Get Cozy with Crafts in Vancouver
As the days get shorter, it's a great time to cozy up inside and make something. Connect with other creatives and express yourself at craft classes, workshops, and markets across the city.
Level-Up Your Knitting Skills
Whether you are just learning to cast-on or you want to chat with fellow knitters while you work on your latest project, you have lots of options around Vancouver. Vancouver Yarn has a great directory of local shops that offer knitting classes as well as social knitting groups you can join.
Throw Some Clay at a Pottery Class
Vancouver has several studios where you can learn to make beautiful pottery and ceramics. Channel your inner Demi Moore in the movie Ghost with pottery wheel workshops or go free-form at hand-building classes. Popular studios include Vancouver Ceramics in Marpole, Claymates in East Vancouver, Cafe au Clay in Kitsilano, Community Clay in Mount Pleasant, and Hand Eye Ceramics in Strathcona and Mount Pleasant. The City of Vancouver Parks and Recreation also offers pottery classes at ten community centres across the city.
Get Creative With Pottery Painting
If you don't want to get your hands dirty, many studios offer pottery painting. Simply choose a finished pottery piece, then spend a cozy hour or two decorating it just the way you like it. Bella Ceramica in West Vancouver, Cafe au Clay in Kitsilano, U Paint I Fire in Kitsilano, and Vancouver Ceramics in Marpole all offer either pottery painting workshops or drop-in painting.
Sip and Paint With Friends
You don't have to be Michelangelo to enjoy a sip and paint party. A local artist leads each event, giving you step-by-step tips for creating your personal masterpiece. The social atmosphere also includes food and drinks. To find an upcoming event, check out Paint Nite or local listings on Eventbrite.
Craft Your Own Jewelry
Spend an evening stringing beads, twisting wire, or casting metal to make your own jewelry. Local studios like Soigne in East Vancouver and Juvelisto School of Metal Arts in Steveston offer classes for both beginners and advanced students.
Learn to Make Soap
You'll leave these soap-making classes feeling great and smelling clean. And of course, you'll learn how to make your own bars of soap. Soigne offers both soap and shampoo bar making classes at their East Vancouver studio. Or head to The Soap Dispensary on Main Street in Mount Pleasant for their oat milk or cold process soap making classes.
Shop for Unique Craft Supplies
Vancouver is home to several independent shops with a wide selection of craft supplies for any project. Dressew in Gastown has an incredible selection of fabrics and other sewing supplies. Urban Source on Main Street in Mount Pleasant stocks a wide variety of art supplies, most of which are manufacturing discards saved from the landfill. Beadworks on Granville has every kind of bead you can imagine.
Visit an Autumn Craft Market
Browse the stalls at Vancouver's autumn markets to shop for artisan pottery, paintings, jewelry, clothing, and more. Local events like Got Craft, Made in the 604, Eastside Flea, and others showcase the works of local makers.