self made woman
The Age
Friday August 28, 2009
How Pip Lincolne became the queen of Melbourne's craft boom. In her cluttered studio space, which doubles as a dining room, PipLincolne is sewing a vintage storybook page between sheets of clearPVC to make a wallet. In front of her is an egg-yolk-coloured wall hung with kitsch prints of Parisian streetscapes, a pen drawing of adapperly dressed fox, bright pink flowers fashioned from yarn and a bookshelf heaving with cooking titles from all corners of the globe. "Ilovestorybooks and I thought it would be nice to capture their charm inan accessory," says Lincolne, 40, admiring her half-made wallet and itspicture of Moonface toppling down the Faraway Tree. With its dose of Gen-Y nostalgia, a quirky aesthetic and decidedly handmade, "anyone can do it" construction, it's an object that nicely sums up the sense of style that has made Lincolne the queen of Melbourne's new-fashioned craft movement. While many Melbourne women (and itis mainly women) such as Lincolne have been catching the craft bug like it was swine flu, picking up old skills like knitting, crochet, doll-making and bookbinding and using them to create design-ey, contemporary objects, it's Lincolne whose enthusiasm has birthed a mini empire, with akooky shop (Meet Me at Mike's in Fitzroy), a popular blog, a weekly crafting group called the Brown Owls, a book group, and in April this year, a book (alsocalled Meet Me at Mike's) that packages up 26 crafty projects from local designers, with the look and feel of a Nigella or Jamie cookbook. It's been reprinted twice and Lincolne is now working onasecond book, on sewing, with a third, on family living, planned for down the track. Herdream, she says, is to make enough money to run a community craft hub. "There would be an exhibition space and a library where people could come and look at craft books all day and drink cups of tea, wouldn't that be great!" she says. While it's almost as if Lincolne has appeared, fully formed, to lead the craft brigade, it has, of course, been a little more complicated than that. "People tend to talk about me like I'm a bit of a two-dimensional craft mascot," she laughs. "They don't dig very deeply." Raised on a big bush block in Hobart, she recalls countless scissors, tape and Sesame Street sessions, knitting a wonky Barbie blanket, and the hours spent darting up and down the aisles of her mother's favourite fabric shop. "It wasn't ahippy kind of existence - we were a pretty middle-class family - but we were encouraged to be creative," she says. They moved to Port Hedland when she was nine, where there was "a rollerskating rink, a drive-in, a swimming pool and that was it, so we really were left to our own devices," says Lincolne. "I made a lot of clothes with my mum because there were no boutiques and she liked to be fashionable." The family moved again, to Canberra, when she was 15, and Lincolne started sewing copies of the fashions she saw on the streets. By 17, she'd shifted by herself to Melbourne, onapublicservice ticket as a typist, and was pregnant with her daughter, Karinya, not long after. "I suppose it sounds horrifying but to me it was awonderful thing," she says. "I was in a steady relationship and we stuck together for a few years. I did think about going to uni when Rin was little, but only because Iwas worried people wouldn't think I was smart. ThenIrealised it didn't really matter what people thought; I would learn onmy feet and teach myself."So single mum Lincolne bought into her first business, a cafe now called Blue Heaven on Bridge Road, where she cooked and met her current partner, Cam Steel, a customer who ran a clothing store nearby. Lincolne later sold her share in the cafe and had two boys, Max, now 13, and Ari, 9. She lived above Steel's shop. "It was a skatewear franchise then and it was no fun; it just wasn't relevant to our lives," she says. "So I started to sneakily transform the business into something else." First, she introduced a vintage lamp, then a bunch of storybook-inspired brooches; when word got out, home-crafters from all over town were trickling in with quirky wares to stock. "We were very early with the whole craft thing and people really picked up on it," she says. "People would walk in and say 'this is so weird!' and 'what the hell are you doing?' and then they talked about it and wrote about it and it really grew from there." Australian magazine Frankie has been a big supporter, showing young people making craft objects in the style usually associated with high fashion and design; recently, even The New York Times reportedly visited Fitzroy for astory on Melbourne's craft boom. "People want something that has their name and their finger smudge on it where they stuffed it up; they don't want mass-produced crap," says Lincolne. "It's about rediscovering links to simple pleasures we've turned our backs on. Often we idealise our childhood and craft is all tied up withthat sort of stuff; it's like home-baking and grandma making socks for you in thedead of winter. It's more than a movement; it's a feeling." (m)evolution of craft2003 Chicago-based knitter Debbie Stoller publishes Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, credited with starting a wave ofsocial knitting groups. March 2003 TheAge publishes a story onStitch and Bitch, aknitting night held atRevolver nightclub inPrahran. September 2003 Thefirst Annual Renegade Craft Fair, linked with alternative music, is held in Wicker Park, Chicago. 