Urban Makers Weekend Market — Saturday 15 August
By Urban MakersUp to 30 independent makers in the covered hall at Old Spitalfields. Free entry, 10am–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
Endgrain & Co
Woodwork
My speciality is end-grain butcher's blocks, where the wood is cut into cubes and glued standing up so the knife goes between the fibres rather than across them. It keeps an edge sharp for far longer and the board heals itself. A single block is around two hundred pieces, glued in two stages, flattened, then oiled seven times over a week. They are heavy, which people always comment on. I also make smaller trivets and coasters from the same process at a friendlier price.
Oat & Olive
Bath & body
My whole range started because my son has eczema and nothing on the shelves suited him.
Second Life Timber
Woodwork
I work exclusively with reclaimed timber, mostly floor joists and scaffold boards from demolition sites, which means a lot of time with a metal detector and a nail punch before I can even plane a board. The wood is old slow-grown pine and it smells extraordinary when it is cut. I make shelves with cast iron brackets, low benches, and picture frames. Nail holes, saw marks and paint traces stay in. Buyers usually want to know which building it came from and I keep a note.
Signature & Spine
Stationery
I rebind damaged books and make blank journals in the same traditional structures.
Steam & Sage
Bath & body
I make things for the shower rather than the bath, because most London flats do not have one.
The Balm Room
Bath & body
I infuse oils with herbs for six weeks in a sunny window before I make anything, which is the slow step everybody skips. Calendula for a nappy balm, comfrey for aching hands, plantain for bites and stings. From those oils I make small pots of balm with beeswax from a beekeeper in Kent. Everything is safety assessed by a cosmetic chemist and batch numbered, because I take that part seriously even at this scale. Tins are aluminium and I refill them at markets for a discount.
Type & Tide
Print & illustration
I hand-letter with a broad-edged pen and a brush, then print the results. The words come from sea shanties, tide tables and things my grandmother used to say, so there is a lot of salt in them. I mix my own walnut and iron gall inks, which age and shift over the years rather than staying flat. Prints come in three sizes and I letter the odd one-off on request while people wait, which is nerve-racking with an audience but usually goes well.
Woad & Weft
Textiles & accessories
I keep an indigo vat going in my back yard and feed it like a sourdough starter, which is exactly as odd as it sounds. Everything I dye is shibori: bound, folded or stitched before it goes in, then unpicked wet to reveal the pattern. I dye linen napkins, cotton bandanas, silk scarves and a small run of cushion covers. The blue oxidises from green to indigo in front of you as it comes out of the vat, and I bring a small vat to markets to demonstrate.
Organised by
Moderate refunds. Full refund available until 7 days before the event.
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