Molly Made
Molly White of Woody Point, Newfoundland wasn't born with knitting needles in her hands - but she was pretty close. âIâve been knitting since I canât remember,â says Molly. âMom says I was around four or five when I took an interest in knitting and crocheting, watching her.âAs she got older, Mollyâs artistic pursuits grew and evolved with her. In addition to knitting and crocheting, she also mastered embroidery, weaving and felting - and studied visual arts and dressmaking/tailoring at the Bay St. George Community College in Stephenville (now College of the North Atlantic).Then back in 2000, an opportunity came up for Molly to try her hand at a craft sheâd never practised before: rug hooking. She enrolled in a beginner class and says she took to it from the start. Molly at work âItâs like someone that can cook can cook, and people that canât cook canât cook - and Iâm one of the ones that canât cook,â says Molly, laughing. âBut textiles, it just seems like it comes natural.â Originally a practical pastime in Newfoundland and Labrador, years ago women made the cosy mats - using recycled scraps of material - to cover their cold, bare floors. Despite its long history, growing up Molly says she never witnessed anyone in her family practising the craft. âIt skipped my motherâs generation,â says Molly. âWith my motherâs generation the cushion floor came into their lives, so they didnât need the mats to cover the floors anymore.âIn recent decades, Molly and other local artists have revived the craft by turning it into an art form that typically adorns walls rather than floors.Despite how the rugsâ function may have changed over the years, the process is still very much the same as it was generations ago. Typically, hooking a rug involves drawing a design onto a backing (usually burlap, rug warp or linen) and filling it in using the material of your choice: strips of wool fabric, T-shirt scraps, pantyhose - whateverâs available. âJust go down with your hook and pull up loops, so loops is what forms your pattern,â explains Molly. Having mastered the skill, Molly now enjoys mixing mediums. In a single rug, for instance, Molly often incorporates embroidery stitches alongside the traditional hooking technique, producing a truly dynamic piece of art. Crafty Career Molly says she always knew she would eventually turn her crafty ways into a business, and about a decade ago she finally followed her dream.âIn 2006, I was working at a local restaurant and decided that wasnât what I wanted to do anymore,â says Molly. âSo I came home to my husband one day and I said, âI think weâre going to take the garage and build it into a studioâ¦so thatâs what we did.â What was once Molly's garage is now an art studio. Itâs a leap of faith Molly is still so grateful she took. The Molly Made Fibre Art Studio has since expanded again and includes a craft shop where she sells her own work, as well as that of other artists. âIt's just a pleasure to get up and create all day long. Iâm very fortunate, very pleased, to have the business I have,â she says. And itâs a pleasure sheâs passing onto others. In addition to selling finished rugs, Molly and her husband, Austin (also a talented rug hooker), create and sell rug-hooking kits suitable for beginners. Each one contains a pattern plus all the tools and materials needed to hook a rug. Lucky for Molly, thereâs a widespread market for her kits. Theyâre sold at various retail locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, across Canada and even in the United States. While she creates some kit patterns specifically to appeal to consumers outside the province, she says across the board her biggest sellers are still tried-and-true Newfoundland images: the saltbox house and the clothesline. She says that doesnât surprise her. âPeople know about Newfoundland and our traditions,â she says. Aside from just plain enjoying her job, Molly says it also feels good to help keep this part of the provinceâs culture alive. To that end, while she doesnât have a set schedule, Molly offers classes and workshops in rug hooking to anyone who wishes to learn the craft. And folks are also welcome to drop by the studio in Woody Point to watch her and Austin at work. If you do visit, be sure to admire her finished rugs while youâre there - because one thingâs for sure: if itâs Molly Made, itâs beautifully made. - By Ashley Colombe