Celebrating International Women’s Day
Saturday 8 March marks the celebration of International Women’s Day and here at Craft Insurance, we thought this would provide a good opportunity to look at the various ways in which women have contributed to society through crafting traditions. Almost all of the crafts represented in our community can trace their routes back throughout the centuries and it’s an interesting exercise to see how your craft has evolved, often from providing everyday articles of necessity to a current resurgence of creating beautiful and lasting products in a sustainable way. Consumers are choosing these over their mass-produced counterparts for their longevity, ethical production and simple beauty. However, before the Industrial Revolution and mass migration to our factories and cities, many of these crafts provided staple goods for the community and much-needed cash for families.
Spinning, lace making and straw plaiting were all handcrafts which were passed down through generations of women and used to supplement the family income. In pre-industrialised Britain, families were often large and even with a small plot of home-grown vegetables and maybe some hens, one wage was not enough to buy family essentials of food, clothes, boots and schooling supplies. Hence, the rise of cottage industries filled this gap. Children were often involved in the production of goods, and thus skills were passed on and a new generation of crafters was trained.
Having a means of earning an income from home enabled mothers to take care of their children and run the family home alongside, though as any woman who has juggled all this in our day knows, this was not as idyllic as it sounds. Life was hard, and while there were arguably many benefits from living this way, it often meant that younger children were brought up by their older siblings and as older girls joined in the family cottage industry they might be less likely to go into service, thus bringing in a wage from outside, giving them the opportunity for limited advancement and freeing up bed space in the family home. Obviously, this might have been a positive choice for many girls, and it’s interesting to note that while life choices, especially for women, were far more limited in previous centuries, some of the principles on which they made those choices remain the same even today.
As Britain became industrialised, many families moved into the cities to find work in the burgeoning factories. Thus, the slower, less efficient way of producing goods through cottage industries was replaced by large-scale coal-fired factory production. While this brought to our world the way of living, we take for granted today, it arguably gave girls and women less agency over their lives as they were unable to grow their own food and run their own families and businesses on their terms, becoming beholden to factory bosses alongside their husbands and children. It also saw the decline of many handcrafts which had been gently honed for centuries.
There were, however, some notable and regional exceptions to this. For example, the distinctive hard-wearing, blue “Gansey” jumpers, continued to be knitted by women in the fishing communities off the east coast of Scotland to keep their menfolk warm as they faced cold and often treacherous conditions. Even further north, jumpers in the classic Fair Isle tradition are still created to this day, with the technique passed down through the generations.
From the mid-nineteenth century, the Arts and Crafts movement began to emerge and quickly gained momentum as artists and artisans reacted against the mass production of factory-made goods and the decline of the decorative arts. Names such as William Morris are synonymous with this movement, but less well-known are those of May Morris, his daughter and Annie Garnet a crafter from the Lake District. Both were inspired by the natural world around them, with May creating exquisite embroidery and Annie eventually founding her own textile business, reviving traditional spinning and weaving techniques.
However, it was not until the period between the two world wars that more women began to turn their crafting skills into businesses on a wider scale. Maybe the combination of confidence built, and skills learnt through working outside of the home during the war, together with the amassing of new ideas through an increase in global travel led to this burgeoning of small-scale businesses. These women were wise, savvy and hard-working. They studied well-established techniques and used these solid production methods but added a fresh twist in design to form more contemporary looks. In this way, they influenced the direction of future crafting design.
We hope you’ve been freshly inspired by these women who pioneered their crafts through the changing seasons of time. If so, you’re probably beginning to bubble with new ideas for your own business. As the sun is starting to make an appearance after the dreariness of winter, the temperatures are rising and spring flowers are cheering our homes and gardens, you may feel encouraged to plan a few in person sales events. If so, you’ll need to consider creative professional insurance. Creative professional insurance will generally include both public and product liability, although it could also include employer’s liability insurance. Public and product liability insurance covers you for any claims made for damages caused by either yourself or your products. Even if these are not your fault, the insurance covers your legal and compensation costs. This is not a legal requirement, but most craft market organisers will request you have it in place.
As a family firm ourselves, we communicate directly with our customers (no long waits at a call centre) so pick up the phone or drop us a line and either Sam or Naomi will be here to work out the best creative professional insurance package for your unique business. We look forward to to hearing about the next wave of crafting businesses set up by women with skill, perseverance, grit and creative flair. Have confidence in yourselves and your business vision!