Hello, makers! Super excited to bring you this episode with our pal, Catherine. Just a heads up, there are parts of this episode that are a little more visual as we give a shop tour. Click to watch instead!
Brooklyn General Store has been the go-to place for crafty supplies of all kinds for NYC makers since 2002. We sat down with the Queen of Union Street, BGS owner, designer, maker, event planner extraordinaire–Catherine Clark. Get to know her maker journey, the story of how Brooklyn General moved from the waiting room of Catherine’s midwifery office to the current location, how her and Aimée of La Bien Aimée became besties and more!
Brooklyn General Store
https://brooklyngeneral.com
128 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Brooklyn General Store is tucked away on a sweet block West of the Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill neighborhoods and North of Red Hook. This commercial block on Union Street used to be a thriving shopping block for all types of foods and goods. Brooklyn General’s home within the Old Frank’s Department Store is a throw back to that era, with its preserved floor to ceiling shelves, rolling ladders and classic old wooden floors. The vintage interior is not reproduced, just uncovered, cleaned and painted.
Brooklyn General Store was created in an effort to provide the highest quality materials to a community of devoted artists and craftspeople and to promote making things by hand through inspiration and education. Not only is it a place to feast your eyes and hands on glorious colors and patterns and textures but it is a place that respects and honors a time when a trip to the country store was a way of life. It is a place where a quick trip for a yard of fabric or a skein of yarn turns into an hour of sharing, teaching, inspiring and encouraging all the amazing and creative makers that are also out for that quick trip to the General Store...
Following its mission to promote all things handmade, Brooklyn General offers a wide variety of classes in knitting, sewing, quilting, felting, spinning, rug hooking and embroidery. Classes are limited in size in order for students to have ample individual attention. Studio time with our fantastic BERNINA classroom machines is also available. BrooklynGeneral.com was created to share our carefully picked goods with all the creative souls outside of Brooklyn, NY.
Music by Despatches. 💖
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If you'd like to give a shout-out, have a question that you'd like us to answer on the podcast, or are interested in sponsoring Making Conversation, email us at hq@makingco.com.
See you in the Making app!
ps- We talk about our values a lot. Just in case you're curious, take a peek.
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Episode 39: Jill Draper – Fine arts, color girl, small farm yarns, and Jill Draper Makes Stuff
Episode 38: Emmaline Long – Early farming, showmanship, advocacy, and Orchard View Lincoln Longwools
Episode 37: Amanda Malachesky – The Lost Coast, local fiber, permaculture influence, and Lost Coast Yarn
Episode 36: Daphne Marinopoulos – West Africa, a Maine fiber mill, creative fulfillment, and The Fibre Company
Episode 35: Allison Volek Shelton – Glass blowing, Nashville, Woven fabric, and Shutters and Shuttles
Episode 34: Brooke Sinnes – Boarding schools, California, Natural Dyeing and Sincere Sheep
Episode 33: Laurie Gonyea – Fiber entrepreneurism, silver spun yarn, therapeutic fibers, and Feel Good Yarn Co
Episode 32: Cecelia Campochiaro -Rational tech thinking, sequence knitting, self-publishing and the importance of books
Episode 31: Jaime Jennings and Amber Corcoran -Coffee shops, Fiber travel, Partnership and Handspun tiger fluff
Episode 30: Kristin Ford – Architectural influence, Northwest palette, Patagonian Merino, and Bleacher projects
Episode 29: Jackie Ottino-Graf – Spinning in backwoods Maine, all things Swans Island yarn, Commercial Natural Dyeing, Sustainable production
Episode 28: Rebekka Seale – Alabama Gulf Coast, Renaissance reenactments, Handspun goodness and Fiber comfort
Episode 27: Brittany Cole Bush – Modern shepherding, Land stewarding, Urban grazing, and Holistic hides
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Episode 25: Mountain Meadow Wool – A bale of wool, Community support, Ranch wools and Learning from your mistakes
Episode 24: Hanahlie Beise – Alpacas, Canadian fiber production, Animal-Caretaker Relationships, and Natural Dyeing
Episode 23: Dianna Walla – Confidence, Cultural influence, Fiber awareness, and Norway
Episode 22: Shannon Cook – Musical influence, British Columbia, Pursuing dreams and Building community
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