Makers next Door: Meet Chee Sau Fen

Perhaps you have been flexing those Do-It-Yourself muscles more often lately. From tottering around the house changing light bulbs, fixing up that home decor piece that you, erm, conveniently forgot, to making facial masks for your family, DIY skills foster self-confidence and a sense of self-sufficiency thats especially valuable in these uncertain times.And if you are wondering if you can do more, the short answer is yes. As the name suggests, DIY is about being able to do it yourself, and it puts as much onus on yourself as it does on do.Chee Sau Fen, SkillsFuture Fellowship Award 2017 recipient and founder of Heads of State Millinery subscribes to the mindset of sustainable DIY. An active library volunteer, and library@orchards former Designer-in-Residence, Sau Fen shares her craft actively and hosts several fabric and maker workshops at the library makerspace PIXEL Labs@NLB. Her recent Sharing Valuable Tips on Creating Home-made Face Masks workshops were streamed live at our MakeIT Facebook Group.We speak to Sau Fen to find out more about her craft and her thoughts on sustainable DIY.Q: In your live video, you shared on how to select fabrics through three fundamental concepts: Availability, Suitability, and Durability. Can these concepts be applied to other DIY disciplines, and to what extent?A: I came up with the concepts to make it easy for viewers to remember what to look out for when selecting fabrics for their DIY face masks. But they are also the basis of what is known as sustainable design today: to utilise available and often-overlooked resources to make safe, efficient, environmentally and socially conscious items that last and can be repaired or safely disposed of at the end of its lifespan. So whether we are dealing with handicraft or industrial- scale production, these principles are applicable to the way we make things.

Q: How much awareness should we have on the materials we use? Should we be finding out the origins and properties of these materials before starting?A: Every bit of knowledge helps. But telling people they need to be more knowledgeable sounds like giving them additional burdens to bear! I prefer to encourage everyone to cultivate a healthy level of curiosity. If you are wearing (for example, face masks) garments made from a wide variety of materials and processes for the rest of your life, wouldnt you care to know more about what you are exposing yourself to? But you dont need to learn to weave your own fabric to appreciate what a plain weave fabric is!Think about when you are buying a car or a computer; youd want to know what key specifications and functions various models have before you make a choice. You dont need to put together your own car or computer to make informed decisions, but knowing the difference between the material properties and linking this knowledge to your daily observations and experiences can make a massive difference in your selection of what to wear and have huge implications for the planet.Q: In the case of face masks, is there a discernible difference between using similar materials? For instance, is 100% cotton better than 50% cotton weave?A: Thread composition has a huge bearing on the characteristics and performance of a fabric how absorbent it is, how stretchy, how cool it feels to the touch, etc. 100% cotton plain weave fabric would be more absorbent and breathable than 50% cotton and 50% polyester plain weave fabric. So for face masks specifically, 100% cotton would be better.Q: This COVID-19 situation is a big motivating factor for people turning to crafting. But once everything settles down, how would you encourage them to continue?A: Being able to make an item you can immediately use that is the motivation behind all handicraft. When we become adept at crafting, we become aware that we can adapt to change, improve, and enrich our daily lives and the immediate environment through imagination, hand work and experimentation. Its empowering. Crafting also transforms whats available, makes full use of what is suitable, and ensures our best creations are durable. When we are adept, we can remake and improve things for ourselves and society.

It is clear that Sau Fen possesses clear, rooted principles when it comes to her craft and the spirit of making. In speaking with her, we learned that skill and knowledge while important really come alive when guided by a curious and observant mind. So perhaps, as we pick up the tools to start our next DIY project, we could start asking ourselves some deeper questions too: not just what to make, but what can I learn from this?The questions and responses in this article have been edited for brevity.

If you would like to attend any of Sau Fens mask-making online workshops, they are available for viewing at the MakeIT Facebook Group: MakeIT Yourself DIY Masks Unmasked (5 episodes).Recommended ReadingCreative Crafting: Brilliant Ideas for Awakening the Artistic Genius Within by Colin SalterGet the eBook here.The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art by Erwin Raphael McManusGet the eBook here.

1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips: Top-Rated Favorites from Sewing Fans and Master Teachers by Deepika PrakashGet the eBook here.Sewing for Dummies by Jan Saunders MareshGet the eBook here.All books featured are available via the NLB Mobile app or at our public libraries.

Text bytinkermind.

·RELATED QUESTION

Ford Figo Door light on when all doors are closed

Your instrument panel is part of the ECU on your vehicle, electrically. If the GEM has been substituted and still the problem has remained, a critical look at the instrument panel is required. Moisture or dampness, even a water entry from the windscreen, could cause corrosion to the IP and cause mis-function. Fords had this problem with European Focus's