‘Go Green’ craft night in Hackney Pic: Junxin Bi

Hackney’s craft making event The Make Escape kicked off this week at the Hackney Picturehouse, Mare Street with a ‘Go Green’ theme.

Eco-conscious craft lovers brought along their unwanted materials and gave them a makeover. With the emphasis on re-using and recycling, scraps of fabrics and even old maps were turned into bags and table coasters.

Momtaz Begum-Hossain, founder of The Make Escape. Pic: Junxin Bi

Momtaz Begum-Hossain, founder of The Make Escape, said: “Every event we have a different theme. For January I went for a green eco theme. In January everyone’s broke after Christmas, no one’s got any money. Every project we’ve got today is made through recycled materials.”

Begum-Hossain is passionate about recycling basic materials and making amazing things. She said: “The coasters look incredible, they look professional, they look like they’ve been made with loads of skills, but they are actually really easy. So that’s why I wanted to show just how cool recycling can be. It’s not just using things in a basic way, but in a creative way.”

Tree from Stitchless TV. Pic: Junxin Bi

Started in May 2012, The Make Escape holds free craft events run by volunteer tutors. The craft artist, Tree, is one of the experts who runs the workshop called “Customising with Fabric”.

She said: “It’s an easy way to make interesting clothes and the sustainability bit is a bonus.”

Tree added: “I love the contact with the general public. I love the magic of when people think they can’t do something, and then when they get to the end they can’t believe that they’ve created this amazing thing. I really love it a lot. It’s the best part of what I do.”

The craft nights take place every two months, with the next event due to take place at the same venue on the last Tuesday in March.

Our reporter Jooyoon Kim went to check it out: