Making it a Handmade Weekend

Got plans for the long weekend?

Depending on all that weather it may involve tobogganing and making snow persons.

Or you may be like me and planning to try your hand at picking up a new skill, or sitting back and learning how people put their skills to use at Handmade. Handmade celebrates  making, creating & consuming in all its delightful forms. From dumplings to Tivaevae, from zines to sandwiches and to the Royal NZ Ballet, Handmade has it covered and classes are repeated so if you can’t fit in on Saturday you hopefully can find a spot on Sunday.

HQ for the whole event is Te Papa but classes are taking place all around town. My picks involve a mix of learning and a bit of sitting back and absorbing it all.

I love mixing tech and craft so my first pick is AURORA AUSTRALI S with Bridget McKendry. Bridget was one of the hivemind behind makertorium so she knows her stuff and you walk away with a fun shadowbox  and the skills to use LEDs in everything.

Some creative royalty are teaching this weekend so classes by Melissa of Tiny Happy, Jo & Jess of coco and co, Ruth Pretty and Tamsin Cooper are easy picks.

I’ve been lucky to have an early peek at A FRESH LOOK FOR OLD JEWELLERY with Nini Mulyani from Things Unseen. Basically bring along your old bits and bobs of jewelry and Nini will help you convert them into something new. She’s also sharing some of her custom techniques so you walk away with the skills to make over your entire jewelry stash.

I’m a big fan of anything Scott Savage touches, and the chance to hear him talk on collecting and take part of one of his classes is ticking all my happy boxes. Especially as I’m going to walk away with a customized paper toy based on my cat.

Finally not to miss is a zine-making class taught by Colleen Pugh of Dear Colleen fame, who you might know her better as the woman behind the Ryan Gosling tea towels. She used to teach the same class at Edinburgh College of Art and I’m excited about making a perfect little booklet from one sheet of paper.

In the gaps in-between I’m going to spend quality time at the Knit Lounge. It’s hosted by Tash of Holland Road so you can  save yourself some time going out to Petone as Tash and her knitty crew bring along half of the Petone store. The lounge is also home to  a Ravelry and Twitter meet-up from 1pm – 3pm with free Ravelry badges on Saturday, plus Tash is pulling out all the stops with giant knitting needles and an explosion of pom poms.