Celebrate August Craft Month 2023 with the makers of By Design: A local story!
The month of August is here and with it has come one of the largest celebrations of crafts throughout the year. This month we celebrated August Craft Month 2023 with the wonderful team of local makers from By Design- A local Story. With a host of weekend events across the month of August, the local crafters have given all of you a sight to see!
August Craft Month is a nationally celebrated initiative run by the DCCI that helps to bring together the community of crafters across our island. This creative and colourful month-long extravaganza is an opportunity for all to learn, design, build and buy all things craft! What’s so wonderful behind the event is the gathering of communities from all neck of the woods with the common love of crafts in mind. If you are a fellow crafter, admirer or dabbler; August Craft Month is right up your alley.
Nestled into the Castletroy Town Centre behind glass windows is the “By Design, a local story” store. Scattered across the quaint shelves and floors are unique handmade crafts by beloved local makers from the area. Each of these local makers is a face you have seen behind their counter, as the store is run by the very same people who craft your favourite pieces. The store is the embodiment of the local community and that is why August Craft Month fits perfectly like a puzzle there at “By Design, a local story”
For each Saturday this month, the store has been hosting a series of demos. A behind the scenes if you will. From behind the glass of their front store window, several of your favourite makers have been showcasing their craft right in front of you! From designing fine jewellery, embroidering with sewing machines to getting messy with clay at the pottery wheel- it's been all up close and personal this August!
With it being their second year participating in August Craft Month, the By Design team knew just what magic was needed at the store window. Joan O’Halloran, one of the many faces you know behind the Design team, spent one of the Saturdays putting clay to the wheel. “I bring my potters wheel, it is always a great crowd pleaser. Who doesn’t want a go on the potters wheel?” says Joan. With the act of creating something beautiful from a lump of mud, the day was a fun filled fest for all to enjoy. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” says Joan.
The month has been a hoot and a half filled with arts and crafts. We can only begin to imagine the festivities the following year may bring for the wonderful team of By Design. A big thank you to the local makers that made our weekends for the past few weeks with their craft and to all who came by to show their support!