Craft as hope: Embroidery, baby

One of the most rewarding things about doing what I do these days is that people often contact me with ideas or links to inspiring things they’ve seen. It seems not a day passes without me finding out about some new, miraculous and wonderful craftiness. It’s one of the reasons I always have something to look forward to, and feel enriched by, crafting. I think most people who open the door to craft as a hobby often experience the same fulfilment. I’ve said it before; craft is dialogue. But how about craft as hope?

My seriously clever friend Rebecca Huntley (click here for her website – Rebecca’s a writer, social researcher and Director for the Ipsos Mackay Report – she’s also a fabulous knitter and has sublime taste in all things) loaned me these shoes to share with you here from Embroidery, baby. I thought I was blown away when I first saw them, but that was before I read the blurb on the swing tag which I’ll admit made me a little teary:

“Every week, a group of ladies from Afghanistan gets together in a room above a shopfront in Auburn, Sydney. They chat together in Hazaragi, I make the tea, and we all sew baby shoes. So far the only word I can understand is my name. I’ve been told off for wasting tea bags, and everybody has made at least three pairs of shoes with two left feet.

In terms of glossy perfection, the shoes probably won’t be starring in their own karaoke clip anytime soon. In terms of ragged functionality, they’re probably not for the all weather mountaineering type of infant. And in terms of hygiene, they’re not exactly antibacterial (don’t even THINK of putting them in a washing machine).

On the plus side, though, the shoes generally tend towards ‘zest’ in the fashion spectrum, and the left / right concept seems to have taken off in a big way. But mostly, the shoes represent the hope of everybody in the group for the start of a new, happy, independent life in Australia. Forget persecution and flight, and pardon the Olympic expression, but these ladies are really going for gold!”

You can contact Embroidery, baby to find out more at embroiderybaby@gmail.com. Let’s try buying them faster than they can create ‘em… gawd, who even needs a baby to buy them for?