-one-who-brings-money-home" like. Crafting is looked upon as something next to useless, that only "useless" people (such as women) find time to do. A "true man" won't find time to iron his own blouses, let alone learn how to sew a button back on!

I'm a strong-hearted woman, I have a job (very fulfilling and very time-consuming) and my partner and I share everything 50-50, housework and bills included. I started to craft to preserve/alter clothes I loved and as a part of a main "green" lifestyle. I then found out it was a way of saving money on presents, especially Christmas ones, and if you're doing something useful the person is guaranteed to love it, especially as you put a lot of love and thought in it while crafting, instead of just going and buying something pre-made and standard.

@Darling, you should use this perspective with your mother: everything you buy in the shops is just standard and everybody else can buy/wear the same thing. Making things yourself is a way to ensure nobody is ever wearing the same outfit as you do! ;) If she's a true snob, this mindset should work with her. Ah, and also tell her this is the way all great stylists begun their career - by wearing their own creations!

Rawr Rawr said the same exact thing I was going to say.

Crafting is a gift, and if someone's ashamed of it, they probably either need to improve, or not craft. lol

I make tons of things from clothes to jewelry to soap, and everyone I run into thinks its awesome when they notice it and ask me about it.

I don't see how anyone could be ashamed of being a crafter though... it saves you money, gives you unique one-of-a-kind things to wear or display, and it's about the healthiest hobby people can have.

I knit and knit and knit. I'm not ashamed of it but I don't really point it out (why weren't you at the game last night? I stayed home and knitted instead!) because well, we all know how judgemental teenagers are, and I don't want to be labelled a grandma HOWEVER! If I'm wearing something I made, and someone complements it, I say "thanks, I knit it." and they think it's really cool. And I do show my closer friends when I've made something really cute, like that eggplant, and they're impressed. There's really two sides of it, when you do it, and when people see what you've done.

Mary, I liked that! I'll so say that to her next time she tries to give me crap!

I'm actually afraid to mention the crafting thing to some of the friends I knew back in high school because they may see it as a "grandma" kind of thing. Friends I am meeting now tend to be of the crafting kind in some way or another so I am more free to tell them things I make. Back in high school if I crafted I don't think I would have told anyone, and just enjoyed it. I sewed in 12th grade and it was so relaxing and I loved it. I wish I could have known more about crafting in my younger years, but we didn't have craft stores around here then so it just really never hit me to do it. Man I feel cheated. ;-)

I wouldn't have been myself had I tried to hide that I sew. I've been posting my clothes that I've reconstructed since I was 15 years old. And I'm 19 now. I never got any crap for it from my friends (as I've said earlier, just my mom). They all think it's really cool and want me to go to Art school to major in Fashion. But I don't know if that's what I really want. I mean, my friends usually come to me when a button falls off or if there's a hole in their shirts and my boyfriend has me cut the sleeves off of his shirt and then hem them up. I don't think anyone should be ashamed because I think it makes you, you. Its what sets you apart from everyone else and you should be proud of that!

I have been teased because of my crafting many times because people think I do it because I'm poor and can't afford "decent" clothes and jewellery. I just don't like the things in shops here so I make my own because it's ridiculously expensive to import clothes. All the clothing brands I like aren't available in South Africa and I'm not gonna pay triple the price just to get it here, I'd rather use the money for something else I want. I think it's stupid to buy something for a high price when you can make it even better for 1/4 of the price. It's not something that people do because they wanna be cheap, it saves a lot of money in the process.