Handmade 2012

Its coming into our colder season. In Wellington, that means more time indoors. Keeping warm and cosy becomes a priority, so out come knitting needles and soup pots, baking tins and hot water bottles.

If you would like to try some making for the first time, or learn some new skills, perhaps create something new for your home, sewing box or wardrobe, consider coming to play with us at Handmade 2012. There are so many great classes. 

If I wasn't teaching, I'd definitely hanging out with Melissa of Tiny Happy in her stamp making and stitchy projects class. I'd love to make a crochet garland and necklace too. There's cooking classes, jewellery making, and so much more. I'd love to hear Sue and Gary talk about their salvage to supreme business, making industrial furniture and art; and attend Tamsin Cooper's lecture on how she has steadfastly remained a 'handmade' industry. There's fashion, there's home decorating, there's classes for beginners like my bottle cap pincushion through to advanced jewellery and quiltmaking intensives. The Meet the Makers party was great last year and is a good opportunity to make friends and get up close with some of the country's leading makers, designers and artists. I hope they have lots of cheese again. 

I will be teaching three classes! I'm not sure the wisdom behind this, I think I was just hoping to land one class. Surprise, surprise, I landed all three. Its going to be lots of fun. There's a handmade tribal banner, some handstitched narrative jewellery and a humble bottlecap pincushion. All my classes are relatively low tech, using basic skills and recycling things most people already have access too. 

If you are coming, think about symbols that have some meaning for you. Bring a piece of cloth that holds memory. Raid your nana's stash of doileys and buttons. I will have hiapo for you to use in the tribal banner class. And don't throw away that shrunken jersey or holey old wool blanket. We can use that too! There are  packs for some classes too that you can purchase and I'll have a heap of stuff for people to choose from as well. 

I'm looking forward to hanging out with the lovely Tash of Holland Road Knit Company and the gang in the Knit Lounge between classes. Look out for me there. I'll be the one sewing amidst the knitters. ;)

Handmade 2012

Te Papa, Wellington 

2-3 June 2012

Click HERE to view the Handmade 2012 website. There are so many classes to choose from. Come, make some new friends and cool stuff. I'll see you there. It's going to be awesome. 

+ tribal banner workshop +

+ handstitched narrative jewellery +

+ bottlecap pincushion +