Women's Hands Make Nice Work for Turkish Craft Site
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey 
on 11. 8.08
Call it Etsy East: But instead of hip young American artists trying to renew the crafting tradition, the hands behind the goods for sale on the online marketplace Kadın Eliyle belong to low-income Turkish women.
Although there is a strong tradition of entrepreneurship and self-employment in Turkey, the bureaucratic barriers can be high. Loans and training from the Kadın Emeğini Değerlendirme Vakfı (Foundation to Support Women’s Work) are helping women get small businesses started and market their wares locally and online.
Kadın Eliyle, which means "with women's hands," offers ordering and delivery throughout the country of hand-knitted sweaters and hats, home accessories (like the metal vase pictured above), olive-oil soaps, and other unique goods, most of which are made from natural or organic materials. For now, maalesef (unfortunately), the website is in Turkish only. Via: "Women creating work, local backbone," Turkish Daily News
More about crafts and crafting:
This Holiday, Pledge to Buy, Receive Handmade
Meet People and Make Stuff
New Green Craft Blog: Sew Green
Recycled Craft Competition at WhipUp
CSAO: Senegalese Recycled Craft Shop
DIY: old sweaters + scissors = new outfit
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