We visited Colin Campbell at McRostie Scotland’s leather workshop in Howwood to chat about saddlery, making at school and diversifying into fashion and tourism.

How did you get started working in your craft?

I was looking for a career change when the opportunity arose, with McRostie going into receivership in the early 1980s. My family was successful in acquiring the business and my wife and I decided to take up the challenge of running McRostie. I managed to retain the staff, who had lifelong experience of harness making and saddlery, and having always enjoyed working with my hands producing small items, I was keen to further my skills in leatherwork. Now I was fortunate to have two Master Saddlers to assist me on this journey – no better mentors.

What was your experience of craft education in school?

My craft experience at school included woodwork, metalwork and art. These classes I found much more enjoyable than the academic side of schooling. Physically making something involves concentration, focus and attention to detail; you also have the satisfaction of seeing the efforts of your own work. For me, these classes made school more bearable.

What is most challenging, and most enjoyable about your practice? 

Most enjoyable is using the raw material, leather, which has been used for practical purposes for centuries, including saddles and harnesses for horses (which is how McRostie first established its business) and converting it into numerous and varied useful items for fashion, tourism, hospitality and whisky retail markets.

What would improve your life as a maker or what support do you think is missing?

Improve? Being 21 again! For the younger generation, perhaps, in Scotland at least, easier access to learning the craft.

How do you view Scotland as a place for making, selling, exhibiting and celebrating craft?

Although there may be more encouragement in the craft world in Scotland nowadays, perhaps if not already introduced, craft education should certainly be included in the school curriculum, and could be introduced from early years onwards. Scotland is a fine place to work and sell our products from, both within the U.K. and to the wider world, although exporting does include challenges of a different nature to overcome. Scotland continues its well earned reputation of producing high quality and value.

McRostie was established in 1887 as a traditional saddler’s ironmongers and harness makers in the East End of Glasgow. In the 1980’s the Campbell family bought the company and Colin learned leather craft from Master Saddler Hugh Mason. A request from a fashion retailer in Glasgow opened up a new market for the company, producing quality leather accessories for the fashion and highland dress markets. The inspiration for one belt, which continues to be a best seller, came from a single set of carriage driving horse harness. Today all of their products are made with British materials in their workshop outside Paisley, using the traditional craft skills of the harness maker and many of the same tools that were used over 100 years ago.

]]> https://www.makemanifesto.com/makers-at-work-marc-sweeney/ Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:01:11 +0000 https://www.makemanifesto.com/?p=2411 Through a new series of interviews, ‘Makers at Work’ celebrates Scotland as a place of making, capturing a diversity of disciplines, practices and making spaces.

We visited Marc Sweeney at his workshop in a boat yard on Loch Lomond to chat about the value of design, the importance of failure and Scotland’s craft history.

How did you get started working in your craft?

For as long as I can remember I’ve always cared about how things looked, whether it’s fashion, architecture, furniture or everyday objects. I’m lucky that I grew up in a house that valued design. My dad’s a wooden boat builder by trade so furniture and internal joinery was often built and not bought. His love of making rubbed off on me. It wasn’t until I was in my late 20’s that I decided turn my passion into a career by enrolling in a Masters degree at Istituto Marangoni London. After graduating in 2022, I returned home to Loch Lomond to start my own practice. Since then I have exhibited work in Scotland, London and Milan.

What was your experience of craft education in school?

I suppose it was the same as anyone else who grew up in Scotland, the choice was either technical education or baking scones in home economics. It was an afterthought subject that no one took seriously, which is a terrible disservice, not only to the tutors, but to young people who do not have the aptitude for the more academic subjects that we like to celebrate. I myself am dyslexic and was never given the opportunity to shine in school.

What is most challenging, and most enjoyable about your practice? 

The most challenging and most enjoyable aspect of my practice are the same, failure and overcoming it. The nature of my work is very experimental, there often isn’t a playbook for how I approach any given material or process. Mistakes are inevitable but very necessary. Its here that you download what went wrong reassess and try again. When it finally pays off there is nothing like it. Recalibrating your relationship with failure can be quite powerful.

What would improve your life as a maker or what support do you think is missing?

More customers, more opportunities to sell my work. Design is rarely democratic. It’s expensive to produce and it’s financially risky to develop new work which might not come to anything. In today’s climate it’s hard to convince people to invest in design.

How do you view Scotland as a place for making, selling, exhibiting and celebrating craft?

