Rip It Out - Lessons in Radical DIY

If there was a single inspiration for starting this blog, it would be 85-year old Greta Traub and her sewing classes at the Henry Street Settlement. No, I haven't taken a class there, and don't imagine I ever will, but there was an article about her classes in the New York Times in January. Simply put, Greta Traub is real DIYer of the best kind. She's been teaching at Henry Street for 42 years, but when the funding for her classes were cut late last year, she was told that she could keep teaching, as a volunteer. "I said ‘no thank you,’" she recalled. And, she thought, “I can always find another job.”" Her students wrote letters, appealed to their local electeds, and her job was reinstated. But what I love most about Greta is that she epitomizes the fiercest Home Ec teachers out there. Her three favorite words, according to the NY Times, are "Rip it out!" as in “...if you don’t rip it out, don’t say you did it at Henry Street,” she says. “Because it’s my name you’re besmirching.”

Suffice it to say, I am in awe of Ms. Traub's 40+ year work in her community. Forging ahead with a sloppy job has always been my approach, but Sadie and I take on more projects together, making things we need that I hope will last, I've been working hard at following Ms. Traub's advice.