The Make Lounge

Last night I went to a class at The Make Lounge in north London. This was my first visit to their new location near Highbury & Islington - previously they had been next to Angel tube station. Both places are convenient for me to get to after work, which is great!

As it says on their website, The Make Lounge offers contemporary craft workshops with a stylish, social twist – perfect for embracing the ‘make do and mend’ ethic in a fashionable way! And they're right. The new location offers several brightly lit rooms with large tables for working on, quiet music in the background, and an assortment of drinks and nibbles to enjoy.

So last night I took their Survival Sewing course and it was really good. Five of us brought along things that needed small repairs - ranging from loose buttons and hanging hems to stuffed animal surgery and the transformation of a dress into a top! We all got clear demonstrations of the "felling stitch" for hemming and the best way to put on a button, and then those of us with simple repairs got to work while individual tuition was given to the people with more complicated projects.

I am proud to say that I have repaired the hem on my best "dressy" trousers, replaced the missing button on my coat and secured several others, and gotten started on raising the hem on a new pair of jeans. The plush spotted seal that another person brought has come through surgery fantastically, and a little boy won't be tripping on the hem of his cricket trousers anymore. And all this in only two hours!

I'll be going back in spring for another workshop, about zips and buttonholes. After all, I'll need someplace to put all my newly attached buttons!