If you’re a crafty broad in London, but have yet to check out The Make Lounge, you might just have to hand in your craft card. The Make Lounge is kitschy, lively place where you can go to “meet people and make stuff” through stylish and social craft workshops.
Founded by the fabulous Jennifer Pirtle, The Make Lounge is a “welcoming space featuring short-term, project-oriented craft workshops” that serves as a fantastic day or night out. You can hang out, make cool stuff, and then walk away with not only a new skill, but with something you've made!
I dropped by The Make Lounge to check out the venue and to have a chat with Jennifer about her vision behind The Make Lounge and to find out exactly how it all works. The venue itself is a fantastic, open space with brilliant lighting, a strong creative vibe, and was thoughtfully decorated by Jennifer herself. It is an incredibly cool space, and Jennifer was just fun to talk to.
Jennifer what was your inspiration behind creating The Make Lounge? What made you want to do this?
I was working as a journalist and was feeling a bit burnt out doing features. I really wanted to do something that was creative and was with my hands, not just on my computer and with my digital recorder, but I didn’t know where to go.
I ended up taking a class, and it was in a horrible venue. It was in a basement with no windows and it just wasn't very inspiring. The lessons felt traditional and really dated, and at the end of the day you didn’t really have anything to show for your efforts.
I went back to The Hub, where my office was then based, and started asking if anyone knew of anywhere else that was a bit more contemporary and fun to learn crafts. Everyone said, “No, but if you find someplace let us know!" I had access to a workshop space, so I began doing workshops and set up our web site. We moved to our current venue in April 2008.
How exactly does The Make Lounge work? If I were to come down here with a group of my friends what could we expect?
We have a variety of ways of doing things. We have public workshops that people can book on through the web site. We do those a few times a weeks in the evenings, and on Saturday mornings. Many people bring a girlfriend, come on their own, we actually get get a lot of mother-daughters groups which is pretty cool.
What about if I wanted to do a party here for all my stitchy-bitchy friends?
You can always book a workshop for group. We do lots of birthday parties and girls’ nights out. We also run lots of hen parties on Saturdays. Guests usually go out to lunch, and then come to us from about 2:30 onward. Most have champagne toast, we can source cupcakes, and many make fascinator hats or jewelery, then go out for their evening activities. Most of our workshops can be adapted for a hen event.
What's the most popular workshop at The Make Lounge?
At the moment, definitely the sewing workshops! We can’t add them fast enough! The introduction to the sewing machine workshops are the most popular, we do two of them. One of them is making a cushion cover with a corsage on it, and we also do some retro cafe aprons. Once you take an intro class, you can go on and do other things like clothing and knickers. The knickers workshop is wildly popular but you do need to have a bit of sewing experience.
What if I wanted to just stop by and do something small - like not a full-blown workshop?
We're starting to do monthly craft nights that are less formal than the workshops, so you can come along and for a small fee and have a go with kits created by some talented UK designer makers. For example, in February we’re partnering with Craft Guerilla who specialize in handmade goods. They’re preparing some funky Valentines Day crafts for us, so opposed to doing pink hearts and doilies they’re doing anatomically correct hearts, mustache disguises so you can “sneak up on your lover” and another one is making a fabric love bird.
We’re billing it as a chance to make something for your Valentine, even if your Valentine is you. Just come in, hang out, and have fun. If you need help, we’re here. It’s just informal and fun and costs about £10 for the night.
What do you think sets you apart from other craft groups or even venues where you can learn how to sew or knit?
The workshops here are a lot of fun. I’ve tried to make it so that it's not just about coming here and learning a skill - it’s about coming here, being social, and having a day or night out. Our tagline is 'meet people make stuff', and that’s what it’s about.
Our competition isn’t so much other craft classes, but rather dinner or going to the theatre. Our customers book time at The Make Lounge like they would book a massage. You're essentially setting up this time for yourself.
We have expert teachers, all the materials you’ll need, plus wine and nibbles. When you leave a class, you’ve got something to show for it – cool, funky projects that you’ll actually use or give to someone as a gift.
You mentioned those dreaded C words earlier: Credit Crunch. Do you think the price (£19 to £49) for a workshop is going to put people off?
Well, it’s the price of going out to dinner or out with your friends. We offer something very different than learning how to quilt in a church hall using horrible, polyester fabric. We have very high quality materials, more than 30 teachers who each specialise in a specific subject, plus a really fun, social environment. It’s very good value and so far, our customers love it!
What's new, exciting things are going on at The Make Lounge? What's on the horizon?
Our March Craft Night will feature a fab guy who does cross stitch, but instead of stitching ducks and bunnies he uses Banksy graffiti and Space Invader motifs. We’re also hoping to start offering "crafting for a cause" afternoons, where you’d knit little hats for premature babies that would go to a nearby hospital. Things like that.
We’ve got other some fun things in the pipeline, including an online shop – featuring handmade stuff from designer makers, contemporary craft kits, plus fabrics, such as the Amy Butler designs we use in our workshops (and which are quite tricky to find in London).
Huge thanks to Jennifer for taking the time out from her busy day to talk with us and to show us around!
If you have any further questions about The Make Lounge or are interested in attending a workshop, one of their craft nights, or want to set up an craft event - check out their nifty website!
You can also follow The Make Lounge folks on Twitter - @themakelounge !
