Tony Muto grew up on Nauset’s outer beach. “I’ve been out there since I was in diapers,” he says, and he means that quite literally. Among his baby photos is […]
Home / Making
Inspiration for the crafty, projects for the practical, spaces for dreamers.
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ONE FISH, TWO FISH
Creatures of Her Imagination
For a ‘shingle nerd,’ painting is a form of play
In her small, bright shop on Wellfleet’s Commercial Street, Nicole Gelinas holds up two thin pieces of wood: old shingles from Cape Cod houses. On one, a gold-and-black octopus sports […]
MEET THE MAKER
The Type That Lasts
On centuries-old presses, David Smith prints like he means it
When David Smith steps hard on the treadle of his Chandler & Price 10-by-15-inch platen press, it begins to churn energetically, like a many-appendaged ocean animal. The press, built in […]
MEET THE MAKERS
What Is Fashion?
Two local designers listen to fabrics and sew clothes that wearers make their own
Jessica Abernethy endeavors to be a good listener — at least, when it’s textiles that are doing the talking. “I always let the fabric talk to me,” she says. In […]
MEET THE MAKERS
What Is Fashion?
Two local designers listen to fabrics and sew clothes that wearers make their own
Jessica Abernethy endeavors to be a good listener — at least, when it’s textiles that are doing the talking. “I always let the fabric talk to me,” she says. In […]
HOLDING SPACE
When a Maker Sets Up Shop
A collective in Orleans invites everyone in for ‘low stakes’ crafting
When Mariah Fidalgo and her husband, Tom Rommé, came to visit her parents in her hometown of Orleans in the spring of 2020, they packed for a two-week stay. They […]
THE DRAFTING TABLE
A House Painter of a Different Sort
Marin Reinhardt renders her love of design in watercolor
Marin Reinhardt had always wanted to run her own business. For a few years, she brainstormed how to build on her background in interior design. Should she start a housecleaning […]
MEET THE MAKER
Making a Scallop Dredge, Al Youngren-Style
In the Orleans workshop of a veteran fisherman who knows all the angles
ORLEANS — On a rusty table fashioned from what once held the shaft of a windmill, Al Youngren sketches the outline of a scallop dredge with a piece of white […]
LOGGING IN
Fungi Are Forever
Leo Parent’s carved wooden mushrooms spring from finds on forest walks
Leo Parent takes a hand torch to the top of a large wooden mushroom, and the smoke puffs up, gray and fragrant. The torching technique is called shou sugi ban, […]
MEET THE MAKER
In a Wellfleet Workshop, Vintage Silver Transcends the Table
Alan Hight cuts, bends, and hammers silverware into jewelry
Sitting at a workbench in the basement of his Wellfleet house, Alan Hight runs a hand over a glittering pile of dozens of silver spoons and forks. He’s searching for […]
D.I.Y.
A Cover Story for That Warm Friend in Your Bed
How to hand-knit a sweater for your hot water bottle
I fell in love with my hot water bottle when I was in college. And I’m not your granny’s age — I’m talking about last year. I had moved into […]
D.I.Y.
The Willow Weavers
In quiet company, a group twines its way past snaps and kinks to sturdy baskets
On a snowy Saturday afternoon, seven women gather in a community room at the Provincetown Commons, picking up bunches of brown sticks from a table in the corner before settling […]
MEET THE MAKER
Steve Smith Throws Away the Level and the Square
To be a boatbuilder is to be part fine-tuner, part heavy lifter, part dreamer
Steve Smith disappears through the wicket gate — the smaller, person-size door built into one of the two much larger doors of his backyard barn. Then the large door swings […]
MEET THE MAKER
Steve Smith Throws Away the Level and the Square
To be a boatbuilder is to be part fine-tuner, part heavy lifter, part dreamer
Steve Smith disappears through the wicket gate — the smaller, person-size door built into one of the two much larger doors of his backyard barn. Then the large door swings […]
MEET THE MAKER
When Glass Speaks
John Best’s sparkling boxes are made of movement, sound, and color
In his basement studio in Wellfleet, John Best is sweeping fragments of glass out of the way, searching for his early-1900s optician’s pliers. He finds them: the business end of […]