2004 Pip Lincolne opens first Meet Me atMike's.2005 Online store for selling craft www.etsy.com is founded in the US (Australian online craft store madeit.com.au opens in July 2007). 2006 Sublime Stitching, a book by US-based Jenny Hart shows how to embroider tattoo motifs and Japanese-style cutesy designs. 2008 Penelope Durston's store, Cottage Industry, opens in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.Pip Lincolne starts skill-sharing network Brown Owls. 2009 Faythe Levine's documentary Handmade Nation premieres in Australia atthe Stitches and Craft Show in Melbourne. getting the goods Where to find materials and inspirationSHOPSArtisan Books Specialist in craft books and periodicals.159 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 9416 4805Deans Art Loads of materials including Gocco printing and screen printing supplies. 188 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 9419 6633Morris and Sons New, good for knitting and crochet, needlecraft and embroidery. Level 1, 234 Collins Street, Melbourne, 9654 0888Patchwork on Central ParkBoutique fabrics for quilt-making, clothes and bags. 148 Burke Road, East Malvern, 9885 4480 Thread Den Fabrics and sewing classes. Level 1, 16 Errol Street, North Melbourne, 9329 5305Amite Textiles Funky fabrics, patchwork kits, books and quilting accessories. 281 Centre Road, Bentleigh, 9557 8551Wool Baa Shelves of colourful yarn for knitters and crocheters, free weekly knitting groups. 124 Bridport Street, Albert Park, 9690 6633AK Traditions Handspun yarns, workshops on hand-felting, dolls and rustic-looking scarves. 524 Malvern Road, Prahran, 9533 7576Wondoflex Craft Centre Yarns, spinning and weaving supplies. 1353 Malvern Road, Malvern, 9822 6231WEBSITEScraftcitymelbourne.blogspot.comMelbourne-focused craft blog withprofiles, resources and directories for crafternoons (craft€‘based get-togethers).www.craftvic.asn.au Check here for exhibitions of Australian contemporary craft at city gallery Craft Victoria, plus craft-related festivals, markets and educational excursions. www.etsy.com US-based site set up so crafters around the worldcan sell their wares online. Alsohosts live workshops and forums for craft discussion. www.livingcreatively.com.au Profiles ofdesigners and craft community event listings from around Australia.www.loobylu.com By pioneering Australian craft blogger and illustrator Claire Robertson.www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com Pip Lincolne's feel-good blog about craft, recipes and whatever else inspires her.www.mixtapezine.blogspot.com By the creator of Mixtape, aMelbourne-based craft zine.www.whipup.net Two Australian women collate craft tutorials fromaround the world. GROUPSBrown Owls Pip Lincolne's group meets most Mondays at the Fitzroy Learning Network. Casual attendance spots are still available. http://brownowls-members.blogspot.com/ The Craft Cartel An edgier, more anarchic spin on craft. May include information on impromptu craft swap-markets and gig listings for off-beat events. Recent projects at its monthly craft night, Trashbag Rehab, have included crocheting dynamite sticks (in protest at the Gunns Pulp Mill in Tasmania). www.craftcartel.comHandweavers and Spinners GuildOlder organisation with forums for discussion, exhibition and learning. home.vicnet.net.au/~handspin Khaotic Kraft Kuties Melbourne-based mostly-girl craft collective founded by pop artist and Outre Gallery curator, Gemma Jones. kaotickraftkuties.blogspot.com Stitch 'n Bitch Inspired by theoriginal Chicago Stitch 'n Bitch group, several Melbourne-based troupesmeet once a month at cafesand bars across the city toshare projects, knit, stitch and chew the fat. groups.yahoo.com/group/snb-melbourne10 CRAFTS TO TRY1. Sewing Kids can start with an easy bag from a favourite piece of cloth.2. Dollmaking AK Traditions in Prahran hasexcellent all-in-one kits like this one.3. Screen printing Put your own kooky design onto anything...4. Brooches An easy way to start making jewellery.5 and 6. Softies Start with a blob with eyes! See www.softiemaking.com7. Quilting Old-school craft hijacked by bright, modern designs.8. Badges Simple to make. Visit Sticky Institute, Campbell Parade subway under Flinders Street. iCampbelArcadesubway under Street.9. Letterpress Very low-tech, try it through www.girlprinter.com/blog10 and 11. Crochet Or the Japanese version, amigurumi, the art of making toys.12. Bookbinding Try taking lessons at the Melbourne School of Bookbinding.
© 2009 The Age