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I'm reading Fabric of Civilization, and what's very interesting to me is the gradient of handmade to industrially produced. The first spinning wheel that came after the drop spindle and it's cousins, the first heddles on a loom, the spinning jenny. At what phase in the operation of a skill being automated to we stop considering it handmade? I throw ceramics, and have a computer controller manage my kiln temperatures. I throw my clay, but my wheel is electric. Telling anyone I could fire a small volume of ceramics at home with no fuel and no need to stay awake feeding a fire continuously would baffle most ceramic artisans straight through to about a century ago. The boundaries of technology and skill are really interesting to me.

My grandma made dresses for my sister and I.  I always felt so loved wearing what she made for us.  For me Handmade = Love.  Grandma worked in a clothing factory so for me that was work, putting food on the table.  What she made at home for us was, I miss her so much.  I hope my family feels my love in each item I make for them.

I've met several people (mostly men, which is a whole other aspect) who were positive their mass protection clothing was made by robots. They'd really don't want to believe me when I tell them it's made by people, often children.

My preference for handmade comes from customization. Instead of buying the least crappy option, I can get exactly what I want and need (er, within budget).

When I started knitting for my nieces, I told them they could have things exactly how they liked (er, fun the children's knit pattern book I'd just handed them). My eldest niece still gets a knit from me every year -- her little sister knits and crochets now, so she prefers to make her own. It always involves research to find characters from whatever video game she's into.

I love where you're taking the videos! It's a great style for the content. The only thing I'd ask is, maybe put the text cards up an extra second? I don't think I read as quickly as you do.

It's like cooking. anything home/hand made, is made with love as the main ingredient. We are nourished not only with food, but with anything that is created and given to us WITH us in mind during it's creation.

Your videos always get me thinking. Thank you. I wonder, about the Roll Royce, whether most people who can afford them tend to fully appreciate that handmade quality, or simply see it as a status symbol or a way of keeping up with their peers. I wonder if it matters whether we actually see the person making the item. I saw my grandmother knit, my mother sew. My husband sees me knit and is leery of letting me make anything for him, because it's "so much work." And yet those who see a cute pair of hand-knit socks but never saw them made might blithely ask, "Oh, could you make me some?" without any thought about what's involved. What we value seems closely related to what we've witnessed or done ourselves.

In choosing things for my environment, it’s less whether or not something is handmade or manufactured, and more about story and utility. I like for the everyday things I use to have interest or beauty as well as usefulness. And I’m drawn to things that have a history.

My aunt has made quilts ever since she was old enough to master the skills required.  Sometimes, for the “fancy” ones, she uses new fabric, but for the practical, daily use ones, she repurposes fabric from other things. For decades I had a quilt that she made for my parents when I was a small child. The scraps she used were from things I recognized, because my mother made our clothes, and she passed on the usable scraps to my aunt. I slept under a quilt that was made from the leftovers from my baby dresses. I also had a quilt that she made that was backed with pieces of a wool blanket that her mother wove.

That’s what I mean by story. The women’s history of my family is sewn into my aunt’s quilts.

it's a bit beside the point - but i've been thinking about how it feels to work with yarn that I've spun myself. I spin it on a drop spindle, not even a wheel (or other kind of machine). i've re-knitted the same hat at least 3 times wanting it to be just right, with no amount of frustration, because it's such a delight working with my "homespun" yarn. i'm one of the people who answered "less than 10 skeins" because i harvest yarn from projects that don't get worn.

also, i'm a sewist and while i have a sewing machine, i prefer to sew "by hand" for the pleasure of the process, and the look of the stitches. a line of "hand stitches" have charm to me. it makes me feel sentimental. sometimes if i'm in a waiting room or something i'll  examine the seams of my "hand stitched" clothing for a dopamine hit.

I love the deep thoughtfulness of your videos.

