Elitist Crafters? (A wee rant)

[danielle_g]

My husband has the same problem. He can be standing in line waiting to have fabric cut and staff will ignore him or women in the queue will jump in front of him. He's 38 so it's not an age thing. I guess neither of you fit the stereotype  

[DorrieBelle]

I'm sorry for everyone who's had a bad experience - but I'm glad you bounced back from it ! No telling how many potentially good crafters those snobs may have ruined forever with their trifling ways !

I ran into this a lot when I mentioned my current passion, machine embroidery, last year. It's supposedly a point of pride which machine and brand you have, and if yours is judged wanting, well...  Oh, and here's a hint - if yours ain't theirs, it's clearly not good enough. (sigh) One woman of my unfortunate acquaintance paid so much for her machine that I'd have insisted it come with either a steering wheel or a roof, and she was quite proud of it. For that kinda cash outlay, she should be. But that doesn't give her the right to put down anyone else's choice. When I described my two-weeks-old Brother, she actually put her nose in the air, saying she wouldn't bother with such an inferior brand. Her cohort nodded agreement.

So I got mean, but in a polite way. I asked how hers worked with wood, toilet paper, cardstock, and on plastics and clear vinyl. I'd already embroidered on them all, and my Brody (that's his name, seriously !) worked beautifully. And if they liked having access to all those thousands of free online designs via the USB port  - a feature of my inferior, cheap ($500. ain't cheap, ya'll !) Brother machine. Mine may not be the most expensive machine on the block, but Brody gets used nearly every day. He's so easy and fun to use, I just can't stop embroidering ! I also mentioned that my Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son have taken to hiding their underwear, since that's about the only thing I haven't embroidered yet. 

They only talked between themselves after that, and I got a couple yards of broadcloth cut, paid for, and left. I hated myself for being so mean, but I needed to stick up for me and the next 'inferior'. Seriously, to each his/her/its own. What works for Julie may not work for John, and you're not doing anyone any favors - especially yourself - by cutting anyone down. We all have much to teach, and much to learn. Usually from a source you never expect.

Thank Everything I've never met such attitudes here ! Ya'll are wonderful - I don't post much because I'm too busy reading ! (plus I get long-winded, can ya tell ?     )

[TheMistressT]

Wow.  I can't for the life of me imagine why someone would care about someone else's tools unless it was a matter of wanting to give someone a tool and making sure they didn't already have it.  That approach sounds more like assembling/manufacturing than it does crafting/making art.  It seems to me that people who find the need to be superior about their belongings are looking for any way to feel better about themselves, even if that means through stuff they own.   It's like a lady's version of that Calvin peeing on a Chevy symbol a Ford fan has on his back window.  Sigh.

[KLKing]

 DorieBelle... Please post more... You are so funny! I love it that you dished it back at those
B______'s/they deserve it! I'd really like to see you embroidery on wood and toilet paper!
  And MistressT.. I haven't seen that sticker... but you made a good point.
It's great to have good equipment, but never put someone down in a snobbish way like that!
That kind of deliberate rudeness desreves to be thrown back at them.

[Wulf]

Wow, this really struck a crafty nerve!

The thing that I find interesting about the ageism described here is that surely anyone with an interest in this (which especially includes owners of craft/fabric/yarn stores) realizes that the re-discovery of handicrafts in the last decade has been led by people 20 and under. These are your customers, people! Not only today, when they come into the store for the first time, but if you treat them right, until the day you retire! At the same time as crafts have gone from lame to cool, the retail "industry" is drying up here in Canada. Chains have closed or consolidated in distant suburban "power malls", stock is reduced, and we're all forced to shop online. (I'm sure the excuse is that the stores are closing because we're shopping online, but I think the opposite is true.)

Obviously no one who knows how to run a retail store treats their customers the way people have been describing here. But then many store managers don't know what they're doing -- and many stores fail.

But I have to say that, as a middle-aged man in a Carharts coat and cowboy hat (we don't all wear "a pair of tight jeans and a flock of seagulls haircut"), I don't get treated the way Josh does very often.  It may be a big city/small city thing. My favourite fabric store is a local one run by a Pakistani family who are very sweet and hard-working (open late and seven days a week!) and who are quite happy to let me wander around looking for inspiration as I often do. And they never question my often inexplicable purchases -- at least not within earshot. But even in Fabric Land I never meet with anything worse than boredom and bad lighting.

