Introducing our exciting team of talented tutors, who are skilled in a wide range of contemporary and traditional crafts.

Jane Blease – Let there be Lights: Lampshade Making

Jane Blease is an up and coming Designer-Maker who has a shop at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre selling her lighting and interior products. Jane’s work combines simple elegant form with elaborate pattern. Sustainability is at the core of her designs, as she uses recycled and vintage plastics and wood to create striking and often surprising lighting effects. To see Jane’s work visit her website www.janebleasedesign.co.uk

Alison Leese - Sewing with Patterns: Classic dress, Introduction to curtain and blind making and the following Beginners sewing courses; Vintage apron and tea towel,  Zip and buttonhole cushion and Simple tote bag

Alison has always had a part in the clothing industry and after several years of experience working in a variety of different roles in product development and manufacture, she is now taking her skills into the classroom. Currently studying for a PGCE to teach Design and Technology, she spends her free time making everything from curtains and blinds to clothing and vintage inspired gifts.

Rik Sterken - Introduction to Digital Photography, Night photography Manchester in darkness and Photo field trip: Iconic Manchester

Actually still owning the very first photograph he took in 1975 at the tender age of three, Rik’s interest photography started at a very early age. Having been brought up with film photography, he now has fully embraced the digital era, with a passion for people and urban landscapes. After winning the award for sport photography in ‘Professional Photographer’ magazine in 2007, he is now successful semi-professional photographer, specialising in weddings and portraits.

Sam Moylan – Basic clothing alterations and machine skills and Free machine embroidery and applique

Sam has a long history of working creatively and has developed her sewing skills by carrying out alterations for three independent retailers, as well as a large client base of individuals. Her versatility has allowed her to develop a unique range of baby clothes, design and make a range of clothes and bags. She also enjoys decoupage, felting and card making in her free time.

She has a strong interest in recycling and she feels the future is in repairing and redesigning much loved garments, saving both money and the planets resources.

Chris Webb - Beautiful bath and body products and Beginners patchwork: Contemporary cushion

Chris is an artsy guy who dabbles in all sorts of crafts including printing with stencils and silk-screens, knitting, carpentry, designing portraits, making home body products, and trying to come up with a creative use for his continually growing collection of wine corks.  Chris’s crafting roots are in Canada, but he feels at home whenever he is knee deep in craft supplies and surrounded by half empty cups of cold tea. For more information on Chris’s crafting shenanigans, visit his blog - http://lazycrafternoons.blogspot.com

Rachael Elwell - Knit 1 2 3,  Knit 4,5,6 and Learn to Crochet

Rachael Elwell is a practicing visual artist based at Islington Mill, Salford. Her practice is based in contemporary knitting and crochet work and experimental drawing processes. As the co-founder of the fibre art collaborative group Artyarn, Rachael crochets and knits for gallery installations, community arts projects and site specific work, as well as knitting and crocheting garments and decorative accessories.

Rachael Elwell is the founding member of the Kings Arms knitting Club and has taught knitting and crochet skills workshops around the UK. www.rachaelelwell.co.uk www.rachaelelwell.blogspot.com

ArtYarn is a collaborative knitting and crochet project coordinated by visual artist Rachael Elwell. ArtYarn formed in 2008 and continue to collaborate with local community groups, world wide knitting and crochet networks and arts organisations to create gallery installations, public arts projects and creative craft workshops.

ArtYarn are inspired by the versatility of knitting and crochet as an artistic media, as well as the traditional technical aspects of knitting and crochet. This supports the creation of highly crafted art works with a contemporary outcome. All ArtYarn projects reflect the artistic, social and historical contexts of knitting and crochet, and focus on the tactility of hand manipulated processes.With this, ArtYarn explore individual creative expression and focus projects on devising ways to make knitting and crochet accessible through participatory making.ArtYarn are based at Islington Mill Studios, Salford Lancashire (UK).

