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All kinds of creative crafters will have their work for sale at a pre-Christmas Makers’ Market in Ōrewa on November 12.
It’s a chance to buy some unique crafts direct from the people that made them.
The market is organised by Estuary Arts Centre and stalls will be set out around the centre, by Ōrewa Estuary and Te Ara Tahuna walk and cycleway.
The variety of work for sale will include art, jewellery and plants.
You can watch potters, sculptors, spinners and weavers and Oamaru stone carvers work on pieces, the café will be open, there’s a sausage sizzle and buskers will be around to entertain shoppers.
Inside the arts centre, there will be a chance to have a go at various art activities, including tie dye and harakeke (flax) weaving.
Estuary Arts Centre manager Kim Boyd says as the market runs from 2pm-7pm, people can bring a picnic and enjoy the atmosphere.
Skilled hands give fabric new life Ōrewa crafter Stacey Manuel has been making cushions and clothes from left over fabrics for years, but in lockdown she branched out into other useful items for the home. Stacey’s brother is a curtain installer, and provides her with bags of beautiful left over or sample designer fabric. “I made a full set of curtains from pure silk which would otherwise have gone in the rubbish,” Stacey says. Seeing what she had made for her home with the fabric, friends suggested she should do more. In lockdown, Stacey began experimenting, making bags, purses, bunting and wine bottle holders. “I make things for people to use – it’s important to me that they have a purpose, so you are making good use of something that someone else threw away.” Most of what Stacey makes is given as gifts – the Estuary Arts Makers Market is the first time that she and her mother, skilled crocheter Caroline Grant, have had a stall to sell the things they have made. “I love the idea that it’s local and as well as buying things, I hope it encourages people to have a go at making things themselves,” Stacey says.
