Ok this is an idea I had way back around maybe July of last year… I kept pushing it and pushing it, thinking next month, next month, and now with the move happening so soon, I just really want to do it, finally! What is it, you ask?
The idea is: 24 hour Make-a-Long! The brainstorm came to me when Portland had a 24 hour zine making event – something like, everyone goes to a coffee shop in the morning, starts a zine, and finishes 24 hours later. I loved the idea of a bunch of like-minded creative people all creating their own things, but together, and going through cycles of energy, sleepiness, caffeine highs and lows, creative weirdness that happens in tired states of minds and can be awesome….. and coming out at the other end with something rad to show for it!
So, for my 24hr Make-a-Long, the “make” part can be anything – I didn’t want to say craft-a-long because I don’t want to limit it to crafts only. I’d like Create-a-Long, but it doesn’t sounds as good… So 24 hours of making it is!
It’s happening this Saturday (April 10th) – but the specific times are up to each individual. Personally, I am a night person, and I know I’ll do much better staying up through till the morning than I would waking up in the middle of the night, so my times will be something like 7am-7am. Maybe you’d do better with 3am-3am…
That’s just if you want to be hardcore and go for it all the way – but you can totally jump in as far as you want, which may only be 15 hours of making-a-long (8am-11pm?), or 10 hours even (11am-9pm?) – whatever you want to do, it’s up to you! The idea is to have fun, not push your body too far and risk getting sick or anything, and to create things that you wouldn’t normally create!
That brings me to the next part – what’s the point? Well, the idea is to spend this designated make-a-long time making things that you wouldn’t normally be making on a weekend day. Either, trying new things you’ve been wanting to try, or devoting hours to things you normally rush through, or going back to projects you used to love and haven’t touched in years…… The point isn’t to sit on the couch and knit for 15 hours straight – the point is to really spend some quality time with things that don’t normally get your time.
For example, I made a pretty rad reconstructed cardigan about a year and a half ago – I’d just gotten done with some really stressful projects or something, and I decided to just make something for me, for fun. I actually devoted a decent amount of time to it and I was super duper happy with the finished result. Well, I think that was the last time I spent any time on a project just for me (I’ve made things for me, but I always rush through them), and that was a year and a half ago! Kind of ridiculous.
So, my plan for this make-a-long is to really spend some serious time with several clothing reconstruction projects I’ve wanted to do for so long but never find the time to even start. Instead of rushing through a few simple steps, I’ll be taking my time, doing it well, adding hand-crafted embellishments and time-consuming elements that I normally don’t even think about.
On a side note – I’ll definitely be using up some materials that have been sitting on the shelves for years, and plan to buy zero new supplies for this make-a-long, which fits in perfectly with April Stash-Bust! Yay!
Then, the other step to participating is to document your making-a-long! There are no set rules, but I do plan to semi- stay away from the computer for most of the day, so no blogging or other time-consuming computing. I’ll be tweeting throughout (hashtag #makealong perhaps?) and hopefully a bunch of us will so it feels like we’re doing it together… But the main thing, I will definitely be photographing everything I’m working on throughout the whole day, keeping track of it all, then doing one or several blog posts later about how it all went and what I made.
If you have a blog, you can do the same, of course! If not, you can upload a series of photos from the day to flickr, with captions. And/or you could post your projects on craftster, or other craft websites… If there are several participants, I’ll probably set up a flickr group just for the make-a-long… And then, it would be awesome if everyone participating makes sure I know – comment here, or email or tweet to me or something, and I can post about how it went for everyone and link to all the blog posts, pictures, etc.
UPDATE 4/9: I added another Make-a-Long blog post with more specific ways to participate, plus ideas on what you can make!
I understand if there’s little participation in this first one, it’s pretty last-minute… I’ve just had this idea in my head for so long, I really want to finally try it out – I’m thinking of this one as a beta test… see if it works, if it’s fun, and then plan a “real” make-a-long, with more advance notice, in the summer. And for the future one, I’ll make blog buttons and banners and all that fun stuff to make it more official! For this trial run, any participation will be excellent – if you’re busy on Saturday, but are free on Sunday and like the concept, you could try it out then just for fun! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments… Ok I think that’s all!
Oh yeah, except for something else – the winners of my 5 book giveaways were Rianaire, Nia, Kacy, iambunnicula, and mizzelle – congrats! (You all should have gotten emails from me already – if you didn’t, let me know…) Thank you everyone for all the great comments, I really loved reading them all!! Yay!!
Lee Does Stuff 
Sounds like fun! I can't commit to the whole 24 hours, but I'll definitely tell everyone about it & spend some time making along on Saturday.
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I'm in! I think. I'm not youngandinsane, but I'll give it a try!
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Okay. This Twitter thing just grabbed onto my daughter's twitter page, and she is youngandinsane, and so I will just post another way. Still want to join the group on Saturday!
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I'm in! I don't think I'll be able to do anything through the night (I live with my boyfriend in a very small, very old farmhouse- if I stayed up, it would keep him up), but I can certainly burn through most of the day. I've got a few ideas of what to make, too. I may require a thrift store run. Alas, I don't twitter. :(I've noticed quite a few 24 hour readathons ask people to make regular blog posts throughout the day updating the world on their progress. Nothing fancy -that'd take too much away from crafting- but little updates on progress made, problems overcome, or sugar/caffine consumed. I may try and do something like that.
