urbanknit

For the third urban craft stars profile we have the lovely urbanknit aka dolapo james.

"Urbanknit is a design collective started by Dolapo James with the aim of providing fresh and interesting handmade fashion accessories that are unique and offer the wearer a sense of individuality.

From handbags and purses in bright African prints and batiks, to customisable scarves and tee-shirts, there is something for everyone with a taste for originality.

Dolapo says: ‘New designs, shapes and styles are added regularly and we are constantly exploring and experimenting with new ideas.
Each piece is carefully and lovingly put together by hand and one of our most important goals is ensuring that no two items are the same.’

I love the little touches she uses such as over sized buttons which makes each item both original and personal.

my favourite things in the shop

Our pop up shop is into its second full week now and our flyer/blog campaign seems to be working with a steady stream of people through the door these past few days which is lovely.

We've had some great feedback from visitors to carnaby street and alot of questions about the artists and designers involved.

I thought it would be nice to feature each one in the next few days along with some images of their work. I've picked my favs but you can look in their etsy shops or come to the pop up shop and choose your own!

Starting with the very lovely Ariane of Peppermint Twist Designs. Ariane says "My designs are a little playful, a little quirky, a little offbeat, thanks to my love of appliqués! I use a variety of motifs, all hand-cut: doves, horses, hearts, stars, and so forth. But the products aim to be practical and durable, and are meticulously hand crafted in London"

I own one of her fabulous purses and it most certainly holds all the essentials and is so soft and tactile. The liberty print lining just shows her attention to detail.

carnaby street here we come!

collected the keys today for our unit in Kingly Court (just of london's carnaby street) and am now very excited but also a bit stressed but things are coming together.

the unit has a beautiful wood floor and really good lighting. Not too bright but not so dark you can't see anything either.

Our press release is going out to all of ali's contacts tomorrow and tonight I have packed up all the props and stock ready for our 'man and van' arriving at 8am tomorrow.

I have added a little announcement to my etsy shop about our pop up shop especially as the majority of designers in the shop already sell there.

We will have a lovely variety of handmade goodies for sale including bags, purses, scarves, tea towels, vintage fabric cushion covers, childrens tshirts, crochet baby clothing, prints and a range of modern decoupage products.