I love Scotland. I love being Scottish. We have a long history of invention and industry. I feel like we’re at the beginning of an exciting time for Scottish craft with the opening of places like Bard in Edinburgh championing Scottish designers.

Marc Sweeney is a Scottish product and furniture designer. Growing up with a father who works as a wooden boat builder and runs Sweeney’s Cruise Company on Loch Lomond sparked his early interest in making and materials. He studied Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art before shifting his focus to design, completing a Master’s in Product Design at Istituto Marangoni London in 2022. In 2023 he returned to Scotland to establish his own design studio alongside his father in the boatyard at Loch Lomond. 

]]> https://www.makemanifesto.com/makers-at-work-juli-bolanos-durman/ Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:20:33 +0000 https://www.makemanifesto.com/?p=2390 Through a new series of interviews, ‘Makers at Work’ celebrates Scotland as a place of making, capturing a diversity of disciplines, practices and making spaces.

We visited Juli Bolaños-Durman at her studio in Edinburgh and chatted about her practice as a glass artist and designer, her experience of learning craft at school, and the challenges and joys of making in Scotland.

How did you get started working in your craft?

I’ve known I was an artist since I was a child. However, it was during a six-month mixed media course at The Art Student’s League of New York that I realized the potential and inspiration I found in waste material. Soon after, I applied to and was accepted for the MFA in Glass at Edinburgh College of Art, where I discovered my love for mending and re-imagining broken glass into something precious.

What was your experience of craft education in school?

Growing up in Costa Rica, formal craft education was minimal, aside from basic art classes. My pursuit of craft was driven by actively seeking extra classes outside of school with the support of my parents. In Costa Rica, art and making are often perceived as having little value, with the emphasis placed on studying practical subjects that lead to an easy job in the future.

What is most challenging, and most enjoyable about your practice?

The most challenging part of my practice is integrating the mindset of a business person. We must create immaculate work with strong conceptual rigor while also being adept at strategy, managing cash flow, and building a robust business. To ensure the studio’s longevity, artists and designers must be adaptable, resourceful, and focused on the big picture.

The most enjoyable part is being able to create something with our hands, of value, much like our ancestors did to survive. Making connects us to what makes us human, especially now, when we experience so much of the world through screens. The joy my work brings me is fuel and a connection to an unlimited life force.

What would improve your life as a maker or what support do you think is missing?

A key improvement would be to foster a stronger, more supportive community that encourages lateral thinking for problem-solving. This would be a space where any artist could seek help, ask questions, and collaboratively find solutions. No one exists in a vacuum; the wider the community of support, the more Scotland as a whole will thrive.

How do you view Scotland as a place for making, selling, exhibiting and celebrating craft?

I feel Scotland is currently going through a very exciting change. Slowly but surely, Scottish craft is being highlighted more and more on a larger world stage as a strong contender of powerful designers and makers, characterised by ingenuity and the use of heritage traditions. It has changed significantly even since I graduated ten years ago. I feel hopeful due to the strong efforts of various organisations, curators, and writers. From my experience, we are greatly supported by the Scottish generosity of spirit and a collaborative outlook toward making great, enduring work.

Juli Bolaños-Durman is a Costa Rican glass artist and designer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally trained in graphic design, she moved to Scotland in 2011 to complete an MFA in Glass at Edinburgh College of Art, where she developed her distinctive approach to working with recycled and found glass. Her practice celebrates the beauty of imperfection, applying heritage cold-working techniques to discarded objects and giving them renewed purpose and life.

First up is Cara Guthrie and her studio outside Dunkeld in Perthshire. We chatted to Cara about her practice as a studio potter, her experience of learning craft at school, and the challenges and joys of making in Scotland.

How did you get started working in your craft?

I didn’t make anything with clay until I was 27. It was entirely out of my orbit and never something I was offered at school, but after just one taster evening class, I totally fell in love with clay and pottery. I felt such a strong pull towards it and just sort of had to make it part of my life. At first I didn’t think there was a chance I could make a career of it, but over time and after two apprenticeships, I was working for a potter as my job.

What was your experience of craft education in school?

Pretty much non-existent. My art teacher was very much fine art focused and whilst I loved painting and drawing, I didn’t have the natural talent to think of myself as an artist.

What is most challenging, and most enjoyable about your practice? 

The most challenging part of it is being self-employed. It’s hard to keep cashflow even, especially with customers not always being the fastest at paying, and the cost of everything – materials, energy, logistics – have shot up in recent years. I’m lucky to have set up a model where I work to order, so there is a degree of security in that for me. I think I’d be too nervous if I were making work and hoping what I made sold. The model I work to is also more sustainable – I only make what I need for a project.

