Threads of Change: How Women Wove Our World
"We must use what we have to invent what we desire." - Adrienne Rich
Women are notoriously resourceful. Adrienne Rich’s words ring true In every handmade protest sign, every painted symbol of resistance, and every stitch of solidarity from history to today. Despite being largely confined to the “women’s work” of the home for generations, women have helped craft the world as we know it through brave acts of handiwork. When suffragettes wove their messages into banners and sashes in purple, white, and gold, they weren't just making decorative pieces – they were crafting powerful symbols of resistance. These women turned traditional 'feminine' skills like sewing and embroidery into tools of revolution, stitching their demands for equality into the fabric of history. During World War II, women across occupied Europe continued this tradition of creative resistance, knitting coded messages into everyday items and crafting 'V for Victory' symbols into their needlework – hiding acts of rebellion in plain sight under the guise of domestic crafts. Their handmade flags, banners, and seemingly innocent handicrafts carried hope and sparked change.
Today, we see the legacy of these boldly creative women continue in craft circles that transform into circles of change. When millions of pink hats bloomed across protest marches in 2017, they showed us that creativity remains a powerful tool for visibility and voice. These modern makers, like their suffragette sisters and Georgia O’Keefe before them, remind us that "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
During the Civil Rights movement, Toni Cade Bambara said, "The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible." Sometimes, that revolution starts with a simple stitch, an act of generosity, or a small business that touches lives. Our art doesn’t have to be performative or grand to change the lives of our families or communities. My grandmother was a kind and creative soul, constantly making beautiful, useful things that she gave freely to anyone who might need them. Crocheted pot holders and hangers were a personal favorite. Her creative spark inspired my mother, who nurtured it into an entrepreneurial flame. She’s owned three creative businesses, including Cloud 9 Crafts, the independent rural craft store she founded when I was a child. It was a store that brought out the creativity of our entire community. As I sat doing my homework at the big table where my mom taught sewing and painting classes, I learned the power of art and craft to bring people together and inspire the next generation. This power of creativity to transform lives flows through generations like a golden thread. It’s a legacy I’m proud to carry forward as I raise my daughter, and that I take seriously as GlueStick becomes a part of how you raise your family.
Every GlueStick project celebrates the legacy of creativity passed down through generations. Whether your child is learning traditional crafting techniques from diverse cultures or finding new ways to use what you already have, we're fostering future innovators, problem-solvers, and change-makers who understand that art can be beautiful and revolutionary. We’re teaching kids that art nurtures the creative thinking that transforms communities, sparks rebellions, and fuels resistance.
To all the caregivers out there: Every time you sit down to create with a child, you're planting seeds of change. You're passing down more than techniques; you're passing down the power to imagine, to question, to transform. Like my grandmother's potholders, these small acts of creativity and kindness ripple outward in ways we may never fully understand. As we celebrate International Women’s Day and all the progress women have fought for, we also remember that the path to meaningful change didn’t start with grand gestures or sweeping reforms. Women’s rights movements started around kitchen tables. The journey continued when mothers taught their daughters that their ideas mattered, that their hands can create beauty, and that their creativity can touch others' lives. Let's keep passing this torch forward. When we give children the tools to create and the heart to share, we give them the power to change their world, one small act of creativity at a time.
I can’t wait to see the kind of world our kids craft when they’re older.
-Abby Allen, GlueStick Founder
