I started Kitchen Table Collective because I wanted to set up a convivial space where people could come to learn how to sew, make, create and repair – and unlock the creativity I believe is so vital to our happiness.
Hi. I’m Em and I’ve spent my life making stuff. Because it’s something I’ve always done and known how to do (thanks, mum), it wasn’t until I got into my twenties that I realised that these skills weren’t universally shared.
But knowing how to wield a needle and thread has given me access to a brilliant language and wherever I’ve landed, I always seem to gravitate to handmade processes and traditions – and for me it’s always been the way I’ve been able to connect and communicate with people.
None of these things ever led me down a lucrative career path, but that was never, ever the point.
The point is that these things are worth doing for their own sake: that there’s beauty in utility and joy in creativity.
Skills like sewing have traditionally been handed down through families and communities – and my kitchen table has become a kind of proxy for that. My first workshops were around my literal kitchen table; these days other convivial spaces are a good stand in. It’s around the workshop table that we’ll learn, play and create together – encouraging, demonstrating and inspiring each other in a way that I know to be truly empowering and life-affirming.
Using your hands to create, make and repair is a very human, very important part of who we are. The act of creating something is immensely valuable – because value lies in scarcity and these days what’s more scarce than our time?
My teaching method is fun, practical and as non-prescriptive as possible! I break down complicated projects into easily understandable processes that are designed to free your thinking and worry less about ‘doing it right’ than ‘doing it creatively’.
Giving yourself permission to lean into this can feel indulgent, but I’m here to tell you – and show you – that you’ll feel better, live better, think better if you can claim back a little time for yourself this way.
Whichever workshop you choose, know that you’ll get much more out of it than a finished project. These are creative life skills and I can’t wait to share them with you.
Em x