I don’t get paid holiday, but a great joy of self-employment is that I make up my hours. If there’s a beautiful day coming up, I can spontaneously take it off to hike up a hill and just work a day on the weekend instead. And the enjoyable aspects are limitless. I love what I do for work. I am still, ten years on, completely obsessed and in love with making pots and pottery as a craft. I feel so grateful to love what I do for a living every day.

What would improve your life as a maker or what support do you think is missing?

I’d love more time to experiment but it’s so hard to make that a reality when the cost of everything has shot up so much across domestic and work life. I also have two small children and high childcare costs, so I do sometimes resent coming into the workshop and feeling like I have to be this ultra-productive machine rather than a creative human. So, work would be greatly improved with free childcare!

How do you view Scotland as a place for making, selling, exhibiting and celebrating craft?

I think the cultural landscape of craft in Scotland has changed dramatically in the time I’ve been part of it. There are so many incredibly talented people making really interesting work and continuing to push boundaries. And the word is getting out. It feels as if Scotland is finally being taken seriously on an international stage for craft.

Cara Guthrie is a Scottish studio potter. After discovering her love of ceramics through an evening class, she trained through apprenticeships in Denmark and the UK, including at KH Würtz pottery. Now based outside Dunkeld, Perthshire, her work is represented by Bard. Her stockists include Elliotts, Inver, L’Enclume, Kol and Little Chartroom, and previously Kettle’s Yard and Toast.

Martin Clark is an award-winning filmmaker working across drama, documentary, theatre and artist’s film. His short films have screened at major festivals including Sundance, Berlinale, Flickerfest, Dinard and Edinburgh. Exchange & Mart (2014) won Best British Short at Leeds and the Audience Award at Glasgow, and Jealous Alan (2019) won Best Cinematography at Exit 6 and the Audience Award at Kinemastik. Both were nominated for Bafta Scotland awards. His debut feature, Public House, is currently in post-production and will premiere in 2026.

In 2025, MAKE and Craft Scotland commissioned Martin to document MAKE with the Knit Shop, a teacher development project designed to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to deliver craft-based approaches in the classroom.

Over two years, the project worked with local textile factory Knit Shop and six primary schools in Dundee: Ancrum Road, Claypotts Castle, Fintry, Rosebank, St Mary’s and Downfield, to deliver a series of Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) workshops and classroom activities with textile makers Kim Norrie, Jolene Guthrie and Kate Scarlet Harvey.

Filmed during the school spring term of 2025, Martin’s short documentary records workshop and in-classroom activity through the voices of the makers, teachers and pupils who took part in the project. In doing so, it powerfully illuminates the contribution craft education can make in schools.

As we launch a Learning Report, which includes a set of recommendations for introducing craft into the classroom, we catch up with Martin to discuss his experience making the film, and his reflections on arts-based learning.

Martin Clark filming at Fintry Primary School, May 2025

Your film captures some of the key project activity during Year 2 of MAKE with the Knit Shop, including CLPL workshops with teachers and in-classroom activity.  Can you share any moments during filming that surprised you about craft’s potential in the classroom?

When I was filming in the CLPL sessions I wondered how well the teachers were going to react to learning a new skill, but they were really all committed and I felt they really understood the importance of what the project had set out to achieve.

I was really surprised at how much they bonded over the activity as a group. The fact that they were sharing tables and encouraging and helping each other created a real camaraderie in the room. It reminded me of archive film footage showing Scottish weavers and people making fishing nets, and the kind of atmosphere that’s conveyed in those films – I almost felt that they were going to break into song at any moment!

That same atmosphere transferred into the classroom: for the pupils there was something so visceral about being able to see what was in each other’s hands as they were making, rather than everyone working away on their own on the flat surface of a drawing, or in a jotter for example. I think they inspired each other to go on, especially once they got the hang of the craft, then there was a level of concentration that increased and increased – and that was the same for the teachers as well. It was great to see how they encouraged and inspired each other to push on and complete their project.

What stood out to you about how the pupils engaged with the craft activities?

It was amazing to see how the craft activities were being used in the classroom with children that were feeling anxious or overwhelmed. They would be given a craft bag so that they could go to the quiet corner and just make – sewing or finger knitting – on their own until they felt calm enough to rejoin the class.  It wasn’t expecting that at all, I thought that was beautiful.

