Browsing by Author "Vaara, Johanna Maaria"

The aim of this study is to find out how sustainable craft is presented in Suuri Käsityö, a Finnish textile crafts and design magazine. Sustainable craft is a concept I developed for the purpose of this study, and it is based on the theoretical framework regarding this thesis. The activity of craft between a consumer and producer defined sustainable development, sustainable consumption and sustainable fashion as the aspects of the frame of reference. Therefore, the outline of the research problem was motivated by the sustainable point of view in textile consumption and the fields of sustainable fashion. This study aims to find out how sustainable craft is presented in the articles of Suuri Käsityö magazine. I examined my primary research question with the help of secondary questions: What kind of materials are represented in the articles? What techniques are introduced to renew used textile materials? Has there been trends in sustainable craft during the years between 2000 and 2008? I approached my research problem by conducting a content analysis and a systematic analysis. My data consisted of the Suuri Käsityö magazine's volumes between 2000 and 2008. Of all the articles published in the volumes, I chose only those that introduced used materials as a source to create handicrafts. I found a number of 160 articles of this kind in nine volumes, and the articles included 206 handicrafts. After this, I examined both text and pictures of the articles. The observational units of my analysis were handicrafts, and the categorical units were materials and techniques. In addition, I analysed the trends of each volume according to separate categories. During the analysis, I categorized different materials and techniques. The categories for the materials were old products, leftover material and wastematerial. I divided the category of old products further to the subcategories of old clothes, interior textiles, furniture and interior objects. Similarly, the subcategories of the techniques became remake, renewal, refashion, repair, decoration and hobby activity. The trends seemed to be renewing and reclaiming of material, increasing of remaking, diversifying of techniques as well as the variety of material. I discussed the results of my analysis by conducting a systematic analysis. I discovered that sustainable craft is presented through appreciation toward the material and usage of craft techniques in order to restore the value of the products. To use old products is the most popular category in my data. There is some variation in the category of techniques, but remaking shows the most rapid increase during the years. During the first years of the 21st century, attention was drawn toward the product's life cycle by renewing products and reclaiming different materials. However, by the end of the decade remaking was very well-presented, all types of material were used in handicrafts and they were made using versatile techniques. Based on qualitative analysis of the articles, it seems that product life cycle and quality, material, joy and insight and renewal of tradition are, indeed, qualities of sustainable craft.