Conveying the Quality Message.

Handmade = Homemade? No it does not, absolutely not. My background in manufacturing, specifically quality assurance, qualifies me to answer this question.

Speaking fashion, as this is my area of expertise, mass manufactured articles are made the same way as I make my one off pieces - just en masse.

Giving the Far East as an example, walk into a factory and you see people cutting the fabric, you walk through and see people sitting in rows stitching the fabric together, at the end they are pressing it and packing it. Same process as how a bespoke, 1 off piece would be made.

The difference is that all day 1 person cuts fabric. Another one all day stitches the left sleeves on, passes the garment to the next machinist who stitches right sleeves on all day. Who passes it on to the next person, who, all day does the next operation. Could be a bag, could be a shoe, a coat, jeans, all the same principle.

When you buy handcrafted, handmade, from a shop like Etsy you get the same as you get in high street stores but with the knowledge that its unique, personal, and injected with the creators personality, and you know that you will not walk through town with your brand new purchase that you have been excited about and see someone else with the same piece.

When you buy handcrafted, handmade, from a craft fair, you are not getting a sub standard product that has been knocked up in the spare room, you get a considered piece of creativity, the jewellery which has been painstakingly worked to ensure the findings are closed neatly and without error. A garment which has no thread ends trailing off, or buttons hanging off because it was made on a (famous saying in the industry) Friday afternoon, by a person who has seen the same item 300 times that day during a production run in 3 colourways and got blind to the flaws.

No, the item you get has been designed, cut, stitched with care, double and triple stitched on stress points. Restitched to ensure perfect symmetry on both sides on a constant quest for perfection. Labels attached with love as you put your name personally to an item with love and care. Pressed to make sure that before it gets sent out to the person who appreciates your efforts it is in pristine condition as you hope that is the way it arrives, and picture the delight on their face when they open their package.

This is not an item sat on a container for 4 weeks travelling on the water, then sat in a warehouse ready for picking and thrown down chutes ready for packing. Or been knocked off the hanger by the rumaging masses on a busy Saturday afternoon.

We are talking limited edition / one of a kind / hand made / hand crafted / loved and cherished pieces of artwork.

Handmade = Bought wisely.