March 2019 – Ealing Craft Collective

This weekend is the grand re-opening of Pitshanger Manor in West London and I was lucky enough to go along and have a look.

Pitshanger Manor, was owned from 1800 to 1810 by the architect John Soane. Soane intended it as a country villa (in then rural Ealing) for entertaining and eventually for passing to his elder son. He demolished and rebuilt most of the previously existing building except the two-storey south wing that he had helped to design with his first employer in 1768. Following a three year conservation and renewal project the Manor has been returned to Soane’s original design for the first time in 150 years.

The building is beautiful. The full restoration to bring it back to its 1800’s glory is amazing in every detail. The restoration team have left lovely details like sections where you can see how many layers of paint and paper there have been in the past as they tried to discover the original decorative colour and designs.

The Upper Drawing Room was hand painted from top to bottom with trees and animals to recreate the original decor and it’s a work of art! Apparently you have to find a wasp and a squirrel on the walls hidden in the design.

Im impressed that the designers have even managed to squeeze in a tiny lift so that all 4 floors of the Manor are accessible to buggies and wheelchairs although it is a one at a time tiny lift space! Ramps are at every doorway and the team at the Manor couldn’t have been more helpful in guiding me round with my pushchair!

The manor and gallery team have really thought about their visitors. There’s a children’s trail to spot the Soane’s favourite dog, some lovely interactive computer screens down low and building bricks and colouring pencils to keep the kids happy while you read up on the history of the Manor.

And starting on opening weekend, a host of activities for the family to enjoy from Bach to Baby mini-concerts, storytelling, Little builders creative play, Easter picnics and chocolate egg workshops to a wallpaper painting masterclass for the adults. Do check out the website for further details.

On the site of the old Ealing Library adjacent to the Manor House is now a fabulous gallery and exhibition space which will be the home to many artists and designers as they showcase their work. Until August 18th it’s the home of the work of artist Anish Kapoor. The sculptures currently in situ are wonderful and have been designed to echo the colours and shapes in the stained glass domes in the original building. The pieces are designed to be disorientating and constantly changing and they really achieve this while being mesmerisingly beautiful.

The Manor also has a lovely gift shop to spend in on the way out, and the Soane restaurant or Rickyard cafe for a relaxing cup of tea.

Please support this fabulous West London building and the team who have put so much work into creating a wonderful visitor attraction. And don’t forget it’s right on the edge of Walpole Park with playgrounds and loads of space to run around or sit and enjoy the views.

Pitshanger Manor is in Walpole Park Mattock Lane, Ealing London W5 5EQ.

The grand reopening weekend is 16th and 17th March 2019

https://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/

I had the most wonderful accidental meeting with the two lovely ladies who have set up this amazing crafty venture. I was meeting some friends in a knitting group for a cup of tea in a local cafe (and being taught how to knit) when they came in to buy fabric from the cafe owner. We immediately started talking about craft-related materials and not long afterwards they very kindly invited me over to see what they were up to.

The Maker Station, Brentford is a co-working, hot-benching studio space for makers, artisans and creatives. Kal and Fay, the ladies who have recently put their hearts and souls into setting it up are fabulous, friendly and fun, and boy do they have some knowledge in all things crafty! We chatted over tea while they showed me the second-hand table and chairs they had stylishly up-cycled and the old horse hair sofa they were deciding how to bring back from the dead. They have a fabulous knowledge of fabrics and upholstery, sewing and design and have a clear philosophy that sending furniture to landfill isn’t an option when it can be transformed into something new and beautiful.

Before the makeover

The idea is a simple one. To get creatives, artists, home crafting businesses and hobbyists to come together in one shared space. They both understand the frustrations of working from home on any craft – not enough space, not being able to leave things out, trying to juggle work and family, and becoming isolated working alone – and the Maker Station offers a solution to it all. You can rent a workbench, a locker, machinery, a tool box, or just a seat and some wi-fi. They have meeting spaces, comfy sofas, areas to give presentations in to possible clients, even somewhere you can hang up and display materials and colours for a mood board or similar. The equipment is amazing – industrial sized sewing machines that can sew through the toughest fabrics, a huge table space to cut large pieces of cloth, and almost all the materials and crafting tools you could ever need, and of course, a lovely kitchen for all those much needed mugs of caffeine as you get firmly stuck into a project!

The Maker Station would be the most amazing place to do craft demos and classes. The space is fabulously accommodating and flexible enough to fit a large or small class in anything from sewing to interior design, jewelry making to flower arranging and everything in between. They have more fabric books than I’ve ever seen with the most gorgeous samples in which they can order for you, plus ribbons, edgings, cottons, tools and more, and they have plans to set up an area of their space and their website where crafters can display their handmade produce for sale.

The building is right next door to the Waterman’s Arts Centre, with fabulous views over the river where the natural light just comes streaming in, and personally i can’t think of anywhere better to release those creative juices with like-minded people!