Handicraft at school

Inspired by the latest entry in the Guestbook.

To this day, I still shudder when I remember the countless, pointless pocket samples we used to sew at school during craft lessons. I don’t recall us actually being taught anything – we were simply given tasks: knit this, sew that, embroider something. The older we got, the vaguer these assignments became. What’s more, the finished work was assessed less by its quality and more by its size (a simple sweater would score higher than intricately patterned socks).

Every time I discovered a new type of handicraft for myself, I kept thinking: why, why, why couldn’t we have done something like this at school? Why did we stick year after year to the same sewing-knitting-crochet routine, with just a minimal share of basic embroidery, when there were so many fascinating crafts left untouched?

I would like to hope that if things haven’t changed yet, they are at least starting to shift. Naturally, not everyone will be interested in rarer or historical crafts, just as not everyone is drawn to the standard set either. But where else, if not at school, is there a chance to give at least a basic introduction to those skills that are so often on the verge of disappearing? Skills that many have never even heard of (and probably never will)? Skills that are becoming increasingly rare to even learn from grandmothers or older generations? And yet, it is precisely these skills that offer endless possibilities for creativity, self-expression, and creating one’s own unique style – at the very least. At the same time, even if only a handful continue to practise a particular technique after school, they still contribute to preserving historical traditions – and that alone is hugely important.