Ella Emhoff Got Surprisingly Candid About Fame as She Re-Launched This Latest Passion Project
When presidential candidate Kamala Harris married her husband Doug Emhoff back in 2014, we’re sure Doug’s daughter Ella Emhoff had no idea what she was getting into. After all, Emhoff went from growing up like everyone else to making headlines for her fashionable red carpet looks. But, despite it all, Emhoff has taken the new attention in stride, even recently pressing pause on her passion project (the Soft Hands Knit Club) for her own protection.
“I just wanted to quickly come talk about Knit Club and address how it’s moving forward,” Emhoff told her followers in an August 29 announcement on Instagram. “Unfortunately, with everything going on right now, I am unable to conduct them, just to protect myself and other club members.”
Luckily, however, Emhoff announced on Oct. 24 that the Club has officially reopened, but this time it’s virtual! That’s right, the 25-year-old has officially launched a Substack titled “Soft Crafts by Ella Emhoff.”
“I really wanted to join Substack because I wanted an authentic community, something that I feel is being lost on other platforms,” Emhoff, who graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2021, said in the press release. “I started a knitting club in NYC last year and have been posting about it online. I found that the whole point of the club was sort of being lost because it was so limited to my small world here and a lot of people from around America wanted to engage and be a part of it.”
“I’m really excited to continue what I’ve been building through my knitting club and expand to more mediums, more people, and more of a relationship with my community that loves arts and crafts as much as I do,” she continued.
Already, Emhoff’s substack, which has both paid and unpaid subscriptions, has an introduction of herself and how she got into all kinds of arts and crafts growing up.
“I’m a maker,” she began. “Give me a material, and I’m going to make something fun out of it. I’ve been making arts and crafts since I was a kid, mainly using it as an outlet for the immense anxiety that was beginning to take over me. I spent all my time making and kept finding new ways to make it the center of my life.”
“I started as a children’s ceramics teacher at a summer camp, moved on to working as an artist’s fabricator (best job ever), and worked in the fashion world for a sec (desk job),” she remembered. “Then I took a quick detour modeling while I figured out how I wanted to blend my love of art and this newfound platform I fell into. Many different steps led me to creating my beloved knitting community, ‘Soft Hands Knit Club’ (I’ll go into it, don’t worry), and then other steps led me to having to stop it (that I may not go into).”
“But here we are! Here you are!” she continued. “The best things come from having to adapt. So welcome to our Soft Crafts Craft Club.”
In the last paragraph, Emhoff then got candid about the nerves she has going into the new project, sharing a rare glimpse of her relationship with fame.
“This is my first time using a platform that I’ve felt comfortable making content like this, so it’s very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time,” she admitted. “I feel like most people didn’t even know what my voice sounded like until the DNC (yes, I’m a deep-voiced girlie), which feels odd because I’ve had a following for a handful of years now, and I’m only now kind of breaking the barrier between my followers and myself.”
“I don’t like when people have that online, so I don’t know why I was doing that,” she reflected. “So if you’ve been following me and thinking, ‘Why is she distant?’ I’m sorry. But also, I’m not, because I don’t owe anyone anything.”
In other words, while she understands that her followers might not feel as close to her as they’d like, Emhoff knows it’s okay to set her own boundaries and limitations. She’s allowed to keep some things private, after all!
“However, I love my community, I love making art, and I love sharing it with people,” she added. “I’m going to do my best to stay consistent and create the best and most fun content I can. I’m going to be doing things as I come up with them, changing things when I don’t feel like they’re working right. I’ve got a lot of ideas for video content because I’ve never really allowed myself to do them, so there will be a lot of tutorials, but there will be other crafting and more personal videos as well, so just stay tuned for the fun.”
Long live the Soft Crafts Craft Club!
Before you go, click here to see Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff’s big blended family.