Nell Smith – Screen stars: Introduction to screen printing and Have yourself a crafty little Christmas

Nell is an award-winning designer producing fresh, modern prints and embroideries from her studio at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, Northern Quarter. Since graduating from a Masters in Textiles in 2008, Nell has developed products including garments, accessories and homewares. Recently, her range of organic babywear, decorated with retro-inspired animal prints, has become a firm favourite with customers. www.nellclothing.co.uk

Rachel Young – Fibre Fabulous: Mixed materials jewellery

Rachel is a crafty kinda gal, who is never happy without something to sew, knit, paint or play with. As a teacher, artist, craftsperson and designer, she has a wealth of experience, particularly in the world of textiles. Her world has been sold and exhibited nationwide, and even in Europe and America, and her felt jewellery is a big hit worldwide. Having completed her PGCE she is now happiest in her crazy, colourful classroom, teaching other budding craft-o-holics to sew, make and do. For more information on Rachel’s craft universe, visit her shop - http://www.etsy.com/pippindesigns

Vicky Parker: Let them eat cake: Cup cake decorating

Vicky currently splits her time between writing for the web and being knee deep in flour. She was born holding a spatula and whisk (metaphorically speaking) and has been baking ever since. Her childhood was filled with flapjack manufacture and experiments with sugar thermometers. Her most treasured posession is her Grandma’s rationing recipe book.

She stumbled on her dream job at the end of her road in the form of the Sweet Tooth Cupcakery and now she now has an outlet for all her cake related geekery. She is never happier than with a nose full of icing sugar and an oven full of cake. Her favourite afternoons are spent thumbing through Nigella and dreaming up tasty new cake ideas. If she told you all she knows about cake, she’d have to kill you.

Nico Dawson – Time for tees: Recycled fashions. Accessory Junkie and Have yourself a crafty little Christmas

Childhood afternoons spent playing with treasures in grandma’s workbox inspired Nico to love of hoarding and sorting. When her collection got too big for her bedroom she decided the time had come to share her playful vision of dressing up with the wider world. Nico is thoroughly committed to the old-fashioned art of lovingly making things by hand; the unique accessories she creates are made from forgotten and discarded materials and brought back to life in imaginative ways. Have a look at www.opheliabutton.co.uk to see her delicious creations!

Geraldine McCullagh - 50s style snap frame purse

Geraldine studied Clothing Design and Management and worked in the textile industry for several years, before training to be a secondary school teacher in Design Technology. After teaching for 15 years she has put her sewing skills and her passion for textiles together and is now running her own company designing making and selling textiles products, such as bag purses and aprons. She loves collecting eclectic, printed and vintage fabric and enjoys combining them in playful ways! Follow Geraldine on her blog.

Nicolette La Fonseca Taylor – Sew a messenger style bag

Nicolette runs a textile design company that uses locally sourced and vintage fabrics to create beautiful accessories for you and your home.  Her designs employ traditional methods with contemporary design. In addition to her design work Nicolette is a practicing artist who has exhibited throughout the U.K. including a number of London exhibitions and last year she had work requested for an exhibition in Barcelona.

Julia Doherty – Get wired: Introduction to wirework jewellery

Julia learnt jewellery making through a mix of night classes and self study.  She takes her inspiration from the natural world and finds herself especially drawn to natural and found materials such as gemstones, wood and sea-glass.  She has a particular interest in the history and symbolism of jewellery and loves discovering designs from different cultures.  Julia believes that jewellery can provide a wonderful means of self expression, and hopes to inspire others in the creation of their own unique items and design styles.

Sam Sterken - Have yourself a crafty little Christmas - November

Sam has always loved to make things, whether it’s bracelets from her dad’s aquarium tubing or more recently cushions and jewellery for friends’ birthdays - she is a lover of all things crafty! After setting up the Ministry of Craft she has been inspired and awed by the tutors and customers talents and has decided to tutor a course herself! In January 2009 she resolved to make all her own cards for family and friends and after a great reception she wants to pass those skills on to you…

Holly Lawton – Have yourself a crafty little Christmas – November

Holly has been working behind the scenes at Ministry of Craft for the past few months whilst also freelancing as a surface pattern designer. Unable to resist tutoring at Ministry of Craft for any longer, she will be making her debut at ‘Have yourself a crafty little Christmas’ in November, hoping to excite and inspire with her embroidery skills learnt during her BA (Hons) Embroidery degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.