Maclean Smyth

Crafting and chronic illness…with a few healthy home tips and homesteading stories along the way ✨

I’m a disabled homesteader originally from the Bay Area who used to own a makerspace in Houston, now runs a global custom merchandise brokerage, and used to have forty five acres near Denver but now calls one acre in Asheville home. I've just relaunched my online shop full of hand crafted and thoughtfully designed goods after several years being bed bound. There lots more to come in the future, and I hope you'll follow along! And in case it's useful, it's pronounced muh-KLAIN sm-EYE-th ;)

09/05/2026

Hi, it’s me! Checking in to tell you (warn you?) that I’m going to be posting a lot this month and next because I have FOUR product launches coming up!

Most of 2026 has appeared very quiet on my social media accounts, but behind the scenes things have been anything but.

If you’ve been here a while, you already know I’ve spent the past decade developing and learning to deal with pretty extreme chronic illness and disability, including a stretch of years where I wasn’t able to do much of anything at all. During that time I’ve had to navigate what happens with the businesses and brands I own and how to maintain any kind of income stream when my daily energy allotment is significantly compromised, and it’s no longer safe or accessible for me to vend at markets. I’ve taken a few stabs at re-launching my personal brand, Maclean Smyth, and I think I finally figured out a model that will work for me long-term.

I mentioned in my last post that I’m not naturally adept at two dimensional art, but being bedbound for a few years really encouraged me to get back into drawing, and now with things like Procreate, even a mediocre artist like myself can turn out designs that are good enough for stationery and stickers. And while I’ll still offer a decent chunk of 100% handmade items in my shop, I’m moving towards carrying more things that I designed but am manufacturing through partners, like the blanket weavers I told you about in my previous post. Some of you know that I also own a custom merch company, Milkvetch Merch , and I’m finally becoming my own client. I honestly don’t know why I waited so long (okay I do, but that’s another post).

With all that in mind, over the next month you are going to see a lot more product photography on this account. I will sprinkle my face in here and there for the algorithm, but it would mean a lot to me if you would engage with any of my posts and help these product launches reach more people.

And, inspired by 🌿Fairy Wares🌱 , I am always open to trades! If you are also an artist or crafter that sees anything you like in my upcoming product posts and want to do a trade, DM me.

Thanks for reading this far!

08/01/2026

Happy Lughnasadh! 🍎🌾

I’ve never been much of a two dimensional artist, but I’ve been working really hard to improve those skills the last five or six years. This design is inspired by the end of summer as we go into the harvest season. I’ll be making this into another one of my Jacquard blankets that I’ve become totally obsessed with 😅 I might also offer this in an 8 x 10 art print if there’s interest.

The next few slides show the last blanket I had made – I did this one back in the spring for my mom‘s birthday and call it Mimsey‘s Garden. Of the 10 I had made, I have four left if you want one! So far, these haven’t been for sale on my website or Etsy and I’ve just posted them here on Instagram. They are 54”x72”, 100% cotton, USA made, and handle a regular washer and dryer cycle with no issues. The one pictured has been on my bed for the last three months straight and has gone through the washer and dryer at least six times!

I have all my blankets made a little larger and a little thicker than you would normally find for sale, and they are woven here in North Carolina by an incredible eco-conscious team. We use only 100% cotton OEKO TEX Standard 100 Certified yarn and all manufacturing is solar powered! In addition, 100% of the yarn, paper, and plastic waste is recycled, and the water used in manufacturing is reclaimed which significantly reduces consumption.

It can be so hard as an independent artist to remember to promote the things we make and sell 😅 and I am endlessly thankful for the orders and words of encouragement that continue to come my way, even though I continue to be terrible at advertising.

I hope anyone who read this far has a beautiful season, whatever the harvest brings your way.

07/26/2026

I really wanted to make a long post about how the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law 36 years ago today and also about how I’m so glad we don’t have to find out how the Ugly Laws would apply to disabled people sharing our lives on social media, but in truth, I don’t have the energy. I hope you’ll mull over those topics on your own, and instead I’m sharing some random photos from the last month mostly of former Crafting Coven projects i’m thinking about developing into things to sell on macleansmyth.com

07/15/2026

Happy 4️⃣th Birthday, Odin! 🥳🎂🎉

You are an absolute gremlin and I’m glad you ended up with us.

06/03/2026

Hung a few baskets above this doorway, changed the quilt for summer, and trying to resist the urge to paint all these creamy off white surfaces the same green as the stairs

05/01/2026

Just a casual and quickly snapped photo of a hard to capture color to mark the first of May 🌱

04/29/2026

I made a dress! Two, actually…

I mentioned in my last post that I used to make clothes with some regularity, but it’s been years since I attempted anything with a pattern. And a big part of becoming more functional again has involved diving headfirst into the things that keep me going, which almost always includes making something. So when a dear dear friend invited me to her wedding, I knew it was time to make a formal dress for the first time in 27 years.

My life these days doesn’t call for many formal dresses, and I wanted to be able to wear whatever I came up with often in daily life (to be reminded of my beautiful friend and her joyous wedding), so I ended up making two nearly identical dresses. Separately they’re more casual, but together they make something appropriate for a formal occasion.

The first one is made from a vintage fabric I found that looks like heavy jacquard but is actually a lightweight quilting cotton and makes an excellent summer dress. The second is an exact replica of the first (with short puff sleeves added) in an airy raspberry chiffon that could also look great over jeans. Worn together, the floral pattern on the cotton is just visible under the transparent chiffon.

Incidentally, the last formal dress I made was for my 16th birthday, and it was actually incredibly similar to the one pictured here (I just realized that typing out this caption)! I’ll try to find a photo to post in my stories. I think that dress was made from a “Titanic” pattern from Hancock fabrics - maybe a Butterick or a Vogue… the movie had recently come out and was the only pattern available in the Edwardian silhouette I wanted. This time around, I used a pattern I purchased from an independent maker on Etsy, and I was absolutely spoiled for choice.

I filmed this entire sewing process for a YouTube video I originally planned to upload along with this post, but life has been so full the past few weeks! I’m currently engaged in a marathon landscaping project and also preparing to host a small family reunion in a few weeks, but I expect I’ll catch up on social media sometime this summer 😅

More about this trip to New Orleans in my next post!

04/07/2026

I’ve been invited to witness a close friend’s nuptials soon, and that is a great honor. It means so much to me, in fact, that the more I searched online for an item of clothing that differentiates itself from the casual comfort my living situation has required for so many years, the more I realized I didn’t want to buy something off the rack. This event is too special for that; this milestone in traveling away from my home for the first time in years to celebrate my friend is too meaningful. So it’s time to start sewing garments again.

I originally learned to sew from my mom, who studied clothing and textiles at an Ivy League college back when Ivy League colleges still had clothing and textiles programs 😂I actually thought I was going to grow up to be a fashion designer, and for a while I took a stab at having my own clothing line, but the fashion industry didn’t agree with me, and making the same thing over and over again just in different sizes didn’t agree with me either.

I’ve been planning this project for a few months, but as usual, I didn’t start sewing until the last minute. I crossed the finish line at 4 a.m. last night and along the way remembered why I love making clothing. I’ll make another post in a week or two showing you the dress I made and telling you more about why I chose the components I chose, but in the meantime, I just want to revel in regaining another piece of myself from long ago ✨

Address

Asheville, NC

Website

http://www.macleansmyth.com/

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