Handmade By You in Kew

Finding a new place in South London to attend a craft workshop is always exciting and I recently found a little gem. Tucked away in Kew is Handmade By You, a quirky craft little company, situated on the high street.

In preparation for Valentines, Handmade By You ran a Valentines themed workshop, unusually we were making both a valentines card and shampoo and it was only when a few people had mentioned to me that is was a strange combination of crafts, that I thought it did sound a little odd, but you should have been there, it was refreshing to do 2 completely different crafts and total value for money (I absolutely loved learning how to make natural shampoo)

After a weekend of snow it was great to get out of the house and enjoy something creative. Our night started perfectly with heart shaped scones, stuffed with jam and cream, my body is a temple mantra went out of the window!

Our card making tutor was Jessica Aldred, Co-author of Adventures in Needlework. I was slightly in awe, Jessica was great, she gave us a selection of 4 of valentine’s cards to pick from, I chose the very pretty button heart.

The time flew by, Jessica was the perfect tutor, chatty and helpful. We managed to finish in the allocated hour and then onto the chemistry of making shampoo, with essential oils, presented by Alice.

I was terrible at chemistry at school and I think left to my own devises I would have been equally as awful at making shampoo, but thankfully Alice was on hand to teach us the importance of the PH balance, the combination of different essential oils and the benefits of making your own natural products versus buying products from the shops and there are loads and not just to the environment but also to your hair, but don’t just take my advise, contact Alice for more info. @handemadebyyou

I loved my finished products, one valentine card and 2 different shampoos , needless to say these were too nice for Mr Big and I’ve kept them for myself.

At the end we were handed more lovely goodies, remember the lucky dip bags from when we were kids?!? A pretty paper bag, filled with surprises, only when we opened ours, there were no sweeties or small toy, far better, ours were filled with, vintage threads, pretty beads, embroidery threads, a Handmade By You broach making kit.

The very small touches that Handmade By You have added to their workshops make a huge difference to the customers experience. The workshops are a great gift or like me you could just save it for yourself. 
The next Handmade By You workshop is Jewellery making – Vintage Charm Bracelet 26^th Feb. 

Find Handmade By You on twitter and Return the special tweets to win a free place. But if you can’t make it to Kew, the lovely Alice who runs the workshops is also in Hammersmith too, here’s what Alice had to say:

"I run The Make Something out of Nothing Craft Club every Tuesday Night in Chiswick/Hammersmith.  We craft in Pantry at The Hampshire Hog and Pantry, King Street, Hammersmith from 7-9 every Tuesday.  Each week, we have a mini workshop where we upcycle and refashion vintage, pre loved or seemingly useless objects into beautiful homewares, accessories and treats. Want to make a tie into a necklace, a tea cup into a pin cushion, some fabric into some cufflinks?  Then this club is for you!  Club members can either bring the object we are refashioning or purchase one from me for a small fee.  All club nights are cosy, fun and informal and a great way of meeting new, crafty people.  Joining the club is free and you just pay £10 for each night you attend."

You can find a full list of the Handmade By You workshops listed on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHandmadeByYouShop

Website: http://www.handmade-by-you.co.uk/
Twitter: @handmadebyyou

Hammersmith/ Chiswick Meet Up: www.meetup.com/The-make-something-out-of-nothing-craft-club

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Handmade-by-You