Toronto Craft Alert is a mailing list and a blog run by Jen Anisef, concieved to build community among local crafters and people who are interested in crafty happenings. The content is mostly generated by readers sending in information about craft fairs, gallery shows, people advertising a sale, classes and workshops and more. There are also some features, like a craft advice column for finding resources in the city, and a “crafty crush” column highlighting things Jen really likes. On occasion there are interviews with people who make things.

Why did you start this project?
I used to live in Montreal, where the craft scene was a lot smaller and tighter knit, it was easier to know about what was going on. When I moved to Toronto, it wasn’t the same… there was a lot of interesting things going on, but people didn’t really know about them. I would scan message boards and websites. People were always asking me how I found out about this stuff. It gave me the idea of starting a more central and dedicated information-sharing resource.

How do you find the scene in Toronto?
Last winter (2006) I was just totally shocked at how many independent craft fairs there were. When I say independent, I mean not corporately run craft fairs - maybe they’re a little bit more church-basement style or geared towards an older audience, but still run with an independent spirit - not trade shows. I was just totally bowled over. It was a busy time for TCA, listing all those shows, getting all those submissions! It remains to be seen what’s going to happen this year. I feel like it reached an over-saturation point. Crafty-ness, as an aesthetic, is huge in mainstream fashion. Urban Behaviour’s spring window display was of giant scissors and giant buttons. It was supposed to be a girls sewing party or something. Which is pretty crazy, since their mass-produced clothing is super sweatshop…but whatever, that’s the irony of modern culture. So obviously that aesthetic is a big deal, but I think people are also becoming more ecologically minded, and interested in buying locally. More of the public is starting to be interested in buying in response to mass production. It’s more personal. There are a lot of forces conspiring to make craft - not just in Toronto, but all over the place – a more mainstream thing, and that’s encouraging more and more people to start their own businesses. Toronto is pretty open to design. I met people at the Craft Congress in Pittsburg – from Florida or the mid-west where people just didn’t understand why a consumer would pay more, even a little bit more, for something that’s handmade. This is less of an issue in Toronto, it’s a very fertile city for craft and independent design right now.

What do you think about the craft revival?
Overall it’s really positive. I think it’s important for people to start buying things that are made locally and NOT in giant factories that are producing toxic fumes, and also things that aren’t so disposable, like stuff from H&M, where it’s just the latest fashion or whatever. I do have a lot of mixed feelings about it, because though I think the mainstreaming of the craft scene is really great, but at the same time you have a lot of big companies ripping off the craft look. I’m shocked when I walk into a big store, and I’ve seen something on a blog post two weeks ago - like a brooch made with buttons covered in Kimono fabric - and there it is for $3 at H&M. So that makes me sad. In a way I can understand, it’s fashionable, so it makes sense, but it definitely makes me sad. One of my big issues right now is how people are getting into crafting as a business. I don’t think they’re getting into it just because they want to make money, (it’s definitely not the kind of thing you’re going to make money at) but people have started reproducing the same styles over and over, rather than producing things that are unique. Maybe they’re copying a style that is really popular – which is okay too because then you can buy a handbag that was produced on a small scale, instead of the one you would have ordinarily bought at the mall. So I guess that’s a good thing. But I do worry that the saturation of the craft culture is kind of dulling creativity.

What do you think the relationship is between independent fashion designers and the craft scene?
When I had initially thought of doing TCA, with the word “craft” pretty prominent, I didn’t define for myself what ”craft” meant exactly. I didn’t go, “okay, I’m not gonna post about art. I’m not gonna post about fashion”. I didn’t really think about it, to be honest. But as submissions came in, I had to decide “hmm…. Should this be on Toronto Craft Alert?” It came up a lot with fashion design, and at first I was a little bit like, “okay, I don’t know if this really fits in with what we’re doing, with what I want to achieve.” Recently, I’ve found it more difficult to articulate. I’m not saying that the fashion world is the same as the craft world - there are definite differences, like maybe the culture of competition. People work together in the craft community, and are more into supporting each other. But I’m not as familiar with the fashion world, so I can’t say for sure. I am finding that, more and more, there are fashion designers at craft fairs. They are struggling with some of the same issues: how to make a living without a lot of business support available to them? They are asking a lot of the same questions about their lifestyle, ethical questions about where they get their materials, using ecological friendly materials. There is increasingly a lot of overlap as people are interested in buying handmade and locally and so I think there are a lot of connections and those worlds are merging more and more.

TCA’s Top ten crafty things in Toronto

1.Textile Museum of Canada
Both traditional & contemporary exhibits are super inspiring & their More Than Just a Yardage Sale is madness.

2.Ceramicists
So many ladies doing awesome work: coe&waito, Lindsay Montgomery, Janet Macpherson, Julie Moon, and more…

3.Boutiques selling cute handmade stuff
My favourites are Distill, Nathalie Roze & Co., Token, and Freedom Clothing Collective.

4.Vintage fabrics and sewing notion sales
Always on the lookout at the Sunday St. Lawrence Antique Market and Rozaneh vintage sales.

5.Indie-style craft fairs
More and more of these popping up around town - the Good Catch Craft Fairs, the D.U.D.E show (downtown urban design exhibition), the M.A.D.E show (modern art & design exhibit), the Last Minute Craft Fair and the Sassy Little Craft Show.

6.The Paper Place
Great for supplies, sweet presents, or just ogling all the pretty paper.

7.Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
I always look forward to this summertime show for it’s perfect mix of art, fine craft and crafty goodies.

8.York Quay Centre @ Harbourfront
I loved to watch glass blowing there when I was little, and today’s artists in residence are some of Toronto’s most interesting crafters.

9.Local arts mailing lists
Keep in the loop with Instant Coffee and Akimbo.

10.City of Craft
My latest crafty scheme: a craft community ho-down!

Interview by Bonnie DeKuyper

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