Katie Ingle, Craftswoman
I have a bit of a crafty head I suppose. I'm always making something whether it's for myself or presents for other people. I'm making a quilt and it has taken two years because it's all hand-sewn. I've just started doing patchwork letters and stuffing them to make letter-shaped cushions. It started when I was in school and I'd always make birthday cards. Then I went from being paper crafty to sewing things. I used to work in a theatre and we would always just make stuff from scratch.
With presents it's more thoughtful and a bit more meaningful to make it yourself. I made a scarf recently for my sister-in-law and I thought about her while I was making it. They say you should never knit your boyfriend a scarf. I suppose it's because he might never wear it and then dump you and there's this scarf now that you've knit that will never be worn.
But I did make a scarf for a boy and he did wear it. He put it away when the weather got warm recently but that's okay. He's interested in making his own clothes so I'm recommending a book called Knitting with Balls, which is all about knitting for men.
I subscribe to Bust, the American feminist magazine, which has a different crafty idea every week. I quite like the Martha Stewart way, things like folding a fitted sheet just the right way. Yes there is the 1950s housewife thing but I'm not married and I don't have a house so I'm doing it for myself.
I used to buy bags in Penneys and customise them. I covered one in pink J-cloths as a nod to domesticity. At the time I didn't think of it like that I just liked the pattern. I did another one with varnished liquorice allsorts. It was pretty tricky. You had to put them on a toothpick and dip them in the varnish and then find just the right glue. They usually fell off the bag after about a week so it wasn't the longest-lasting thing I ever made.
At the moment I'm making make-up bags out of zips. They can be unzipped at any point and they look very slick. If I had to do it on a day-to-day basis I wouldn't enjoy it. Just like I couldn't be a chef because I love cooking.
Katie Ingle is the manager of Rococo, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2. In conversation with Catherine Cleary.
