Been following the progress of Faythe Levine’s book (now on my Christmas wishlist) Handmade Nation: The Rise Of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, and was thrilled when I found out how well the documentary based on the book was coming along.

Faythe Levine traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. ethos. For “Handmade Nation” (along with the documentary film of the same name, coming in 2009), she and Cortney Heimerl have selected 24 makers and 5 essayists who work within different media and have different methodologies to provide a microcosm of the crafting community. Participants in this community share ideas and encouragement through websites, blogs, boutiques, galleries, and craft fairs. Together they have forged a new economy and lifestyle based on creativity, determination, and networking. Twenty-four artists from Olympia, Washington to Providence, Rhode Island, and everywhere in between show their work and discuss their lives.

“Handmade Nation” features photographs of the makers, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them.

The docu’s stop-animation opening credits was recently released, and watching it just makes me all sorts of happy, because it stars some of my favorite characters: needle and thread, ribbon and rickrack, yarn, fabric, paper and paint!

Hurray for crafters! Can’t wait till this debuts in theaters next year.

Learn all about the movie project on the Handmade Nation blog.