arliss:

morbidmanatee:

I feel like our economy has been driven by mass production for so long that we’ve forgotten just how intensely time-consuming making things by hand is. Mass production was revolutionary for a reason. It DRASTICALLY reduced the cost of things. And I’m all for making things more affordable! But the problem arises when people decide they want something handmade for the cost of something mass produced. People get an idea in their mind “this is how much x item should cost” when in actuality that’s how much a machine made version of that thing costs. Then they hear the price of something made entirely by hand and think “that person is ripping me off.” If you want something handmade, you have to compensate the person making it fairly.

This applies to repair and restoration, as well. If your Gramma’s handmade quilt needs a few threadbare squares replaced, or the binding mended, that’s going to take time, to A. find period appropriate fabric in colors that go with the ones used in the piece, B. Fit the patch into place using hand stitches that match the rest of the ones in the quilt, both in tension and in length, and C. finish off the repair invisibly, from the right side of the fabric rather than from the underside, as it was originally constructed.

This is all fiddly hand-work. It takes knowledge, some experience, dexterity, patience, and work. If you want it done well, expect to pay for the expertise.