The Shops Issue

“The heart of Hoosier hospitality for artisans and crafters is Homespun: Modern Handmade on Mass Ave. ‘We’re like a brick-and-mortar Etsy shop,’ says manager Amanda Dowdal. ‘We provide a space to showcase their art and products.’ Homespun carries unique items from more than 500 artists, with the majority made in Indiana. Pick up MH Leathergoods purses in a range of styles and prices. These luxuriant bags are handmade by fourth-generation leather crafters who escaped the oppressive regime in Damascus, Syria, and relocated to Indianapolis. If original art is what you seek instead, take home the Birds & Rocket screenprint by The Bungaloo or Jillian Nickell’s illustrated poster featuring vintage cameras.”

Fall/Winter Issue

Woven pillow by Ribbon + Roving and organic cold brew iced tea by Big T NYC, both products available at Homespun, and featured in the Fall/Winter 2018 Indianapolis Visitor Guide’s “Comfort Zone – Eight ways to achieve hygge, the Danish concept of cozy contentment, the Indy way.” 

Homespun artist, Haven Paperie, featured as well as a shout out that you can purchase her cards in our shop!

The Shops Issue

“Salame Jewelry Designs pink dressy quartz necklace. $84 at Homespun…” Featured in Wish List “Call of the Wild, Mother Earth-inspired jewelry is all the rage right now” section of Indianapolis Monthly’s 2017 Shops Issue.

Best of Indy Issue

“DIY KITS – Winters can be long in Indiana, and nothing cures the cooped-up blues like a good craft project. Amanda Taflinger and her team at Homespun have curated a collection of DIY kits for almost every interest, from embroidering to bookbinding to bacon-curing. Do the kids have cabin fever? Pick up a stuffed animal kit. Mom and Dad want a fun project? Make your own bitters for cocktails. There’s also weaving, holiday ornaments, and beer-brewing, just to name a few. Who knows? It could be the start of your life as an artisan. Or just a well-spent Sunday afternoon.”

“We are ALL about shopping local and we hope you will remember one local shop when you are doing your Christmas shopping over the next few weeks! Homespun: Modern Handmade is a boutique, gallery, and workshop located on the east end of Mass Ave that is devoted to contemporary handmade goods. They sell products from over 300 artists and crafters from across the country. Amanda Mauer Taflinger is the owner of Homespun: Modern Handmade just finished the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange, which is a contemporary craft fair that celebrates modern handmade goods.”

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Indianapolis Visitor Guide: Gift Guide Section

“FOR YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER: More than 300 crafters are represented at Homespun: Modern Handmade, a boutique dedicated to contemporary artisan goods. That means wooden bowties, soy “Lumberjack” -scented candles, and locally made beard oils for the guys, and delicate quartz cuff bracelets, leather crossbody bags, and pampering bath and body products for the ladies.”

Homespun vendor, Toys by Jean Elise, featured in “Indiana Made” section.

“One spur on the Cultural Trail runs up Massachusetts Avenue — or Mass Ave as it is known — a stretch lined with restaurants, bars, public art and some of the best boutiques in the city. Start browsing at Silver in the City, which sells artist-made jewelry, accessories and sundries including bags and wallets from PUP, or People for Urban Progress, a nonprofit using recycled industrial materials like the stadium roof of the former RCA Dome. Next door, Global Gifts carries fair-trade goods from around the world including soapstone carvings from Kenya and Mexican ceramics. Progress to Boomerang Boutique for funky T-shirts and kicky stud earrings in dollar signs or tangerine shapes. Homespun: Modern Handmade stocks housewares, stationery and ReFind Originals upcycled leather bags.”

Homespun’s t-shirt wall featured as a Yelper favorite in 2017.

The Shops Issue

Stak Ceramics iPad stand and crock (from Homespun) featured in “Technology Wish List” section of Indianapolis Monthly 2016 Shops Issue.

The Shops Issue

Ix Style magenta huarache sandals (available at Homespun) featured in “Fashion Wish List” section of Indianapolis Monthly 2016 Shops Issue.

The Shops Issue

“Local creators are pretty easy to find these days… Rana Salame’s eye-catching quartz jewelry can be found at Lux & Ivy and Homespun.”

Homespun vendors The Onyx Exchange and Howl & Hide Supply Co. also featured.

The Shops Issue

Left image: model wearing Black Crystals “Rhombus Howlite” earrings and Studio AMF wooden moth ring, both available at Homespun.

Right image: model wearing Larissa Loden “Ripple” earrings available at Homespun.

Indiana Pickle Co.’s Spicy Pickle Spears, available at Homespun, featured in “Local Love” article from Shops section of Indianapolis Visitors Guide.

Right page: “It’s hard not to liken Homespun: Modern Handmade to the coolest real-life Etsy store. The large mix of goods includes Indiana tees, contemporary metal and wooden jewelry, gourmet foods (like B. Happy’s peanut butter that you can’t help but eat with a spoon), kid’s toys, uniquely scented candles, and natural bath-and-body products.”

“The progressive fashion set flocks to 8 Fifteen, and for vintage finds, Society of Salvage and the aptly titled Vintage 54 Collective both quell the itch for the art of the hunt. For stylish clothes you might find in New York or Los Angeles, Profyle indeed fits the profile. For (mostly) all things local, drop in to Homespun, stocking a bevy of cute children’s toys, art prints, and home decor. The pop-up Pattern is a fashion workspace where indie makers create and later sell their works. Pick up the latest in fashion literature at Printtext, a space sourcing hard-to-find periodicals that also doubles as a print shop. With plush, textural home pieces, Haus Love is ideal for a one-of-a-kind treasure including the homegrown essential oil line Ambre Blends. Supporting adult literacy, nab an old classic at Indy Reads Books (with well-stocked Vonnegut titles), which also hosts a stand-up mix of author events.”

