D.I.Y. vs. Consumer Crafting

I admit it, I do a lot of stuff myself, often things that are better left to someone else. I fix household things that should be replaced, sew up clothes that should be retired and I refuse to buy things that I could make, even if I'm not likely to ever get around to doing so. D.I.Y. seems to be an ever increasing trend that has spawned a plethora of "sell your own crafts" sites. I know I threw a little party when I discovered Etsy.com and began my own retail experiment.

The whole thing has me wondering though, if an ever increasing amount of people are "doing it themselves" and trying to make a living at it, won't the whole system implode? If everyone who liked the look of knit cuffs, learned how to make knit cuffs, who would be left to buy them?

Everyone seems to agree what we need are customers that understand that hand craftsmanship takes time and skill and are willing to pay a premium for that. Unfortunately, it seems more like a lot of poor crafters are buying each others goods in an effort to keep consumer crafting alive.

What do you think?