Years ago, around the time I was at college studying textile design, there were a fair amount of craft and sewing magazines around. This was the era of Changing Rooms and everyone was going crazy for the idea of DIY. It was a bit of a fad, and once the moment had passed, many of these magazines either folded or changed direction towards other crafts, in particular scrapbooking. Fast forward to now, and this cycle is repeating itself. The age of recession brings with it a new era of make do and mend, and along comes a fresh influx of craft and sewing magazines. In the UK over the last few years there's been Selvedge, Sew Hip, Sew, Making, and Cloth joining the already well established Crafts Beautiful and Sewing World, then most recently Popular Crafts relaunched followed by the brand new titles of Simply Homemade, Handmade Living, and Mollie Makes.
I'm not even sure I've got them all in that list, there's so many. And yet in my opinion, there is still a gap in the market. How can that be?
My theory is it's because for most of the magazines listed, I'm not the target audience. What I, and many of the UK craft bloggers (I know, because we've discussed this on Twitter many times) are looking for would sit somewhere between the giddy heights of Selvedge and the likes of Making and Cloth. I can cope with a few project patterns thrown in but it's the textile eye candy and inspiration I'm after. So many times, new magazines have appeared and made exclamations of 'we're new, we're different' but then a few issues down the line, not really lived up to those claims.
This week I bought the first issue of Mollie Makes. Cover looks lovely, they have indeed been checking out our American counterparts for ideas on styling. The inside is a pleasant surprise, the projects are cute with a quirky edge (yay, no tote bags or pillow case dresses), and the articles appealing. I won't say it's spot on (I'm hard to please) but it's pretty darn close!
The published crafting world is in danger of becoming flooded (says she who has just released a book!). It is becoming harder and harder to stay original, but there's still space to give it a go. It says in the top corner of the Mollie Makes cover 'for people who love the crafty life'. If they can stick to that mantra, I will be watching this magazine with interest.
The published crafting world is in danger of becoming flooded (says she who has just released a book!). It is becoming harder and harder to stay original, but there's still space to give it a go. It says in the top corner of the Mollie Makes cover 'for people who love the crafty life'. If they can stick to that mantra, I will be watching this magazine with interest.
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