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Vent: a customer at my table at the Baltimore book arts fair said hand-sewn bindings are 'a cute hobby' and I'm still mad about it
I had a table at the book arts fair in Baltimore three weeks ago, and this guy picks up one of my coptic bindings, opens it, checks the sewing, and goes 'cute hobby, my niece does scrapbooking.' I just stood there holding a bone folder. Here's the part that got me: he wasn't being mean. He honestly thought we were in the same craft group. I spent 14 hours on that book. Linen thread, waxed by hand. Boards cut on a sled I made myself. And he's comparing it to glue sticks and sticker sheets. I tried to explain that a coptic stitch lets the book open flat and that the whole spine structure is doing real work, and he nodded like I was telling him about my stamp collection. I know I shouldn't let one guy at a fair get under my skin, but it made me wonder if we are bad at explaining what we actually do. How do you all handle it when someone waves off the craft like it's a kids project?
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