As always November is a busy month of events for me.
Handmade in Highgate Designer/Makers Fair – Fri 18 – Sun 20 November
If you love the handwoven blanket by award winning woven textile artist Majeda Clarke, you should pop along to the Handmade in Highgate Winter Craft Fair.
Once more it is back at the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution on 18 – 20 November.
- Friday 18 November 5pm – 8pm
- Saturday 19 November 10am – 6pm
- Sunday 20 November 11am – 5pm
As always there will be a wonderful selection of designer/makers/artists at the top of their game! Regular visitors will be please to see your regular exhibitors. Ray from Rotherview Nurseries will be outside the HLSI for the duration of the show with his RHS gold medal award winning plants and shrubs. The marvellous chef Shuk of the Two Shuks will be on the stage with a delicious selection of cakes, pastries, savouries, jams and pickles.
Included among the 30 or so outstanding designer/makers will be the following
- sustainable handmade jewellery collection of @fusedandfired
- @hilarysketches local urban illustrator with wonderful drawings of Alexandra Palace and Hornsey Road Baths
- @smithstrand with a collection of hand dyed, botanically accurate silk flower accessories
- @mossstitch botanically focused hand thrown ceramics at their finest
- @traceylordknits aka Lord and Taft with her outstanding hand knitted accessories for men, women and children
- @by_cecil will include the brand new small batch collection‘Eclectic Folk’
- @muffatprague will tempt with a rocking robin made by hand from reclaimed Walnut, London Plane and Ash
- @2hungrybakers fuse traditional and modern techniques in their range of ceramic and wooden tableware
- @marmorpaperie the paper marbling and bookbinding expert will bring paper items and Christmas baubles
- @romordesigns the expert and practitioner in the traditional stitched and bound art of Shibori is another favourite
- and many more
Muswell Hill Creatives Winter Makers Fair – Sat 26 November
Our last fair of the year, will see Muswell Hill Creatives and assorted guest on St James’ Square outside the Odeon Cinema and Planet Organic. Being winter our hours are a little shorter, so will be trading between 10.30am and 4pm. It is the 8th anniversary of events for this amazing collective.
Those attending this time round are:
Muswell Hill Creatives Stalls: Papershades, Steph Rubbo Saddlery & Leather Work, Hilary Masetti, By Cecil, The Idle Bindery, Crouch End Candles, The Night Press, Art with Mollie, Queenie Organics, Ceramic Justice and Wyckoff Smith Jewellery.
Guest Stalls: Sewn Two, Jess Albert, Nordic Nic Nac, Brigitte Herrod, Bailey & Free, Becca Cadbury Design, Woodsmith Works, Sobu Handmade and 45 Original.
Hornsey Vale Community Centre Green Christmas Fair – Sun 27 November
This is a new event for me. Between 2 pm and 6 pm I will have a selection of items for sale that are made from off cuts of my larger projects – think bags and belts – or recycled leather from repairs – like chairs.
Find out more about the fair on the Hornsey Vale Community Centre website.
A little bit about the leather I use. It is all cow hide, and a by-product of the food industry. Because I specialise in hand stitching I look for vegetable tanned leather that has a firmness that gives my bags their structure. It also allows for easy stitching and is by its very nature hardwearing.
I typically buy my leather in large sheets that are anything between 10 and 20 square foot in size. First cut into a hide is a straight edge so that I can cut straps and belts from that edge.
Panels for bags and other items are cut from the hide ensuring that I use the most suitable piece for the item I am making. Any scars that would reduce the strength and suitability of the leather are avoided, but if just cosmetic, they will be ignored. Eventually they become part of the items patina.
All the smaller items I make are off cuts from the larger projects I have completed, for example, offcuts from belts are glued together and then hand skived down to create my door stops. The shavings are then handed to some of the artists in neighbouring studios to use for collage work. Smaller accessories including items like card wallets, watch straps, pen cases, coasters and photo frames are made from bag offcuts. Coffee sleeves are also in this category, with the additional benefit of replacing single use card or plastic sleeves. Other items I make from offcuts include key rings, key loops, and wrist bands.
Made by Tottenham Pop Up Shop – Wed 23 Nov – Sat 10 Dec
Another new venture for me. This time I am going further east to Tottenham, and I am delighted to be stocking some of my smaller items at the Pop Up Shop hosted by Made by Tottenham.
The pop-up shop will be located at The Trampery, 639 High Road, London N17 8AA. This venue is a focal point for entrepreneurship and creativity in Tottenham.
40 independent makers, artists and designers from Haringey have been selected to stock the shop. There will be unique, original and thoughtful products at affordable prices (from £2 to £150, with the majority of items under £30), including postcards, prints, children’s books, toys and clothes, fashion items, jewellery and homeware. From me you can expect to see gift items such as luggage tags, door stops, card wallets and maybe a photo frame or two.
There will also be a series of creative workshops held as part of the Made By Tottenham festive pop-up shop. They include:
- Make your own festive greeting cards (Alice Clarke)
- Fabric dyeing with natural dye (Dast & Hand)
- Reduce Reuse Recycle – Clothes mending workshop (Jose Hendo)
- Decorating wrapping paper and tags using your own handwriting (Katie Wagstaff)
- Creative play (Eloisa Henderson Figueroa)
- Comic drawing (Celine Moya)
For more details visit the MadebyTottenham Website
Shop opening hours:
Wednesday 11am-5pm
Thursday 11am-8pm
Friday 11am-5pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
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