© 2024 Midtown Makers Studios & Shop
in Partnership with Ballymena Business Centre
Fibre and Textiles
Makers Directory
BAGS AND BOBS
BY MAURA
Tel: 07824440815
Maura makes beautiful handmade bags for all occasions. Learning to make these bags was a learning curve for Maura, while looking after her own children when they were still quite young as she helped out a friend, who had started a small business, making fabric gifts for both children & adults. After retiring from a varied selection of jobs, Maura returned to making bags again. Maura has added a whole range of other gifts, such as quilted tote & messenger bags, both are lined and made from tweed and patterned material, pincushions and sewing pouches.
BAGS AND BUNTING
Email: info@bagsandbunting.com
Bags and Bunting was founded in 2011 by Ruth Wilson. Through her love of sewing, Ruth started to build a collection of quirky and interesting fabrics and worked on creating ranges of homeware products. She was encouraged by her family to make her products more widely available. Ruth has continued to develop her range of products to include fashion accessories and gifts such as needle cases, flower brooches, lavender hearts and jam pot covers.
BENNY'S BASKET
Benny's Basket is multi-craft business including knitting, sewing and printing homemade crafts.
CABINET OF
CURIOUS CRAFTS
My name is Amanda and I love crochet - making, designing and teaching. I first started to crochet as a hobby in 2009; creating useful and fun items from nothing more than a ball of yarn and a hook. It soon became an addiction and now I sell accessories, gifts, and custom orders on Etsy, OurWeeMakers, at local craft fairs, and in Midtown Makers. I run regular workshops for various levels of crochet experience as well as special classes focusing on mindfulness and the positive effect of crafts for wellness.
CRAFTED BY LAW
I have been crafting for many years but decided to take a leap of faith and start selling my hand knitted items and so Crafted by LAW (Linda Ann Wray) was established. A selection of unique gifts are displayed in Midtown Makers Gift Shop, including hats, scarfs, baby cardigans and Aran style garments.
FELTING CRAZY
My name is Shelley Steele, and Felting Crazy is the brand name of my one-woman business. I have had a life-long interest in textile art and craft, and I love the transformative process of felting; I feel there is a certain magic involved.
At Midtown Makers you can see a range of my work - from wearables to pictures to more practical items, with many items inspired by the wonderful land and seascapes of Northern Ireland.
FUNKY FLEECES
Several years ago, during a school trip, one of my children needed a new fleece jacket but had a desire for something different. Embracing the opportunity, we embarked on a visit to our local fabric shop, eager to create a one-of-a-kind garment. Armed with a pattern and some materials, the first Funky Fleeces jacket came to life. Little did we know that this humble beginning would set the stage for an exciting journey ahead. Since those early days, Funky Fleeces has evolved and expanded its collection.
MARYDOLLS
Mary is a Needle Felting Artist based in Ballymena. She makes adorable figurines of fairies, dogs, cats, dolls and seasonal decorations. Mary also makes wet felted and knitted ladies wraps, scarves and bags and gents wet felted scarves.
O-LOVE
I started to crochet ten years ago as I hobby. I started doing craft fairs nine years ago. I love making new items. I have started a few more crafts in the last year and I love doing them all.
PENNY & ROSE
MEMORY BEARS
07540809390​​
My name is Michelle, I am the maker of the original Ballymena Bear which was made for local advertising of my hometown, Ballymena in 2015. The franchise created a demand for Penny & Rose bears, allowing me to specialise in Memory Bears using loved ones' precious clothing. The pattern I used to make the Memory Bears is the same original pattern I created for the Ballymena Bear.
RENU DESIGN STUDIO
After a Degree in Fashion and Textile Design, Claire from Renu Design Studio, settled as a retail manager and buyer for a Large Northern Ireland Store, which she enjoyed. After having her little boy , She decided to leave the retail world and get back to creative roots and began to build Renu Design Studio, where she draws her inspiration from the local Co Tyrone countryside & the forever changing motion of the nature, that surrounds her, where her Studio is now located.
SALLY'S
SEWING BOX
Seven years ago, I joined an adult sewing class at our local Church as part of Church All. I had only done a little sewing while at school, but never on a sewing machine, which I turned out to enjoy. It soon became a passion and I used all my free time creating beautiful prefect gifts for the home, either your own or someone else's. Sewing has become my passion and helps me reduce my Stress levels.
SANDRA STREETER TEXTILES
I use textiles as a main medium to create my work, I love to join pieces of fabric and be creative by making something useful with unwanted textiles, challenging myself with colours, shapes, patterns, and textures, the main objective is to use what is already there, the textiles industry is the second largest contaminants in the world. I source all my materials in a very sustainable way, going around charity shops, fabric samples, end of fabric rolls or given to me by family and friends.
SARAH ROSE
Sarah Rose is a collaboration between mother and daughter Joan and Melanie. They knit accessories such as scarves, hand-warmers and headbands. The name Sarah Rose came from the names of Melanie's grandmothers. Inspired by the tradition of Irish knitting, designs are created in a modern style using simple stitches through to intricate Irish Aran designs.
THE EARLY BIRD
Andrea O'Kane is a designer and creator of pictures and soft furnishings, known for her unique technique. She has developed and perfected her own method, which involves creating fleece from wool sourced from the sheep she keeps at home. After creating the fleece, Andrea paints and embroiders fine stitching onto the pictures, giving them a special handmade finish. Her passion for nature and animals is evident in her remarkable pieces of work.