News

Take a peek at the latest issue of Lost in London magazine!  Earlier in the year we met Lucy from Lost in London magazine, and this is what she has to say about Crafty Pint…

It was lovely to meet Lucy and we are very chuffed to be included in such a beautiful and thoughtful publication.  You can pick up a copy of the Winter 2013 issue from museums and art galleries around London or buy a copy online. Issue 8 also includes herding cattle in Epping Forest, searching for London’s elusive owls and tucking into a hearty meal of Brixton-grown produce.

We have been looking forward to Perri Lewis’ new book, Material World ever since she first got in touch with us to share our experiences of running workshops. We are very pleased to be included, and even more excited that it is such a fabulous book. The book is divided by different crafty disciplines, some familiar like printing and embroidery, and others that are new to me, like quilling and tailoring.  Each section helps you get started and shares tips for trouble shooting problems. There are insights into the work of leaders from each field, as well as insider tips (including some from Crafty Pint!), and of course some brilliant projects. But what makes this book different are the chapters in between, discussing different aspects of the handmade and craft scene, from the therapeutic benefits of crafting (something that underpins our philosophy at Crafty Pint) to the great art and craft debate.It’s a craft book that encourages you to think and reflect on your work.

New evening workshops at Ben’s Canteen

We are very excited at Crafty Pint to announce a lovely new venue for our evening workshops.  We will be bringing Crafty Pint to the very fabulous Ben’s Canteen, on St John’s Hill, just a hop and skip up the road from Clapham Junction.  Ben is a big fan of Etsy and all things handmade, reflected in the decor of his very lovely cafe-bar serving delicious coffee, yummy food, and a decadent range of gin! Our first workshop will be Monday 8th October 7pm to 10pm.  More details here.

Point of the Compass – Tue 26th to Sat 30th June

Crafty Pint Tutor, Gillian from Fabric Nation, will be taking to the high seas with her Seaside Sisters for their annual show at Craft Central at the end of June. If you missed out on Gillian’s Tea Towel printing or souvenir workshops earlier in the year, you can have a go at her workshops at Craft Central.

The Seaside Sisters return to Craft Central in Clerkenwell for their annual showcase of coastal inspired textiles and prints.

The “queens of coastal craft” have laid all hands on deck to bring you their 2012 collection of seaside themed homewares and accessories.  Inspired by holidays spent collecting seashells, mermaid lore and souvenirs, their work celebrates the charm of our British seaside towns on all points of the compass, North, South, East and West. You can see pictures from last year’s show on our Facebook album here.

Create your own souvenirs with the Seaside Sisters exciting programme of print and textile workshops running during showcase in the evenings and weekends.  Try out print gocco, embroidery or lino printing to create hankies, notebooks and tea towels inspired by the Seaside Sisters collection of vintage souvenirs.  Children can take part in the signal flag treasure hunt around the show. Details of workshops and bookings are below.

See a film of the Seaside Sisters getting crafty on the LV21 ship last summer –

Craft Central

33-35 St John’s Square

London EC1M 4DS

Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6.30pm.

Afternoon tea party Saturday 30^th June at 2pm.

Free entrance.

Nearest tube Farringdon.  Or a short walk / bus from Old Street or Angel.

Bus routes 63, 55, 243 and 153.

Craft Central print and textile workshops

Print gocco with Xtina Lamb

Wednesday 27^th June, 6.30pm – 9pm

£40 includes all materials and refreshments. Book a place

Embroider souvenir hankies with Gillian Elam of Fabric Nation

Embroider a souvenir handkerchief with Gillian from Fabric Nation. We provide all the materials, including pure cotton hankies, embroidery silks and for inspiration, our collection of vintage souvenir hankies and textile design books. You will be handle vintage souvenirs from the 30s to 60s and learn about souvenir hankie designs and embroidery at this workshop.

With our tuition and top tips you will design and stitch your own hankie all handmade by you.

Thursday 28th June 6.30pm – 9pm

£25 includes all materials and refreshments

All workshops are suitable for beginners.

Book your workshop place here.

Print a tea towel with Gillian Elam of Fabric Nation

Print Your Own Tea Towel with Gillian from Fabric Nation. We provide all the materials, including pure cotton tea towels, fabric inks and for inspiration, our collection of vintage tea towels and textile design books.

With our tuition and top tips you will design and cut your own lino block and print up a tea towel, all handmade by you. We use a soft lino which is much easier to cut than the traditional lino you might remember from your school days. All inks are washable and non-toxic, but do bring a pinny in case of inky stains. The inks are fixed by ironing, so your finished tea towel can be used and washed. That’s if you don’t plan to frame your work of art!

Take a peek at our Facebook album to see all the fab things we made at our previous printing workshops.

Saturday 30^th June 11am – 2pm

£25 includes all materials and refreshments

All workshops are suitable for beginners and children from age 8 are welcome accompanied by an adult.

Book your workshop place here.

 Jubilation!

Crafty Pint will be donning her Seaside Sisters hat to take up residence in Battersea Park for the Diamond Jubilee Festival.

We will be running Diamond Jubilee Souvenir workshops, part of the all day Jubilee festival in Battersea Park, curated by Hemingway Design and Clare Patey, on Sunday 3rd June.

Join us by the boating lake to screen print a parade flag to wave & keep as a souvenir, or sew a ruffle rosette to wear.  You can draw on paper bunting inspired by favourite memories from the jubilee celebrations or from the past 60 years to be added to string for a display that grows over the day or make diamond charms to carry or wear.  You can even go Victorian style and decorate a bicycle wheel or hoop with patriotic colours. Create giant floral signs and garlands decorated with flowers made from plastic bag strips in the style of those used in Queen Victorias Jubilee.

Books

We love craft books at Crafty Pint HQ, so we are very excited to see that some of our Crafty Pint tutors will be featured in State of Craft! Gillian, a regular at Crafty Pint South, is part of the textile & print collective Seaside Sisters (who also host Crafty Pint North) and together they created the AHOY bunting featured in the book.

The book also features Gillian’s 1970s school bazaar inspired brooches.

There are some fab designers featured in the book and it is lovely to see so many familiar faces we have met at different craft events.