Let's just make things

A touching organization and a heartfelt letter about what it means to make things by hand.

🧶 Loose Ends Project

Reader Megan* sent over a link to the Loose Ends Project. It’s an organization that connects crafters with an unfinished project. I don’t know how to describe it better than they describe themselves, “Loose Ends aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with projects people have left undone due to death or disability.”

I sometimes waver in my belief that handcrafts have meaning. Sometimes it feels like makers (including myself) are “doing it for the likes” when I see things on social media. Then something like Loose Ends enters my orbit and I remember that making things by hand is important. As an avid make-things-by-hander this sort of connection between an object and the person you are grieving is real. The quilts made by my grandmother do give me more comfort than one made by a stranger.

I had some moments over the past week questioning whether this (newsletter) was all worth it. I put a lot of effort into my weekly emails and sometimes it’s like talking into the void. There’s so much stuff coming at each and every one of us every day and do you really need one more email in your inbox?

But my mission is to help people make the things they want to make. Whether it’s to make a craft, art or dinner. Because I think making things with our hands is the antidote to much of the pain that exists in the modern world. It’s a balm to sit down and draw for 30 minutes and to get lost in a flow state. Connecting our hands to objects gives us pause at the checkout page because we start to think about where and how things are made and whether or not that object should even exist in the world at all. 

So, I’m definitely not quitting (yet). If anything, I’m back with gusto, to help you and me make the things we want. If you have any requests, please drop them in the comments. I’m just going with my gut when I link to classes or videos, but we can do requests. What do you want to make right now? Or what objects do you want in your home that you think you might find some joy in making. 

Basically all I want in this life is to make things, be in the water and spend time with the people I love. (Any overlap between those three is absolutely amazing!)

*Megan will be teaching an in-person embroidery class on September 21, 2024 at Tatter in Brooklyn. This is precisely my kind of class because we will be learning skills and not completing a pre-ordained project! 🧵 Join the class 🎟

A nearly complete curtain panel for my son’s bedroom. I can’t say enough good things about the classes at Tatter. I learned to make this type of bojagi curtain during a virtual class there in 2022. If you’ve been considering picking up a new hobby or skill, it’s a great place to learn hand crafts.

🔨 Speaking of Making Things

I missed this review on

Culture Study

of the book Making Things by Erin Boyle and Rose Pearlman and it seems right up my alley. I tend not to buy craft books because they are so often oriented around a handful of specific projects. I prefer to learn skills and apply them in my own way instead of following instructions for a specific outcome. However, after seeing the review, I would guess this has a lot of skill building that I would find valuable!

Redefining "Handy" and Learning How to Make Things

🧽 Ask a clean person

Could you believe my surprise when one of my comments was published on

Ask a Clean Person

this week? No, you could not! Ask a Clean Person is a truly magnificent Substack about… cleaning!

My comment:

I feel overjoyed at both your passionate answer to the sponge question AND the passionate comments section here! I, too, am a coconut sponge lover. But the thing that excites me most about sponges is the fact that my MIL cuts them in half. I started doing it too and holy moly!! They fit into glassware better and fit precisely in my hand. Plus you get double the sponges for the price. I’m a sponge-cutting evangelist! I dare everyone to try it!!" Do we accept her dare?!?

We're All So Worried About the Sponges <3

📚 Book to read: Piranesi

THIS BOOK! It’s so different and creative and will slowly suck you in. You’ll find yourself voraciously reading a whole hour after your bedtime because you just have to figure out what’s going on! It’s truly well done and refreshingly different from anything I’ve read in a long time. I can’t even tell you bone bit of the plot for fear of spoilers. It’s a tiny bit fantastical, but also maybe.. Not? So just dive right in and see for yourself.

🔗 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 🛒

That’s it for this week!
See you next Sunday,

❤️ Bekka

It’s no small feat to publish every Sunday while simultaneously managing my art career and taking care of a small child. I don’t get my health insurance from an employer nor do I receive the security that a traditional job provides. I believe in building a new kind of security. One that’s not reliant on a single institution but a dedicated network of supporters. Like any strong community each person only has to lift a small weight for the entire thing to succeed. Consider becoming one knot in my net. In turn, I can support more writers, artists, local restaurants, and farmers in their pursuit to build the world we want to live in.