What’s Country Now Special Issue

“How could you not love a woman whose business card lists her title as shopkeep? Of course, the shop Amanda Mauer Taflinger keeps in Indianapolis isn’t your typical big-city boutique. Her aptly named Homespun stocks nothing but handmade wares by area artisans: Think bird sculptures carved from found wood and felt Willie Nelson finger puppets. ‘I love handing our vendors a check, knowing that the money [directly] supports their families.’ Last summer, she won a $25,000 grant from Pepsi to open a workshop, providing classes on craftsmanship and entrepreneurship. ‘I want to give other people an opportunity to grow their businesses, too.'”

“‘[In recent decades], academics and doing things with your mind was the focus [in society], and [an emphasis on] doing things with your hands was neglected. They’re both equally important,’ said Amanda Taflinger, 33, owner of Homespun: Modern Handmade…a boutique representing more than 100 artisans.

Like many women in their 30s and 40s, Taflinger remembers her mother as a crafty Girl Scout leader who created homemade Halloween costumes, and her grandmother, who sewed and knitted clothing out of necessity. Taflinger’s own creativity took flight when she participated in the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago.”

Shops Issue: What’s Hot Now!

“Like an expertly edited Etsy, this shop delights with edgy handmade crafts from local and national artisans. You’ll want everything: movie-monster soap, irreverent cross-stitch kits, and the much-loved ‘Midwest Is Best’ tees.”

“Our city, you see, is at a critical juncture. What we have is a small business community. But what we could have is a small business culture.

We could build an environment in which entrepreneurs are optimistic about starting businesses – and creating jobs – because they know they’re surrounded by potential customers who don’t default to chain stores every time they need clothes or a chain restaurant every time they’re hungry. It’s about being a city that is authentic and sustainable…

…What’s more, the owners of these businesses know each other, encourage each other, and cooperate to help each other succeed. One business often spawns and supports another business, and so on. It’s just very Indianapolis.

‘I’m always excited to see people we know start businesses,’ said Amanda Mauer Taflinger, owner of Homespun: Modern Handmade, a shop in Irvington. ‘It’s encouraging [for the future of our city].'”

“But today she sees it as a ‘widespread contemporary handmade movement,’ one that is starting to drive a micro-economy all its own, similar to indie record labels…

Along with that evolution is another more personal one: the development of each crafter and his or her aesthetic…as these fairs become more popular, the competition will only intensify, and artisans will have to work harder to deliver a better product.

Taflinger explains, ‘One of the things that we look for…is if they’ve evolved, if they’re improving their craft or they’re adding new items [to their product line]…each year I’ve seen quite an evolution in a lot of the vendors [who] have participated in…our events since the very beginning. It’s pretty fantastic because it’s…nice to see people grow.'”

Great Little Shops Issue

“Homespun brought the ‘modern handmade’ trend to Indy last year by stocking the work of crafters who appear at its companion INDIEana [Handicraft] Exchange. Owners Amanda Mauer Taflinger and her husband, Neal, curate the Irvington shop with the wares of established and up-and-coming artists, many local or regional.”

Best of Indy Issue

“Good luck resisting the treasures arranged like little museum exhibits at Irvington handicraft shop Homespun. Whether you are looking for something ironic (a hipster onesie with a cassette-tape graphic), cerebral (Johnny Cash cross-stitch kit), or couture (feather headpieces from milliner Emily Clark), this polished storefront – check your scrappy DIY presumptions at the door – has exactly what you need. Or rather, exactly what you didn’t know you needed.”

Shops Issue: Your Guide to Indy’s Best New Stores

“If any shop deserves a hand, it’s Homespun. The new boutique has forged an original and inspired niche by focusing exclusively on handmade crafts with modern edge. Decorative piñatas, cutting boards inlaid with Pac-Man characters, and bars of soap shaped like movie monsters and cassette tapes are the antithesis of overexposed gifts carried by the competition…At its best, Homespun is a champion for undiscovered talent.”

“For edgy crafts and cool giftables, indie darling Homespun has it made.

There is, if you didn’t know, an indie-craft movement taking place in the United States, complete with a circuit of art fairs in gymnasiums and other unconventional venues; superstar knitters; a documentary; and a hit website, Etsy. Homespun in Irvington is the first boutique in the Indianapolis area dedicated to modern handmade crafts, which range from kooky designs (like soap in the shape of a hand grenade) to artful objects (such as earthy place settings with grooved edges by local potter Ryan VanHoy). The merch represents the best of the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange, a fair started in 2007 by Amanda Mauer Taflinger and Neal Taflinger, plus the work of elite crafters who can’t get here for the Exchange. The couple showed some creativity of their own by turning out a cool setting with reclaimed wood on the walls, shelves fashioned from giant cardboard rolls, jewelry displayed on wall-mounted silver trays, and pendant lights made to look like a ball of yarn.”

“Amanda Mauer Taflinger and Neal Taflinger hit a bit of a marketing jackpot when they received a $5,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project, designed to help launch startups like the Taflingers’ plan to open a retail outlet for local crafters. Bundled with the prize money: a 60-second Pepsi commercial filmed at the couple’s eastside home. ‘We essentially put on a small craft fair in our backyard,’ Neal explains. The spot is currently airing on MTV Viacom channels, so be on the lookout for Irvington landmarks and ‘some very cool cinematic shots of crafters knitting and looking majestic,’ Neal claims.”

“‘My goal for [the] INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is simply to expose some of Indy’s best contemporary artists [to the national contemporary craft fair movement] and also to show the rest of the world that Indiana has a thriving DIY and handmade arts community…We’ve taken the idea of the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange and made it happen year-round with a new store, Homespun.'”