...try, try, try, try, try...

It’s become too big to contain: the craft movement is busting out onto the streets. Delightful little handmade things keep appearing anonymously in public spaces - preening the mean streets with lace, felt and wool.

The gritty end of Gertrude Street became the pretty end when the magnolia tree outside Cottage Industry dressed in doilies recently. (Then promptly flowered – the only one to do so on the avenue.) The Toy Society is tracking the whereabouts of handmade owls, dolls and ghost fish that have been taped to poles, with finders-keepers messages, nation-wide. And there are reports of people returning to their parked cars to find hand-knitted aerial-warmers have been fitted.

It’s craft for the people, and, it seems, it’s coming to a street near you…

We’ve all heard how rare and precious the Nicholas Building is, but few of us have had cause to go inside. Much less to visit the Salon. This Sunday is Open House at a few of the city’s otherwise hidden treasures. Come Friday, City of Melbourne staff’ll be tidying their desks, as the impressive CH2 building opens its six-green-star rated doors to the public. And things might get a tad packed in the St Paul’s Cathedral bell tower. There’s the chance to see the bits you would never otherwise see of Melbourne Town Hall, the Manchester Unity Building and the Regent, among others.

Who said swap meets were reserved for people who build their own computers (!) and tinker with their car a lot? Clothing-focused swap meets, for ladies, mean you can walk in with an armload of unwanted clothes, and walk out with an armload of clothes you want. Around six garments is the norm.
At For Better or Purse, monthly in Fitzroy, some profits go to the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). My Sister’s Wardrobe is on monthly at the Croft Institute, and at the Rose Street Artists’ Market in Fitzroy (18 July); the $18 entry price includes wine.

It made headlines, sparked debate and remains one of Melbourne’s most controversial artworks. (And, no, it doesn’t feature a naked child.) Vault, better known as the ‘yellow peril’ divided the community, and the council that commissioned it. Councillors were split after seeing a model of the sculpture, commissioned as a centrepiece for the soon-to-open City Square. The why-can’t-we-have-a-nice-fountain-instead councillors eventually won, and the sculpture was moved in 1981, after less than a year in the Square. Ironically, Vault has outlasted the Square for which it was built and the council that shunned it. And after languishing for 20 years on a muddy patch of an unmade Batman Park its angular primary-coloured form stands like an older sibling next to a frisky ACCA in Southbank.

Those who take their shopping home in plastic carrier bags (rather than ‘green’ reusable ones) re-use them - instead of buying plastic bags to line their bins, say. But those little boogers used for fruit and veg are good for nothing. The checkout people tolerate having to corral loose apples on the scale, but they don’t like it. And they draw the line at loose unwashed dirt-encrusted potatoes. Now, there’s a locally designed re-usable fruit & veg bag on the market, the Fregie – made from coloured polypropylene that lasts a year or two. Buy them online from $12.50 for five.

Biddy Bags honours the original artisans of wool – the elderly. Those ladies who selflessly spent hours and hours crocheting for their children, their children’s children and then, sadly, for no-one really. Either due to age, location, the digital age or globalisation many older women find themselves isolated from any meaningful community. Biddy Bags is a social enterprise that connects ladies – young and old. And buying one of the hand crocheted clutch bags demonstrates an appreciation for the maker, and for our older generations.

The good people at Thread Den are hooking in and helping to spread the cause in Victoria. Contact them if you’d like to become involved.