The Makery in Rainford
A couple of weekends ago I spent the morning at The Makery in Rainford, near to St Helens. The weeks have flashed past and I haven’t had time to tell you about it so let me show you my photographs now.
It’s a lovely place, tucked away in a parade of shops along one of Rainford’s main streets. Just the kind of shop that you’d like to find in your village, where you can buy special gifts and learn new skills as easily as buying a loaf of bread or a newspaper.
And this is Catherine, who owns the shop. She’s lovely too, friendly and welcoming, and doing what so many of us would like to do for a living by owning a craft shop.
She has a good eye for what people like, and her shop is filled with all kinds of treats – some to buy and some to make.
Catherine runs regular workshops on sewing, crocheting and lots of other crafts – you can find out more here on her Facebook page. She even teaches people to turn old books into unique ornaments by folding the pages in clever ways which seems like some kind of magic to me!
Whatever your craft, I’m pretty certain you’d find supplies here. From yarn for knitting and crocheting to buttons and material to card-making resources, it’s all here! I could have spent a very long time poring over every item; there’s so much to see and I know that I would have loved a shop like this in my village when I was growing up. I always had something creative on the go and this would have fed my habit nicely!
One of Catherine’s specialties is re-painting old wooden furniture and she has a good range of paints for the job. I love shops like this, they make me itch to try out new skills!
On this particular Saturday, a certain sock knitter was visiting for a sock clinic and drop-in knit n natter session. It was lovely to meet new people who were able to try out the various sock needles and stay to chat for a while. Knitting and nattering is such a sociable activity! The workshops all take place around this table too; small groups who have the chance to get to know each other as well as what they are learning. Why not make new friends at the same time as honing new skills? It sounds perfect to me!
I’ve written before about how important I think it is that shops like this one should be supported by the local community so that they – and the community – can thrive. How wonderful to have an oasis of crafting calm in the centre of a busy village! It’s something that every village should have, in my opinion, and aside from it being someone’s dream and all dreams should have the opportunity to flourish, I feel that if we don’t support our local businesses, we all become the poorer for it. We will be left with generic superstores that offer us what they think we should want, without any room for individual taste or desires. That would be a very sad day.
There’s a knit n natter group here every week (and you don’t get many of those in your local supermarket!) and some of the workshops run in the evenings too, so that there’s as much opportunity for people to attend as possible. Catherine even holds children’s parties – children love having a go at all types of crafts and where will our designers and crafters of the future come from if we don’t teach them from a young age?
I thoroughly enjoyed my morning at The Makery and will be back later in the year to run a sock-making workshop which I’m very much looking forward to. If you live close enough, I can definitely recommend popping in to visit – you’ll be glad you did!
2022 edit – The Makery shop has now closed down.
What an amazing shop! We have a fantastic craft shop in our local town I have never had a really good look at all they sell, perhaps I should now!
It never costs anything to go and look and who knows, you might find it's just your kind of place! xx
The Makwry looks and sounds like a wonderful place! In my home town we have lost 3 yarn/craft shops in just over a year…very sad.
That is sad, Maria, especially when you think that each of those shops were probably once someone's dream. Of course, the shop owner has to do more than just sit and wait for business to walk through the door, but I think that we need to play our part in supporting them too – that way we all benefit! xx
It's looks such a gorgeous place just to be in!
It's lovely, Rachel, it's a shop with a really happy, friendly feel to it – the kind of place that makes you want to stay for much longer than you intended! xx
What a lovely shop, a real treasure trove and so pretty too! I'm sure your session went down very well. I've been to quite a few of these kind of workshops in the past and must go to some more as they are such fun. Sadly there are no knitting groups in my town. I'm always on the lookout for one, but the world of blogging is one huge knit 'n' natter group, really, isn't it? Have a good weekend.
Cathy x
Yes, you're right, blogging takes the place of physical groups for so many people who can't get to one for one reason or another – we're lucky to have that option these days xx
I like community shops like this. We have a few here, which I try to support. How wonderful to be the sock expert of the region Christine, I am very happy for you that you are giving workshops all over the place.
What I noticed though is that these shops attract a certain type of customer, me, the middle class woman. There is still a lot to do to open up making to other people to, maybe by running free sessions at community centres etc? I imagine it would be nice to have a knit and natter session at a home for the elderly for example. xx
The sock expert of the region! Ha, I suspect not, Christina, although you're very kind to say so – perhaps I just shout about it more loudly than the others! 🙂 I love your idea of knit n natter groups in residential homes and have passed it on to a couple of other yarn shop owners that I know – it seems like a perfect idea to break up what could be long and boring days for residents and takes the yarn to them too. Thank you! xx
Wow that looks like such an inspiring place to visit. I think I'd end up trying all sorts of crafts if I had something like that on my doorstep
I love that children are welcomed as well – I think as as a Mum herself, Catherine understands very well how much children enjoy making things and are so less self-conscious about the results than we are as adults sometimes; for them it's all about the process and that's a lesson for all of us, I think! 🙂 xx
What a splendid shop and indeed it deserves support. I try to pop into our local yarn shop on a regular basis and chat to the lovely owner who will have been working there 40 years in May!
How lovely to have that connection with your local yarn shop, Perpetua! To have a shop for 40 years is a massive achievement and it must be a very strong part of your community xx
What a wonderful shop!! How great to have a place like that to go to to craft! xx
It certainly is! It's not been open for very long so hopefully as more people get to know about it, it will become a real centre for crafting activity in the area xx
Oops, I forgot, Happy Valentines! xx
And Happy Valentine's Day to you too! xx
Oh what a beautiful shop – it looks filled to the brim with my kind of treasure!
Oh, it has fabulous treasures, Carie! I could have brought armfuls of them away with me! xx
Ooohhh what a lovely shop and full to the top – you were very lucky to visit especially for a knit n natter. I would love there to be a shop like The Makery in my town or what's more on my island xx Joy xx
I'm surprised there isn't anything like that where you live, Joy, I'd have thought it would be perfect! xx