I noticed the children in the Nurture classes had an even greater sense of achievement in the things that they had made. There was more insecurity about their ability, and a few weren’t sure they would be able to do it. So then when they actually had something to show for their effort, for example a headband or a cat toy, they were just really filled with pride – and I hope that comes across in the film.

Craft activity session at Ancrum Road Primary School, May 2025

It really does. It feels very poignant. How did you decide which stories to include in the final edit?

When I’m editing, the most important thing for me is to remember how it feels to be in the room. If I can recall the atmosphere and the feeling in my body of what it was like in the room, then I just keep editing the footage until I get that same feeling. This is the beauty of filming, when you go back and look at the footage, you realise there is so much more there.

What the teachers said on film was all so important. When we asked the children about whether they thought their teacher had learned anything, the kids really enjoyed the fact that the teachers were also learning something from the makers in the room. I think the kids really got a kind of kick out of that.

As an artist and filmmaker, did making this film cause you think about your own experiences with craft learning at school?

I loved doing art and craft at school. I remember doing sewing and knitting at high school. During the process of making this film I learned that art and craft isn’t being taught so much in school, and that makes me sad. It is so important for educators and learners to understand that arts learning isn’t just about having a career in the arts, it’s about confidence, creativity and wellbeing, though of course it is also good for kids to see that there are careers in the arts out there. For those kids that might not be getting any of creative outlet at home, then school opportunities become crucial. Perhaps most of the kids in the class won’t end up being an artist or a maker, but participation at school will still make all their lives better I think.

CLPL session at Dundee Contemporary Arts, November 2024. Photograph by Julie Howden

Do you have any insight from the project, particularly considering how arts-based learning can be embedded in schools?

One of the things that stands out from the filming process at the CLPL workshop sessions and in the schools was the teachers talking about incorporating craft activity into a topic that was wider and that had elements of geography or history or maths, or some kind of storytelling involved. Something I picked up from the teachers, was how the craft activities could connect with the local textiles industry, linking that back to Dundee’s textile heritage. That’s a brilliant idea as far as I’m concerned and a real way to get craft included in learning across the curriculum.

It also felt important that the teachers were learning at the same time as the kids. I definitely experienced that in Stephanie’s class at St Mary’s Primary.  I remember there was a real sense of community in the classroom, they were very supportive of each other.

How important do you think teacher development projects like this are for both teachers and pupils?

For me, this kind of work is essential because what’s life without art or creativity? A full rounded education can’t just be sciences and maths on their own. To use your hands to make things – I just think it gives a better quality of life. When I was filming and going round the classes there was no single kid, and not even just the ones we interviewed, where you sensed from them, ‘what are we doing this for?’ They all got it.

There were ones that were struggling with it, but at least they kept struggling. Even some of the kids that would say, ‘I’d rather be playing football’, during the class, they were all completely engaged and they felt proud when they had made something. The kids were clearly benefitting from practical, hands-on, creative learning, as were the teachers. They were all enjoying it and feeding off the atmosphere. I think that’s all you need to know at the end of the day.

The way the project brought the teachers all together, through the CLPL sessions, to learn new skills and then how that translated back into the classroom was a big success. I also think it was crucial that the project invited professional makers into the schools. Seeing an ‘actual designer’ as a real and visible creative person in the world is really important – for both teachers and learners.

Yes, absolutely. How important do you think the role of the artist or maker is in the learning environment?

I don’t think I even knew that art was about actually about ideas until I was in my twenties. I had assumed from my experience at school that art was only about being good at drawing. Actually, it is often about quite simple ideas that question the way the world is. If this way of thinking could be instilled at school earlier, though creative education projects like MAKE with the Knit Shop, with makers in schools, I think kids would love that. Even just telling them that art and making is about ideas, not about whether or not you can draw. I think that would blow their minds.

Learn more about the project here

MAKE with the Knit Shop

]]> https://www.makemanifesto.com/welcome-to-knit-shop/ Mon, 26 May 2025 13:32:15 +0000 https://www.makemanifesto.com/?p=2104

Knit Shop is an independent knit factory in Dundee owned by award-winning Scottish textile and product designer Donna Wilson. Committed to the revival of the Scottish textile industry, its mission is to share and nurture skills, create opportunities for employment, and encourage creativity and innovation within the sector, bridging the gap between design, industry and education.

MAKE with the Knit Shop is a two-year teacher development project designed to embed craft approaches in schools. As a key partner, Knit Shop has commissioned three Dundee-based makers to develop a set of Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) activities for teachers, which celebrate skills and processes essential to the Knit Shop factory – from textile product design and manufacture through to the sustainable reuse of materials. We catch up with owner Donna Wilson, and manager Erin Campbell, to discuss locality, micro-production, the textile roots of Dundee and the importance of material education in both of their careers.

Donna, why did you decide to set up Knit Shop?

Donna: I set up Knit Shop in 2021. I had been working with manufacturers in Scotland for a long time and I thought, ‘Do you know what? It’s time to set up my own thing!’ Post-pandemic, the company I was working with was reducing its output and so it felt like a natural progression to set something up. I thought, ‘now is my chance, I might as well do it!’ So that’s how it started. I have control over the whole process – I can choose what we make, and when we make it. It feels quite important for my brand to be able to tell the whole story from design through to manufacturing and then selling.

I am based in London, but I chose to locate Knit Shop in Dundee because I am Scottish, and I have always worked with Scottish production – and because I knew a couple of people here, including Erin, who I thought would be able to run what I set up.

Erin, tell us more about what Knit Shop does and your role?

Erin: So, Knit Shop is a micro factory with three knitting machines. We are limited to the gauge of our machines, and this determines the weight of the fabric that we can manufacture. That is our only limitation really – just a certain weight of fabric that we can create.

Day-to-day we are primarily making for Donna Wilson. We make all kinds of things from scarves and beanies to blankets and fabrics, using different techniques. We also work with other brands to make their products.

I manage about seven people and everybody’s role is quite niche, connected to a different process within the micro factory. We have a few people who can operate the knitting machinery – that means turning them on, setting up the yarns, and programming the machines. The machines then take that information [in the form of design files which have been programmed by the technicians] and knit the product. We also have a couple of technicians and knitwear developers. Then we have a team that does all the finishing – when the product comes off the machine, there’s a lot of hand sewing and finishing to do before it can be washed. We’ve got linkers and sewing machinists that work here as well. So, quite a variety of different skills, but everybody’s role is so important in the process of making a finished piece of knitwear. My job is primarily to organise the process and schedule everyone’s workload so that it all comes together, and we get everything finished to meet deadlines.

Knit Shop processes. Photos by Lottie Fox Jones

How important is Dundee to Knit Shop?

Donna: For me, there was so much that just aligned about Dundee. The Jute factories have a huge heritage legacy, there is so much history with textiles here – it’s the perfect location for us and it’s worked out so well because there is also such a strong creative community in Dundee. It feels like there’s something about the scale of Dundee that makes things possible. There are loads of things happening and maybe that is because it’s a smaller city?

Erin: Yes, a lot of the people that work at Knit Shop are also designers, with their own businesses, based here in Dundee. We really value what this adds to our team. Kim Norrie, Jolene Guthrie and Kate Scarlet Harvey were commissioned by Knit Shop for the MAKE project. They are all connected by either working at Donna Wilson or at Knit Shop and they all have a different skill set. Kate is primarily print-based, Jolene is knitwear-based, and Kim’s focus is embroidery and sewing.

Finishing a jumper at Knit Shop. Photo by Lottie Fox Jones

Knit Shop is a partner in the MAKE with the Knit Shop project. Can you talk about what drew you to becoming involved in the first place?

Donna: When I was at school, I was really good at the craft and design or ‘hands-on’ subjects that weren’t wholly academic. I have found that practical problem-solving skills learned at school, in arts subjects, have stayed with me. Now, there is a real focus on academic success and how to pass exams and learning feels structured towards that. I have kids at school and both have dyslexia. They are not the kind of people who can copy things down from a smartboard and take in information that way – they learn from doing. It is so important to find lots of different ways to access learning in the classroom and MAKE with the Knit Shop exemplifies this.

The project has a numeracy focus. At Knit Shop we use numeracy skills all the time – working out how to cost up our garments, for instance. If we need to take a centimetre off a garment, we can’t just go to our computer screen, we’ve got to work out how many stitches that is, how many rows that is. It’s all using numeracy.

Products in the making. Photo by Neil Hanna

Erin: And we started the project really thinking about craft and numeracy, but what we’ve discovered is that the work Kim, Jolene and Kate are doing with the teachers connects across all different areas of learning. It has been a positive experience for the makers, going into the classroom and doing something a bit out of the ordinary. They have worked hard to make the skills they are teaching fun and creative, and you can see that it has just really opened the kids’ minds to what they can achieve.

