Urban Makers at Old Spitalfields — Wednesday 29 July
By Urban MakersOur weekly midweek maker market in the covered hall at Old Spitalfields. Free entry, 11am–5pm.
About this event
Where
Old Spitalfields Market
16 Horner Square, Spitalfields, London E1 6EW
Good to know
Free entry
No ticket needed — just turn up. Bring a bag for life.
Step-free access
The whole market is step-free with accessible toilets on site.
Getting here
Please travel by public transport or bike — there is no visitor parking.
Meet the makers
Coptic & Co
Stationery
Coptic binding is the oldest codex structure there is and it lets a book open completely flat, which matters enormously if you are drawing across a spread.
Crackle & Glaze
Ceramics
I chase crazing on purpose. My glazes are formulated to craze finely, and after the second firing I rub in a tea and oxide wash so the whole surface shows a delicate web. I throw bottle vases, wide fruit bowls, and a tall carafe with two beakers that ends up on people's bedside tables. A white stoneware body keeps the crackle legible. Interiors get a stable liner glaze, so everything stays watertight and properly usable rather than decorative.
Graphite Yard
Stationery
I make desk things in a small workshop: pencil cases from waxed canvas, turned wooden pen rests, and a leather roll that holds twelve pencils.
Kilnfolk
Ceramics
I run a small community kiln and make my own work around teaching evenings. The range is tableware for sharing: sectioned plates, deep curry bowls, and a wide serving dish with a rolled rim you can grip with oven gloves. I throw in a warm terracotta-flecked stoneware and use bright food-safe glazes, turmeric yellow, chilli red, a green like curry leaf. It is meant to look right with the food my family actually cooks. Most market customers build a set piece by piece.
Koji & Co
Food & drink
I grow koji on barley in an incubator I built from a broken wine fridge, then use it to make miso, shio koji and a fermented chilli paste.
Lost Wax Lane
Jewellery
I carve wax models under a magnifying lamp, which is how I lose whole afternoons.
Nettle & Gold
Jewellery
I use keum-boo, an old Korean technique where fine gold foil is fused onto silver with heat and burnishing rather than glue or plating. It gives a warm gold that will never wear off. My shapes are simple discs, pebbles and long bars, hung on chain I make link by link. The gold goes on in irregular patches, like lichen on stone. Each earring in a pair is close but not identical, which I say clearly, because a few people want them matched.
Peculiar Pies
Food & drink
I make hand-raised pies with a hot water crust, moulded around a wooden dolly rather than baked in a tin, so they stand up on their own and have that thick shattering pastry.
Riverbed Jewellery
Jewellery
I roll-print my silver using dried grasses, feathers and lace collected on walks, running them through the mill under enough pressure to leave a permanent impression. Those textured sheets become domed pendants, wrap rings and long earrings. Then I oxidise everything and polish the raised parts back so the pattern reads clearly. Nothing survives the mill twice, so a pattern is only ever used once. I have been trading at London markets since 2019 and most of my customers now come back for the next one.
Signet & Salt
Jewellery
I hand-engrave, which is a stubborn craft to have chosen in 2026.
Two Left Thumbs
Ceramics
I am entirely self-taught and my pots look it, cheerfully.
Organised by
Moderate refunds. Full refund available until 7 days before the event.
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