Founder Alexa Kari with Material Grrrlz magazine.
No one is going to mistake Material Grrrls for their mother’s or grandmother’s sewing circles – but it’s still all about the connections.
Material Grrrlz is a community of fiber artists based in the UK that spotlights and supports the work of young women and queer people.
According to the “Grrrlz” website: “We build accessible fiber projects for fashion forward diy-ers obsessed with maximalism, reclaiming girlhood and always being the best dressed at the craft store.”
It all began in the summer of 2022 with a group chat and an Instagram account, both created by designer Alexa Kari.
“I was posting memes — it just for fun. I just graduated college and I was in the process of moving and I just wanted some fun ways to connect with people,” Kari, 24, said.
“I moved to London from the United States in the fall of 2022 and started feeling like I wanted to start creating something, so I started the magazine in January 2023.”
From Memes to Meetups – How Material Grrrlz Got Its Start
In August 2023, Kari added meet ups and groups in London and has had monthly gatherings since. Material Grrls had its 15th meet-up this month.
The quarterly digital and print publication include patterns, games and style advice. The digital publication is free online, and the print subscription is available for $40 a year. Individual issues can be purchased for $12 each.
Material Grrls also maintains a group chat where its 1,600 members share projects, tips, tricks and inspiration.
Kari, who holds the title of creative director of Material Grrrls, also has a full-time job in marketing. She runs all aspects of Material Grrls with a staff of one -herself. From acting as admin for the chat group to contributing the patterns, illustrations and photographs for the magazine – she does it all – and everything in between.
She wrote about her crafty beginnings in the March/April 2023 issue of the magazine.
Monthly meetups in London bring together young women and queer fiber artists to share projects and build community.
“Similarly to many material grrrlz, I was first introduced to fiber arts by the women in my family. My grandma sewed all of my Halloween costumes growing up, took me to her church quilting group every Wednesday morning and could often be found sorting handmade baby blankets at her dining room table. From her, I learned deep respect for the love and skill that every fiber artist brings to their work, and saw how special communities centered around creating can be.
Because I grew up with so much reverence for textile work, I am dedicated to sharing that love and pushing back against any existing narratives that textile art is passive “women’s work.”
Kari says she started Material Grrrlz to celebrate the contributions of young women and queer people to the fiber arts community.
“Today, Material Grrrlz sets out to subvert sexist beliefs about fiber arts and the value that women and queer people have as creators. In challenging the ways ‘woman’s work’ has been subjugated, Material Grrrlz has evolved into a love letter to girlhood, and the playful, indulgent femininity that is too often belittled in patriarchal societies. Girly shit can be silly and sweet, but it is not to be trifled with. With every lace trim and dropped stitch, we engage with a long line of material grrrlz who came before us in the development of this practice and pave the way for the practices of the future,” Kari wrote.
Kari designs the knitting and crochet projects included in the magazines, she creates each project, and then writes the step-by-step instruction. She also designs the magazine itself.
Crafting a Magazine for the Maximalist DIY-er
The latest issue available on the website includes instructions to self-draft a ruffled top, and knit and crochet how-tos for hair accessories. There’s also a profile of Kamille Wenneberg and her FUTURE MILF knitwear series.
The designer profiles included in each issue are people Kari come across through Material Grrls various platforms. As each platform grows, so does her access to other artists. Of course, this growth also helps fund the Material Grrls world as a whole.
“At the moment, we’re funded by the print subscriptions – digital is free. Making money through the subscriptions is great but I am looking to get advertising,” she said. We have about 10,000 subscribers in more than 80 countries. The magazine is really exciting and about 95% of readers, I think, are under the age of 35.”
The quarterly Material Grrrlz magazine offers patterns, style advice, and artist profiles, available digitally for free or as a print subscription.
Material Grrls income also comes from tickets to the monthly meet-ups. Grrls also has a book club, also helmed by Kari. Starting in June 2024, participants read a book about the intersections of craft and politics each month and join in the “KNITLIT” chat with other readers from around the world. Kari sends weekly conversation questions and prompts to get encourage discussion.
The June book was “The Subversive Stitch – Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine” by
Rozsika Parker. “Subversive Stitch” details the history of the domestic arts— specifically embroidery — and argues that women’s craft education and marginalization from fine art
spaces has led to the devaluation of “women’s work.”
The July selection “Aesthetics of Excess — The Art and Politics of Black
and Latina Embodiment” by Jillian Hernandez, examines how the style of women and girls of color is perceived as “excessive” and sexually deviant, complicating notions of “high” and “low” culture. The book includes examples of creative production by Black and Latina women.
What’s Next for Material Grrrlz
Kari says there are still more plans for Material Grrls in the offing – aside from just surviving the sheer amount of work she has created for herself.
“We actually have an exciting launch happening at the end of this month, it’s going to be a new platform — Material World —since we have people all over the world and I’m always looking for ways to help people connect elsewhere as well. So we’re going to have a new platform launching at the end of the month.”
“I’m really excited for that and I’m currently in the weeds of planning. I think we’re looking at more in person as well.”
Stay tuned.
Cathy Jakicic
contributor
Cathryn Jakicic has been writing about all things creative since working the late shift at Milwaukee’s morning newspaper right after college.She has worked at number of newspapers and magazines since, including Bead Style magazine; the Milwaukee Sentinel, where she wrote book, concert, theatre and film reviews for a number of years; and Trusted Media Brands, where she edited crafty and culinary creations for a number of titles. But her heart has always been with the crafter.