The kind of snobbery, suspicion and rudeness we've been hearing about are something I'm all too familiar with though... in occult stores! I guess some things are kind of universal!

Wulf

[Maggiedoll]

If it's almost exclusively stores where this is occurring, I'd think it's more a money thing than a seriousness thing.  (Of course, "serious" in a store generally means "going to buy something.")  But if a store wants to sell something expensive, they're not going to be giving the sales pitch to someone who they don't think has the money to buy it at all.  (Sometimes when they train salespeople, they rationalize this with a whole bit about how it's mean to show somebody how great something is if the person can't afford it even if they agree that it's great.)

[KLKing]

I think more than not, this kind of rudeness is being conducted from other shoppers. Most store owners, and thier staff understand the importance of PR and how it affects thier business. Of course, there is always an exception!

[astrangeone]

Just wanted to chime in on stores and stuff.

I'm 26, although I look very young.  This leads to stupid suspicion when I go into craft stores.  (I tend to favour small/privately owned stores, as the stock is often better/fresher and you can usually find an employee (if not the owner) immediately if you want to find something.)  Anyhow, I was back out at our local craft store/hobby house (they sell model trains too), and the owner regarded me with suspicion.  I was wearing a backpack (I had school textbooks inside), and I didn't drop it off at the counter like I was supposed to.

I got followed around the store many times - with the owner making it a point to be loading stock beside me.  And getting help was basically a fool's errand.

I wish I could say I'm not going back into that store - but the stock is rather awesome and the prices are pretty good.  I ended up buying a #1 blade and some stamp pads.

However, crafters are elitist as well.  Most of my crafting materials comes from the dollar store, and I've been told to "quit crafting" because I use crappy materials.  (My response:  all of my stuff lasts...so?)

[Nostrum]

You know, I just came back from Spotlight today (a fabric/craft superstore here in Australia) and I had the crabbiest 60+ quilter try to push in front of me in line, and when I called her out on it she said "Oh, well I'll only be quick, I know what I need. YOU'll have to ask a hundred questions."
And when I asked her why that was she said it was because all 'you school children' are all the same, and don't know anything about sewing.

And then I went on a little rant about how I've been out of highschool for two years, studied Fashion Design in college, and not only own a sewing machine and overlocker but have known how to use them since I was eight. And then thrust my handbag in her face and said "Would someone who doesn't know what she's doing be able to make this?"

And then I might have told her that her fabric choices were hideous (seriously, it was this yellowy olive green floral, EW!).


I don't bother checking anything with staff any more. And more than a few times if I see a school kid trying to figure out patterns or pick fabrics I'll happily chime in and help them. Most of the staff will just short answer and try to get the younger ones out of the store

I personally think it's more important to help out the teenagers who can only afford $20 to make a whole project as opposed to a 35 year old who can fork out $120 to make something. The teenagers are the ones who'll become those 35 year olds, and if we scare them off, what'll happen?


And astrangeone, I know what you mean about "crappy materials". When I was studying fashion design at college, I found this FANTASTIC fabric on a massive dress for $8 at a thrift store, and bought it to use on a school project. My teacher told me I couldn't use it because it was "wrong". She wanted me to go and spend $50 on fabric off the bolt.

[lylacfey]

Astrangeone I own some of the most expensive crafting supplies in the market. I have an embroidery machine. I have several die cutting machines. DH & I own several sewing machines.

I absolutely adore Dollar Tree crafting items. I stalk Target Dollar Spot. Michael's Dollar Section, JoAnn's Dollar Section. If it has a $1 on it I am hyperventilating.

I will make a beautiful card or item with my precious Dollar Tree crafts and everyone raves about it. Some of these ladies are the most elitist snobbish crafter's you will ever meet. If it doesn't have Stickles on it or you used a name brand tool they will discount it as real crafting.

These same women rave about my Dollar Tree crafts, lol. Yes, I do own Stickles but I love my Dollar Tree glitter glue pens. I reach more for those than my Stickles.

I have a Scor-Pal but most of the time I reach for my Dollar Tree pan scraper to make a nice score line and crease in my cards.

Dollar Tree crafting rocks! All that money I save I can buy expensive tools.