Among the places at the forefront in the crafting community, the one-year-old “La Bastellerie” is well worth a visit.
This crafting lounge in Berlin Kreuzberg is a three-room crafting paradise, offering various workshops – from bookbinding, to embroidery, to restyling old clothing -, hosting the newly opened exhibition “The Wunderkabinett” [Closet of wonders], and a small open studio where, for five euros per hour, you can use a sewing machine and various other tools.
While making pin buttons and drinking tea, Ina Göllmann recounted the beginnings of the crafting lounge. “We started a couple of years ago with crafting parties, an idea that I got while researching on the web. I read about craft events in the Unites States and in London and thought it was a great idea. I wondered why there were no such events in Berlin”.
The parties proved successful, so they decided to take the project one step further and opened La Bastellerie, at first an open workspace only. Activism and community-building are also at the heart of La Bastellerie’s mission. “We observed that people who had never even met before, all of the sudden created something together and sort of got to know each other in a different way. This is a good basis to make ideas circulate and motivate people to do stuff together”.

La Bastellerie

Independent craft and DIY are slowly taking root in Germany, and whereas this is the city where this sort of movements are more likely to emerge, the explanation seems to rest in the historical and cultural tradition of German artisanry. “Germany is the only country where, in order to found a business as a carpenter, you need to have a Master craftsman’s diploma [in German Meisterbrief].
So, the focus has not been on DIY, and even the word “basteln” [the German equivalent of “to tinker”] is not really highly thought of. It mainly refers to activities for children or “aunties” and it is relegated to the hobby area”, said Ina. La Bastellerie wants to help change the perception of craft, which is also why they chose to keep the word “basteln” in the name, “in order to give it a good connotation, to send the message that this is something that adults do as well, also as a hobby, of course, but not only”.

La Bastellerie is also home to the Wunderkabinett, an ever changing exhibition of very unique handmade products. It was founded by Leah Buckareff, a Canadian bookbinder and musician currently living in Berlin – and co-founder of the Torontian City of Craft -, who had dreamt about creating the Wunderkabinett for some time, and wanted to keep herself engaged in the craft scene.
When comparing the local crafting community to its Canadian counterpart, Leah Buckareff also sees the smaller importance of consumer culture in Germany as a factor: “North America’s long history of consumer culture encouraged a lot of us to start making our own stuff and altering our own clothes to make it unique at a very young age. A lot of today’s craft scene is born out of that DIY culture. Consumption wasn’t as big a part of German life so today’s craft scene also feels like they’ve taken or mimicked the already developed craft world (via Etsy) and applied it to the community here”.

The interest in crafting among young adults is undoubtedly growing and the many craft fairs and designer markets offer a great showcase. More and more groups are forming, such as the Stricken Bar, a collective created by some of the members of the “Collectif France Tricot”, who regularly organize very successful knitting events in downtown Berlin’s bars. With places such as La Bastellerie and groups that showcase crafters’ work and bring the know-hows to the masses, crafting is well on its way to becoming an important aspect of this vibrant city’s cultural and artistic reality.

Also, I have a new listing on my Etsy shop, to sort of celebrate the opening of the store. It’s a black and white analog print (silver gelatin), taken in November in one of the many parks of Berlin with my Holga. Because it’s a special opening listing, I took 20% off the normal price of my black and white prints.

I am not the best when it comes to working with measurements. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am not incredibly patient either. That’s why this post, or should I say, what lies beneath this post, comes as a total surprise.

When I was little, I spent a lot of time with gradma, a sewer, and until I was too old to be only wearing skirts, she basically made all the clothes that I wore. Mainly dresses and skirts. I had a passion for dresses and skirts. Ahh, luckily now I am old enough to actually wear dresses and skirts without being laughed at by the entire school. Kudos to aging.

So here I am, living in Berlin as a photographer, and with more time to dare and to try the things that I always wanted to try. This includes sewing. Yes because a few weeks ago I was thinking that it is such a pity, to let passions go by because one has to make space and time for education and earning money. Is there really any more excuse not to learn how to sew? Absolutely not.

I worked a plan. I got my hands on a sewing machine (let’s all welcome Swiss Bernina Bernette 56 Fun Style), on sewing tools (among which a rotary cutter and a mat), some basic sewing books and fabric, lots of fabric. The great thing is now I actually have a great excuse to spend money on that beautiful fabric I saw at the market but I had no idea what to do with in case I ever bought it!

Here is what I did and learned in the past week. If any of you just discovered a passion for sewing and live in Berlin and have more ideas on where to find fabric and other tools, please let me know.

I googled and searched on forums of fellow sewing lovers living in Berlin and I found out, much to my dismay, that Berlin does not seem to be the most furnished city when it comes to fabric.

So here is what I have seen so far.

Markets

I love markets, I think it’s the best way to buy anything. So I am now a proud habitué of the Türkischer Markt am Maybachufer – Tuesdays and Fridays from 11 to 18 U-Bahnhof Schönleinstraße. Here you will be able to find LOTS of fabric and the silk lovers will be happy. Prices are VERY reasonable and there are also plenty of booths with sewing supplies, notions, you name it. I simply love this market.

I also tried the Flohmarkt at Tiergarten (Saturdays) and I was not able to find any fabric nor sewing tools.

The next on the list is the one at Mauerpark (Sundays).

Shops and stores for fabric

Shops are also a good idea but I am less of an expert here. There’s of course Frau Tulpe, on the Veteranenstr. 19 (Mitte) with a very appealing broad selection of (expensive) fabric. The shop is small but well furnished and I personally always take a long time to come up with a decision since there is so much choice. You can also order online and they also give sewing classes!

I have also been to Knopfloch (Alexanderplatz), mainly to buy scissors, a rotary cutter and a mat, but they also have plenty of fabric (might not be everyone’s beloved style).
Also on Alexanderplatz (in Berlin Carré) there is the Zick Zack Nähwelt. The good thing about this shop is that you can find many tools, sewing machines supplies and notions (they also sell sewing machines and have fabric scraps at the entry).

Heard good things about Kumasch in Charlottenburg (Kantstr. 47). They mainly have fabric. Will go there one of these days. Same for Stoffhaus on Frankfurter Allee 50 (buggy website).

Online shops

There are also a lot of online resources, Germany based shops or shops that deliver to Germany. I have not tried them yet, but I have done some research.
Quiltzauberei has a very nice selection of fabric and almost all the Amy Butlers.
Puddlecrafts, based in the UK, has a very nice selection of fabrics as well.
DaWanda, a web site collecting different sellers, also from other countries. Looks rather interesting.

UPDATE: if you’re interested in fabric, renewFabrics is slowly but surely coming to life. It’s my new project which essentially consists in printing on second-hand fabric to limit waste.