Are craftspeople also skilled DIYers?

Hi everyone :)

I’ve been working nonstop on our renovation site for days now—laying flooring, painting, assembling furniture...
Of course, I’d rather be crocheting during that time, but needs must. 

As I was struggling through the instructions for a wall unit today, I found myself longing for a crochet pattern—I understand those a lot better. 

I’m not totally clueless, but somehow I generally prefer a crochet hook to a saw, a hammer, a wrench... Not to mention the creative freedom... You can’t just put the boards somewhere else if you feel like it... You have to work veeeery precisely.

How about you? Are you skilled at DIY, too? Do you also enjoy working with a hammer and the like?
Can you love both, or do you think that as a needlecrafter, you’re not really the DIY type? 

Best wishes
Tina 

Well, I can hammer a nail into the wall, put together a shelf, and I can paint, too.
I don’t really enjoy it, but if I have to, I’ll do a little DIY.
I just don’t really like power tools like drills or saws. 

Well... I'm not necessarily skilled at DIY, but at least I have ideas about how it might work. Then I usually lack the “heavy equipment” to actually do it :-)

I do think that, as someone who does handcrafts, you have a basic understanding of other kinds of craftwork, and I’m always very interested in how things work. It’s often the execution where things get tricky. I remember a frame I once cobbled together so I’d have a slightly collapsible higher level for my market table... well, it lasted for one market... haha. The stability left a lot to be desired. I should have used thicker strips of wood and stronger screw clamps, etc. But since I like working by trial and error, I gave up on it and made hand spindles out of the strips instead. And that was successful... hehe

Good morning, everyone!
As for DIY—oh, oh—I’m all thumbs. I can’t even hammer a nail in straight, and assembling a wall unit? Never in a million years—I have absolutely no talent for that. But sewing and knitting: yippee! There’s nothing that can’t be done.

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone

Jana

DIY work involves more gross motor skills, while needlework involves fine motor skills.

I prefer the latter, too.
Although—for the first time at age 55—I drilled holes in the wall. I even used a hammer drill to help out a bit.

Hey there!

I’m a big DIYer :)
Whenever we have furniture to assemble, I’m the one who does it.
Painting, renovating, restoring… I love it all

Girls, I’ve renovated an old farmhouse

Yes, I do think that most crafters are also very skilled tradeswomen.
That’s certainly true for me, and among my friends, all the seamstresses, knitters, etc., can at least do some kind of craft work as well (though in North Rhine-Westphalia, knitting is considered a craft, unlike crocheting) :-))

Respect!

I’m not totally hopeless either. I’ve painted windows and fences before. I like making things out of wood. A week ago, we made our garden smaller, and I helped out—for example, by laying slabs.

Yes, I actually really enjoy DIY.... and if something doesn’t fit, I just make it fit :)

I trained as a painter and decorator, and whenever there’s something to renovate, I’m all in!
Assembling furniture is also right up my alley, so I’d say—YES!

I’m pleasantly surprised that there are so many women who are skilled at DIY work!

I don’t really like that kind of work because it often requires more strength than I have, and I often end up hurting myself. But I can do and do almost everything myself; only when assembling large pieces of furniture do I get some strong men to help me right away. And I can’t unclog pipes.

But otherwise, drilling into walls, changing faucets, removing and installing outlets, hanging light fixtures, etc. works quite well, although it always costs me a few nerves :-).

It depends. I really don’t like things like painting or laying tiles at all. I can do them, but I don’t enjoy it. I’m all for outsourcing that kind of work. When it comes to smaller jobs, though, I’m game. I’m really good at hammering in nails :-)

That’s so nice—so many handy women here.
I count myself among the handy women, too. Things like painting cabinets or painting the fences outside, or our hallway coat rack—I really enjoy doing that.
I even put together the storage boxes under the bed—I didn’t want to wait for my sweetheart to come home from work (I was supposed to wait), but I surprised him: when he got home, the boxes were all set up, and I was over the moon. It was a ton of fun. I also put together smaller shelves.
But when it comes to big wall units or our sleeper sofa, my husband takes care of that and I help out.

I used to live on my own for a while, and back then I had to put my cabinets together by myself. I even assembled my 1.40 m bed with a slatted frame all by myself back then—I had to sleep somewhere, and there was no one around to help. It wasn’t that easy, but I managed it.

And yet people still say women can’t do that.

At our house, my husband is the handyman and I’m the “Zuaroacher”—meaning the one who always knows where the tools are hidden, where the nails have gone, and who’s in charge of measuring.
Apparently, I’m more precise at it.
But I’m not afraid to pitch in wherever needed—whether that means cutting boards with the big circular saw or just pre-drilling holes.

And it’s true that people who do needlework tend to be understanding of DIYers. But I have to say that the same is true the other way around, too.

I’m a craftsman’s daughter and grew up on a farm. That pretty much meant that as a woman, I learned from an early age how to pitch in. I got an “all-round education” there.
Back then, it was more of a nuisance, and I wanted to sell my dad… grin, but today I really enjoy DIY and even tile my mother’s kitchen from time to time.
For this spring, painting radiators, ceilings, and doors is on the agenda. I had to put that on hold because of my shoulder and arm problems (as unfortunately happened with quite a few planned needlework projects too).