A Personal Reflection The True Value of Handmade Goods

Mother’s Day has come and gone, and this year it stirred a wave of emotions for me. It was my first Mother’s Day without my darling mum. I won’t sugar-coat it—it was a hard day. Even though I was surrounded by my beautiful family, who showered me with love and kindness, there was an ache in my heart that couldn’t be filled. Not having a mother is a deep, silent space to sit in.

Over the weekend, though, I had a powerful aha moment that I felt compelled to share. It reminded me just how profound the value of handmade things truly is—something far beyond what we see on a price tag or checkout screen.

My mum was always a creative soul. She may not have immersed herself in crafts the way I do, but she loved sewing and dabbled in crochet. My Nanna did too. In fact, many of my earliest memories of crafting are wrapped up in time spent with them. I remember sitting in my Nanna’s sewing room, fascinated by her button tin, while she stitched away. Mum, when she was younger, tried her hand at making clothes, and later in life I often saw her sitting on the verandah, mending garments from her beloved sewing basket.

Among the few things she made was a single crochet blanket. My Nanna crocheted a few as well—dark, plain, and, truth be told, not the prettiest to look at

Last year, while packing up Mum’s house, I found two of those blankets—moth-eaten, worn, and far from glamorous. But I knew immediately: they were coming home with me. I’ve started restoring them, not because they’re beautiful to the eye, but because they’re beautiful to the heart.

They still carry the scent of my mother’s home. Her essence lingers in their fibres. This Mother’s Day, as I held them close, it dawned on me: these blankets, tatty and ‘ugly’ as they may seem, are irreplaceable treasures. They are my tangible connection to two incredible women who shaped me—my Mum and my Nanna. In every stitch lives their love, their presence, their story.

And so, the realisation struck me: the value of handmade items has nothing to do with dollars and cents. It’s about the soul woven into every thread, the time, the thought, the love. These blankets are priceless to me. No factory-made product could ever hold this kind of meaning.

That’s the message I want to share with you: never underestimate the worth of something handmade. When you give a handmade gift, you give more than an object. You give a part of yourself. Your loved one will be wrapped not only in the piece, but in your care, your time, your love.

There is a heartbeat in every handmade creation—a warmth that machines can never replicate. Factory-made may be cheaper, but handmade carries something money simply can’t buy.