On fall mornings, Jordan Renzi can be found in the back of her truck making wreaths while she keeps company with the familiar voices on NPR. She works several jobs […]
Home / Making
Inspiration for the crafty, projects for the practical, spaces for dreamers.
Browse all Home / Making stories below or dive into a topic:
FIXATION
Rewirings of Things Past
A mechanically minded artist builds assemblages by intuition
Jody Johnson is one of those rare people you can turn to when things fall apart. Last February, she was one of the stars of the Wellfleet Fix-It Clinic, saving […]
DESIGN NOTEBOOK
This Place in Blue and White
Nicole Goveia captures local color in cyanotypes
Nicole Goveia tried painting and printmaking at school, but when she got a camera for her 16th birthday and taught herself the ins and outs of photography, it opened the […]
MEET THE MAKER
A Weaver Makes Her Own Palette
Trading sewing needles for the loom
TRURO — Donna McLaughlin used to think of herself as a quilter. The colorful products of that particular penchant are draped over the couch and hang on the walls of […]
MARKET REPORT
Brewster Wool Inspires a Procrastinator’s Return to the Loom
A would-be weaver follows an alpaca down a rabbit hole
A friend had a significant birthday recently, which is to say that one day she turned a decade older than she used to be. By “recently” I mean over two […]
STYLE NOTEBOOK
Michelle Silvi Puts Her Own Stamp on Block-Printed Textiles
A former fashion entrepreneur slows down for makers markets and finds happiness in the handmade
It was a vintage tunic that led Michelle Silva to found Amisha, the label she designs in Boston. It was beautifully colored in saturated hues of red and pink, block […]
MEET THE MAKER
When a Side Hustle Sparks a Fashion Trend
Provincetown fire hoses find their way into bags made in North Carolina (and back again)
Through the windows of the mud room in her house in Summerfield, N.C., Janelle Robinson can see her farm: miniature cows, chickens, turkeys. The mud room doubles as her office, […]
STYLE NOTEBOOK
A Light Touch
Making the ‘jewelry of the home’ at Nauset Lantern Shop
When Kelly and Chris Berardi found out the Nauset Lantern Shop in Orleans was looking for a new owner, it seemed as though destiny was calling. Chris, a builder, had […]
MADE BY HAND
A Makers Renaissance in Provincetown
At The Commons, works crafted in metal and stone, silk and wool, paper and glue
Richard Cuencas holds a silver ring in his hand. “This was once a fork,” he says. “And this is made with black coral from the beach.” He points to a […]
DIY
Jars Are His Jam
One handy model that’s just the ticket for summer cocktails, garden seeds, or screws
I’m judgmental about food packaging. Some of it I find infuriating: All that waste! You know what I mean: lettuce in plastic boxes, green beans trapped in sealed bags. But […]
DESIGN
Chad Jacobs Feels the Light
The founder of Bone Simple Design weaves together lighting and fiber arts
Chad Jacobs can’t stand bare lightbulbs. Although they might be trendy in restaurants and coffee shops as a play on an industrial look, he just doesn’t get them. “You’re constantly […]
OBJECT LESSONS
Mind the Raincatcher
Beneath a door at the Wellfleet Historical Society and Museum, an ingenious sill kept wind-driven water at bay
Curious objects that tell stories of the past fill the displays at the Wellfleet Historical Society and Museum. More are stacked in boxes in the basement awaiting the completion of […]
DESIGN
A Greenhouse for Gatherings
With help from family, friends, and history, a longed-for warm spot comes together in a builder’s back yard
Braunwyn Jackett wanted to have a kitchen garden with a greenhouse. But not just that. “I knew I wanted to be able to hang out in it, too,” she says. […]
TO SCALE
Model Ships That Start With Stories
A tinkerer and rocket scientist finds a craft that concentrates his thinking
Dan Sanders visits Ballston Beach most days, looking out on the vast stretch of ocean where so many ships, overwhelmed by nor’easters or shattered on shoals, lie with their ill-fated […]
MEET THE MAKER
Timelessness, Sculpted Slowly
In Sophia Dress’s woodshop, form and function occupy the same territory
On a tabletop in Sophia Dress’s Truro studio are about a half dozen wooden objects carved from walnut wood. It’s not obvious how to categorize them. About the size of […]