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Oooh cool!! I'm in- I'll probably do the daytime like 7am to 7pm or something like that…! :)) now what should I makealong!? 😉
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Sounds like fun, though I'll be at work for most of it. Making….money. Would be fun to do it with a group of actual people, haha. I'll try to think up some unusual crafting for the evening-time.
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Same here – I'm waay too sleepy for a 24 hour make-along, especially one week before my wedding, but I'll definitely commit to tackling new projects. I'm thinking it's a good time to knock out some baby gift sewing, make yogurt, and try baking pita bread again.
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I LOVE THIS! I can't participate this time (I am trudging through the last week of my first half of grad school), but I would definitely be interested sometime this summer. Inspired by the idea, I may conduct a make-a-long with some friends at some point in the future! I will be following everyone's progress!
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how did my kitty cat get in your blog? that bugger. nice blog btw. here's mine http://www.foundobjectbeachart.wordpress.com hoping to figure out to follow your 24 hour thing… cheers ~mermaid jen
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I have a cool idea for a knitted bracelet. I would need the extra encouragement. Thanks for the idea!
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I'm so in! well i might not last all 24 hours, but i'm up to give it a try. plus it'll be a nice excuse to get projects done for me for once
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COUNT ME IN! My crafting has hit a brick wall with all this traveling I've been doing and I would love an excuse to really just immerse myself in it guilt-free for a day. I will probably crap out and sleep near the end of it, but I won't let my head hit the pillow 'til my project is complete. Now what to make…I have no blinkin' idea 🙂
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I love this idea! I got forwarded here from the craftzine blog and after reading your post I am totally inspired! I spent like an hour today looking at dresses on ModCloth.com thinking about how I could make one I wanted but how I wouldn't have the time. In addition to that, I just quit my weekend job and this is one of my first weekends off! It was meant to be, I think.
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EXTREME CRAFTING! That's what I'm talkin' about:-) Can I change themes during the Makealong? Like maybe do some baking and then switch it up with some jewelry-making? I haven't done either in quite a while.
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oh, i may just have to join in… what a great idea!
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Ooh I love this! I like feeling young and insane every now and then.I'm thinking of doing 9pm-9pm, or until I crash and fall asleep at the needles…
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Oh! I am in…I just have to figure out what project I want to do…maybe more than one!
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Love the idea, unfortunately I'm in the middle of two shows I made the costumes for & can't participate
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That sounds like so much fun! I will try my best to make stuff for as long as I can on Saturday. This is a fantastic idea!
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I'm so totally in love with this idea, Lee! And I love that it's 24 hours, since I have commitments most of the day Saturday, but I should still be able to carve out some good time. GENIUS!
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How fun! I have a pile just waiting to be tackled. Thanks for the extra motivation.
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Sounds great, I've got a pattern for chainmaille earrings that will be a challenge. There may be swearing though 😉
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I love this idea. I haven't made myself anything to wear since I got married 4 years ago!!!!Here's an idea for this or the next Create-athon. Utilize McLinky. Set a day for us who have 'em to blog about our 24 creating (Tuesday the 13th?) and then we all link in here. It creates a central spot for us to peruse everyone's blogs. It's lots of fun that way and less stress for you. We do the linking work.I am also de-stashing but not just April. I joined Crafting with Cat Hair's De-Stash Along 2010! http://craftingwithcathair.blogspot.com/2010/01…AND I have many a UFO. Wonder if any of 'em will still fit?Looking forward to this weekend!!
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I'm pretty sure I won't last for the entire 24 hours, but I'll definitely see how long I can make it! I have class all day on Saturday, so won't be starting till Saturday afternoon…
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A 24 hour craftalong sleepover event thing would be soooooo cool. FUN idea!
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This sounds awesome, I most definitely will participate. I will try and be really well rested before hand, though I'm very excited about it. Thanks so much for the idea and the motivation to make things! I'll be posting pictures and things on my blog at http://www.k8tyip.blogspot.com
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Ill try do a few hours, although im not well AND im supposed to be at work :S….Im running a 12 hour darts marathon soon… now that will be exhausting!
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I'm super excited. I'll be doing an ambitious sewing project.
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I'm in. This is a great idea. I haven't been sleeping well, anyway. This would be more fun than trying to get back to sleep. Nice challenge.
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You can make several bracelets in this time period. ;- P
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Maybe it would be a good idea to create a Facebook fan page where everyone could type there comments and participants could see how others are doing at a glance.
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Oh, how I wish I could participate in this! Unfortunately, I have a mass and two concerts on Sunday, and dress rehearsals for all, plus my brother's Communion on Saturday. I can't wait for another Make-A-Long so that I can participate!
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sounds great! Short blog posts are pretty much like twitter posts anyway 😉
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yeah, I'm super excited about getting all moved into our house and I can start having crafty gatherings!! the next make-a-long can be taken to a new level!
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saw this via craftzine a week ago, wanted to join but didn't know what to make… finally found something this morning – probably can't commit to 24 hours and not sure if i can get it done by this weekend but, i'm modifying a shirt from the thrift store, have started ripping out the seam. will blog at http://genuinemudpie.wordpress.com i don't usually sew so this is a great opportunity to tackle the project! thanks!!
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Oh this is perfect! This summer my daughter and I are planning on reconstructing a whole wardrobe for her. This Sat might just have to be our kick-off!
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