Why I Call It Crafting, not Making

My day job is STEM education - specifically, Maker Education. Notice how I’ve capitalized that? Yeah. That’s because it’s A Thing. You ever heard of a makerspace? How about hands-on learning? Engineering mindset? They’re all parts of a larger conversation that’s happening in education spaces about the power of making stuff. That particular conversation is really focused on how making helps students “succeed academically” and “get good jobs.” Engineering-type industry folks are really excited about the research being done about Maker Education, because students who make stuff tend to make pretty good engineers, researchers, and scientists. 

If you want to read some of that research, I’ve linked articles at the bottom of this page. Honestly, it’s pretty cool stuff - participating in making activities is proven to help students feel a sense of belonging with their maker community, develop resilience and maker identity, as well as build technical skill.

So why do I focus on crafting, instead of making?

What’s the difference between crafting and making?

Hey, that’s a great question, thanks for asking it! Just kidding, I asked it. But that’s because you’re reading this after I’ve written it, so if you asked it, I didn’t hear you. Sorry about that.

The answer is: there’s not one.

There’s plenty of people who disagree with me, and that’s fine. Colloquially, people tend to use the word “making” to describe more “technical” fabrication processes, stuff like 3D-Printing, Lasercutting, Circuitry, Robotics, etc. They use “crafting” to describe more “domestic” kinds of processes, stuff like “quilting”, “crochet”, “painting”, “bookbinding”, “glass-blowing”. 

Do you see the pattern there?

Yeah, so do the researchers - and makerspaces are working really hard to fix it. Because as it stands right now, there’s a lot of people in the world who consider “traditionally masculine” crafts as making, and “traditionally feminine” making as crafts. It’s not so different than calling what men do art, and calling what women do crafts. 

It’s Not Just About Gender

But it goes deeper than that, as it usually does. It’s not just a matter of makerspaces largely being founded and run by men. They’re often founded and run by white men. Which means that they focus on making as defined by white men - who in general, don’t often get a chance to make stuff in their day-to-day lives. So the tools and materials focus on fun, flashy toys - stuff like resin printers and welders, things that you don’t need everyday, but are interesting to learn. And that kind of making is great! It’s engaging, and it’s a way for communities to access resources they would never be able to otherwise.

But it’s missing a pretty critical piece of making, and that’s cultural context. What does your father make, because his father made it? What repairs does your mother do, because she learned from her mother? What things do you make in your family or community, either as a response to a need, or as a celebration?

For me, those questions all have answers that aren’t reflected by the word “making”. My mother crocheted me a baby blanket that I still use to this day. My sister paints furniture, when the mood strikes. My partner uses visible mending to repair the ever-persistent holes in my pants. The best word I have for all of these things is “crafting.” 

I obviously can’t speak for people with cultural backgrounds different than my own. However, I can reflect what I have seen and heard, which is this: this dismissal of making as “just crafts” is even more pervasive when those ways of making are rooted in cultural context. If you want to read more about Indigenous Making in STEAM programs, I’ve linked an article below.

So Why Crafting?

I could have decided to call what I do making, and insist upon the legitimacy that the word implies. I absolutely could have done that. But I didn’t call my business Tabletop Making Co. I called it Tabletop Craft Co.

I used the word craft because I wanted people who consider their making to be “crafts” to know that they’re welcome here.

If you craft because you can’t afford not to, welcome. If you craft because that’s what your parents did, welcome. If you craft because you decided you needed to learn how to make something with your hands, anything, welcome. If you craft because you need your stuff to last longer, or because you want your loved ones to know you care, or because it connects your family who went before you: welcome.

Come craft with us.