Spotlight Nola: Yoyodyne Galactronics (Stitchery Division)

I've Always been a compulsive crafter.

Okay, let's see... I don't know what the NORMAL process for starting up something like this is, but I probably didn't do it that way. I've Always been a compulsive crafter. I will pick up just about anything and try to learn how to do it- soapmaking? French-wire beading? Candle-Dipping? Stationery design? All of those are things I do from time to time. I've been sewing since I was a kid, and my educational background is in Costume Design, so it figures that when I finally light on something that I can market, it would be some sort of stitchery. 


The two things I mostly sell right now are accessories and scarves made with cloth Yo-Yos (fabric rosettes made popular in the 1930's) and weird little mutant stuffed sock monsters. I think the key to both of these for me is their portability and the fact that I can do it all sitting on the couch, thus justifying my TV-watching. The sock monsters are, as you'd guess, stuffed animals made out of socks, kind of along the lines of the famous "Sock Monkey" we all know and love. The thing is, every time I tried to make one that looked like a real animal, I was kind of disappointed in the result, so I thought I'd play to my strengths- if I'm not trying to replicate a real animal, I can let it develop as I build it and it becomes whatever it becomes, which is kind of great, because they end up with so much personality. The final step with the sock monsters is writing down their names and bios.


 Each one of them comes with a tag that has their name and some information about the creature. Not so much care and feeding, but something like, "SPLOGHM: If you're looking for something, Sploghm probably ate it. Sorry..." or, "Milo McFenderbender is a bit of a mystery. He hasn't said a word since he showed up at the lab. We'd be worried, but he seems perfectly content just observing the houseplants." It's really funny, the names and stories usually pop into my head within minutes of finishing the dolls, and there's no getting around it- I've tried to change names I didn't particularly like, and I can't do it- they just stick, you know?


 Also, a lot of folks ask me about the name of the company, most folks who recognize it take it for a Buckaroo Banzai reference, and I do adore that movie, but actually I took it from Thomas Pynchon's novel, The Crying of Lot 49. I didn't do it to be particularly pretentious- I've always liked Pynchon, and he has a gift for some of the most outlandish character names ever, so that's my inspiration every time I come up with a name for a weird little creature. Also, the accessories and scarves are made from "Yo-Yo's," so there's the tie-in there. 


I just really liked the dichotomy of the retro-futuristic-techno name, and the idea that this fictional rocket laboratory would have a "Stitchery Division," which would of course produce weird mutant (yet cute,) monsters. Makes all kinds of sense to me, but I just hope it's catchy.

 But seriously, I love this city SO much- and I don't even just mean that in a "Chamber-of-Commerce" sort of way. 

  I started this up here in New Orleans, because, well, I live here, and it would be silly for me to try and start a business somewhere else. But seriously, I love this city SO much- and I don't even just mean that in a "Chamber-of-Commerce" sort of way. I even like a lot of the stuff that other people hate. I like a lot of the decrepitude of the old architecture- the textures and all, I kind of like the fact that nothing gets done here in any sort of efficient way- it makes me fell like a real go-getter. And even in the face of us getting dropped like a hot rock by every level of government after the hurricane, it showed that the folks that were determined to be here were sure enough gonna take care of business and handle up on our own recovery, and I really love that sense of self-reliance. It might not be perfect, but it feels like it's a city that's for and about the people who live here more than a lot of cities do- I mean, okay, so we've got some crappy streets, for example, but I'd rather have some crappy streets than a strip mall at every intersection, if I have to choose.

New Orleans Creative Community

  The creative community in New Orleans, also, is just fantastic. I know so many crafters, and I'm also a performer, so I'm in with the theatre community, and burlesque folks, the musicians- almost everybody I know does something creative. And I think this town really nurtures that. I guess one of the perverse benefits of living in a slightly depressed economy is that you have permission to be broke- there's no shame or embarrassment in it, and pursuing a creative career requires the ability to get by through the times when you're just broke. I mean, try being broke in Dallas or Atlanta sometime. You can't do it. 


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