This was such an interesting topic! I feel like there's a difference, not only if it's handmade or not, but also if it's bought or gifted. When you buy a thing, especially if it's mass produced, as soon as the money is exchanged, you can just cut the connection between yourself and the seller, whereas if you're gifted something handcrafted I feel like it creates a sort of bond that stays, in form of gratitude, or obligation, and respecting and caring for the object will be an extention of respecting and caring for the person. I feel like when there's an exchange of money involved, either it's for goods or services, it's easier to feel a sort of entitlement, and less gratitude for what you receive. Not very well explained, I'm sorry, but I hope it makes sense

When i was in my 20s i read one of those penguin great ideas books that was 2 extracts from the work of John Ruskin and I was very influenced by this text. One of the extracts was called something like "on the Gothic" and it distinguished the role of the craftsperson in Gothic architecture from that in Neoclassical architecture. In the Gothic, the craftsperson is a creator, their work evidences self expression (i assume Ruskin was thinking of Lincoln cathedral, which i know well - the amazing variety and idiosyncrasies of the carvings and, idk, decor, is that the word haha, every piece of work in the cathedral sings of its creator, a glorious cacophony i guess.) While in the Neoclassical style the goal is perfection and harmony and this "makes a machine of [the maker]". Ruskin sympathises with the Neoclassical artisan, painting a picture of them expanding into a human once again when they get home from work. So, there is a kind of work which benefits the maker as self actualization and a kind that doesn't, at least as perceived by the viewer (or the consumer) of the work.

Not everyone likes Gothic style haha and I think there is something powerful about simply being able to feel the presence of the maker (as you said, we spend more time with the object, there is some charge about it) (i think for me it's the same kind of emotion or excitement as I feel about archeology, the connection to a mysterious someone). I remember in a documentary about IKEA, a designer was experimenting with this... In IKEA's combinination of Scandinavian design aesthetics (very much the Neoclassical of today hahaha) with efficient mass production to achieve accessible pricing, the maker tends to vanish from sight. So, the designer in the documentary (unfortunately I don't remember her name) felt that it would be nice to bring back some of the aura of the handmade and designed a vase which the workers in the factory were asked to modify by squeezing it slightly with their hands. The documentary showed how uncomfortable the makers were with this process at first, feeling that the perfect vases were being damaged by this extra step...

I suppose now that you mention it, I think I value the handmade items in my home most because either they were made by myself or by someone I love and given to me. The visible effort and time, as well as accidental mistakes put into them by people I know and love make them more valuable than items I purchased every single time! The distance between myself and the people who made the other objects in my home who I don't know, I don't feel as attached to and I haven't thought about that much until now. Always so much to think about with your videos!

In general I prefer buying items from makers themselves when I can. The object itself hasn't travelled that far to get to me, whereas objects purchased at a large store would have a larger carbon footprint in general. Of course this isn't always possible for every item that comes into my home, but I try my best! I feel like between the climate crisis and labour laws etc I hope to do what I can to do the least harm with my consumption. Tread lightly etc etc.

Also my skein stash has grown again over 10 because I've been gifted more!!! It is mad 😂😂😂 I'm grateful to be thought of and for the free items of course, but still!

The first things I thought about when  you asked what the difference is between the hand-making of the person in the TikTok you reference, and the hand-making of a baker or ceramicist, was:
- that it matters who's hand it is - a person of colour/the global majority is not viewed fully as a person in the racist-capitalist system. It's not fully a hand, in the perspective of the system, it's more like a tool for labour to be done.
- that it matters who owns the means of production - in my mental image of the imaginary "baker" and "ceramicist" who represent hand-making, they are not factory-bakers or worker in a ceramics factory, they are their own, they are not replacable parts of an assembly line, they are themselves the "boss" or part of a very small team, or they are a person doing this as a hobby.

I had to ponder this a bit. Handmade is not a literal team to me. I think I wouldn't consider something hand made if there is a production line involving multiple people and even locations, even though steps in the production line may be manual. Handmade to me has more 'from start to finish' elements to it, and also some freedom of design. We can discuss where the 'start' point lies: do we start from shearing sheep, or do we buy yarn. Do we weave a piece of cloth, or do we buy ready made fabrics to process further.

For the design element: having a pattern or instructions doesn't take away from hand made to me. However, if you can only put ready made elements together in one way, it's not hand made to me. If you can do it your way and choose materials, it's hand made.

Hiiii❤❤❤

You should read Capital to get a better understanding of the different concepts of value

To be the little annoying voice in your head...
Printed clothing and patterns are still created by individuals. Designed on a computer by someone who went to a design school. Most likely being paid significantly more than anyone who assembles the products individually.
As well as the robots whome assemble cars, bottles, toys and whatever else, are programed by people.
Robotic manufacturing is probably more separated from the final product. Mainly because the designer never actually touched that specific product. But because there are significantly fewer of them they are much easier to track down compared to the seemingly infinite monotonous assembly lines of people.