madebyhandonline at The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

We so enjoyed our trip to The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester last month. Not only were we able to catch up with some of our own Makers but, as sponsors of the event, we had the privilege of looking at all the amazing stands before the doors were officially opened. Our Best New Business Award went to textile artist Melanie Mayho and we look forward to introducing her work to you very soon on madebyhandonline.

There was a great atmosphere at the private view and Sarah and I had a fantastic time meeting new Makers as well as doing a fair bit of shopping! We loved seeing Jennifer Collier's new paper lampshades and Tone von Krogh's teapots (coming soon) and we were so impressed by Judith Brown's stand of delicate necklaces and earrings made from vintage haberdashery. Other favourites included work by Ruth Green, Katie Almond, Louise Miller, Bruce Aitken and Suet Yi.

I also especially enjoyed meeting up with Sarah Allen who makes beautiful, bold handwoven textiles. Her stand looked really striking and I found it hard to find time to talk to her as she was so busy with customers! It was Sarah's first time exhibiting at The Great Northern and she has very kindly written a bit about her experience of the event...

"Well, it’s been a busy week since I arrived home from my first time exhibiting at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. I’ve been following up leads, and getting boxes of corsages, badges, purses and bags ready to send off to shops and galleries around the country. Less than 2 weeks ago I wasn’t quite sure what I was letting myself in for.

In the lead up to the show I spent more time planning than usual, I wanted my space to invite people in, let them get a close look and touch my work if they wanted to. I’d marked the space out in chalk on the floor in my workshop, so I could get a feel for how big it was. I also carefully selected the work to display so that it looked like a cohesive collection rather than a random jumble of every idea I have ever had! The planning paid off – I was relieved to find that everything fitted perfectly and I was pleased with the overall effect of my display.

Over the weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting people and seeing (or hearing) their response to my work. I love to meet my customers face to face - their feedback is so valuable. You can’t beat watching what people touch to find out which colours and fabrics are the most popular.  

The highlight for me was watching peoples’ expressions as they worked their way around my stand, ooh-ing over the bags, purses and cushions. Then they would get to the photo of my loom: realise I had hand woven all the fabric before crafting it into something, and work their way round the stand again. I was delighted with the interest that this generated and for the opportunity to explain my processes to so many people.

Thank you to everyone I spoke to (makers and visitors) who helped to make it a very encouraging and worthwhile experience."

Many thanks from us to all the team at The Great Northern and a big thank you to Sarah for writing for us. Sarah's work is available to see and buy here and her new work, including her handwoven cushions, will be available soon.

Other madebyhandonline exhibitors at The Great Northern: Christine Kaltoft, Jennifer Collier, Tone von Krogh, See Sun Yung, Judith Brown, Janine Partington, Sally Pawson, Alix Swan and Nobuko Okumura.