Demonstrations

Demonstrations run from 11 am to 6pm. Most also include an interactive element – you can have a go at making things yourself! Drop by at any time − get your free ticket here.

Art & Design Fashion & Textiles Craft & Home Guests

Art & Design

Letterpress

Rachel Stanners of Prickle Press will show how a hand-operated letterpress works, show the equipment used, and how to ink up, set type and print using this traditional technique. Letterpress is an old, tactile craft that requires time and focus to produce a beautiful impression!

Calligraphy

Calligrapher Rosella Garavaglia will be demonstrating how to use lettering to create expressive pieces that turn the written word into a beautiful art form. For a small donation, you can have a go yourself and create a piece to take away.

Illustration & drawing

Illustrate your world with Brixton-based artist Elena Blanco! Elena will create original, personalised artworks for visitors to Making Uncovered. Bring a story, poem or other idea and she’ll create a little artist book for them. She’ll also invite you to participate by drawing your experiences of the event.

Cyanotype

Zoë Burt will demonstrate the mysterious art of cyanotype, an early form of camera-less photography used to create other-worldly images.  Zoe will offer drop-in sessions throughout the day so that you can try the process for yourself and take home a beautiful cyanotype bookmark.

Fashion & Textiles

Ugandan textile art

The sister duo behind Afroretro will be demonstrating their unique blend of Ugandan textile art and upcycling, transforming various materials and fabrics into garments and other items. They will also run drop-in sessions for anyone who fancies turning their hand to African weaving.

Resist dyeing

Kim Winter of Flextiles will demonstrate the techniques of resist dyeing. One of the best-known examples is tie-dye – binding the cloth with string or elastic bands  to produce a ring pattern. Other types include stitching, folding, pleating and clamping. Kim will be showing how she uses stitch to create patterns when dyeing with indigo.

Handmade hair products

Jayne is a hairdresser who brews her own range of hair products at a little studio in Brixton under the name of Hairy Jayne. She will be showing the process of creating handmade hair products, including conditioner and hair perfume, using essential oils and natural products.

Knitted jewellery

Elena Hall draws on tradition and a love of colour to inspire her unique knitted jewellery designs. She will be demonstrating some of the techniques behind her work, including bobbin knitting and crochet.

Wool and leather

WOLLE+HIDE make beautiful fashion accessories from wool, leather and sheepskin. Watch Susan demonstrate her affinity with her materials as she creates tactile purses and covers. She believes in the infinite quality of natural materials and supports the Campaign for Wool.  

 Craft & Home

Green woodworking

From log to leg: furniture maker Ben Willis will demonstrate how beautiful pieces of furniture can be crafted from wood in its rawest from, straight from the tree. As well as demonstrating a range of woodworking techniques, Ben will offer short taster sessions in turning wood on a foot-operated lathe.

Ceramics on a potter’s wheel

Beth Mander is a ceramicist from Crystal Palace and the organiser of the weekly Handmade Palace market. Beth will bring along her potter’s wheel and demonstrate the skill of throwing pots throughout the day.

Upholstery

Upholstery can restore unused or discarded furniture into glorious, cherished pieces. Judith Bartlett of Cushions ‘n’ stuff will demonstrate her skills in the art, transforming over the course of the day a charity shop chair to its former glory and revealing how new is not always best

Our guests 

We are joined at the event by two radical south London initiatives. Come and hear about their work and how you can get involved.

The Remakery is a co-operative that has just finished renovating a disused underground car park to create a new co-working space for re-using, repairing and upcycling in Brixton. It’s opening very soon!

Brixton Pound is our very own local currency, the first urban local currency in the UK launched in 2009. Around 250 local businesses currently accept paper B£ and over 160 accept pay-by-text payments.