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4u2 Smock is my dream come true. It has taken me 2 decades to finally achieve my dream. I do hope that it brings you and all the recipients of your creativity a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction.
About 20 years ago I was assisting a most charming and gracious lady in a very unique project in South Africa. The project was to create some form of employment for African women, which could be done at home, giving the women desperately needed income and the flexibility to still be with their children. The people managing the project were all volunteers.
As hygiene regulations could not be enforce food-processing projects was not possible for example jam making. There was also the problem of electricity – there was no guarantee that the employees would have electricity. Finally it came down to craft and in particular needle craft projects that would be possible. In the early days of this project the crafts tended to be fairly gimmicky. However as the whole system evolved and a retail outlet was attained in a wealthy suburb so the quality and skill level of the projects improved.
At about this time I was asked to assist with the project. Liz, the lady I mentioned, was introducing traditional needlecraft into the projects for example cross-stitch and crocheting. The most successful however was smocking.
Liz had introduced a range of adult’s nighties and girl’s dresses. These garments were very successful would be sold before the next delivery. It seemed that no matter what we did we could just not keep up with the demand. Being younger than Liz I was all for automating and doing what ever it took to meet the demand. Liz kept a cool head and simply reminded me of why the garments were successful.
Over the years I have thought about those conversations and have come to this conclusion. The garments were successful because they conformed to the values of traditional needlecraft. From that time I have tried to find a compromise between meeting production demands and retaining the values of traditional needlecraft.
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