Donna: It makes the career of ‘maker’ or ‘designer’ more accessible. If you have never met a designer you don’t know what they do and so this project makes it feel real for the kids and makes them think: ‘I could do something like that.’

The activities that Kim, Jolene and Kate have designed are all about teaching simple core craft skills to teachers and the idea is that teachers can really take those anywhere and apply them across their teaching practice. There are some amazing stories from the project about children that teachers find challenging in the classroom – with this activity teachers see them engaging in unexpected and surprising ways. That has been so inspiring.

Can you talk about the impact you have seen to teachers during the course of the project?

Erin: It’s been so good to join the CLPL residencies and meet the teachers. I think seeing how the commissioned makers have connected with the teachers in a mutually supportive way has been such a positive outcome. It has also been great to watch the confidence of the teachers grow over the course of the project. Showing the teachers and children how Knit Shop works has also opened their minds to looking at their own clothing and how it’s put together.

Teacher CLPL session led by Erin Campbell at DCA. Photo by Julie Howden

Donna: These sorts of connections are so important. I think once, as a teacher, you’ve got a basis like this, then you will have the confidence to use it in different ways. And, once you have confidence, you realise that you can use any material. You don’t have to use costly materials. You can use some thread or some waste recycled material, old t-shirts, old jumpers, whatever you have to hand. The craft skills we are focusing on are simple and straightforward. Not only that, they’re also mindful because you’re completing a repetitive action. Craft is so good for focus and wellbeing. We all have so much noise in our daily lives now that it’s nice to hone in. Teaching something so simple, yet so essential in so many ways – a life skill – feels important for a teacher to master confidently. For us, material learning like this is fundamental.

From left to right: Erin Campbell, Kate Scarlet Harvey, Donna Wilson, Kim Norrie, Jolene Guthrie. Photo by Neil Hanna

Learn more about the aims of the project here

MAKE with the Knit Shop

There is growing evidence and appreciation that craft and making contribute to priorities within Scotland’s national education policy, providing a unique bridge between Expressive Arts and Technologies curriculums – unlocking learning and promoting creativity and attainment within science and numeracy disciplines. MAKE with the Knit Shop is a unique two-year teacher development project designed to embed craft approaches in schools, working with teachers and pupils from six primary schools across Dundee. The pilot programme focuses on supporting numeracy skills development in the classroom through a series of activities developed in partnership with local micro-factory Knit Shop, and professional textile makers.

Rosebank Primary School, one of the schools taking part in the programme, already takes an innovative approach to ‘hands-on’ learning, embedding craft directly into their vision for the school. The Rosebank Curriculum has a particular emphasis on global citizenship, learning for sustainability, outdoor learning and STEM, as well as embracing the opportunities for learning that being a Dundee City centre school gives. We take a closer look at the school’s craft activity and talk to Head Teacher Jennifer Heffell about crafts’ potential in school-wide thinking, Rosebank’s unique ‘Makerspace’, and how craft-based learning can reach far beyond Expressive Arts and Technologies outcomes.

Can you introduce yourself and Rosebank?

I’m Jennifer Heffell and I’m the head teacher at Rosebank Primary School. Rosebank is one of the city schools within Dundee and we’re probably closest to the main city centre. We have 300 pupils now and we’ve grown hugely in the last seven years, since we moved into our new building[i]. We are in an area of multiple deprivation, with around 64% of our children living within SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) 1 and 2, which is said to be poverty. We have an unusual demographic – we have a lot of bilingual children from families that are arriving either as refugees or asylum seekers, placed in short-term lets in the area – so the school is multicultural, and we have lots of languages. I think, at the last count, we recorded 21 dialects with Urdu as our most prevalent language. This creates a nice mix of children with different life experiences, and we try to draw on these experiences to support the curriculum. In addition, many of our approaches to support additional needs (ASN) can also support bilingual children who are new to English as well.

There are 10 full classrooms (each with 33 pupils), and we have one specialised support base for children with complex needs. I think out of all the campus schools (Rosebank shares a building with Our Lady’s Roman Catholic Primary School), we are the newest and the most open-plan in the sense that you can see across to the other school.

Can you tell us how you think craft can be transformational in the school setting?

Craft is something that I really believe in, because it was part of my upbringing. Within Rosebank, it allows children to work together, and, through hands-on experience, they build confidence and make social connections. It also fosters inclusivity and communication skills, which is great as we have a lot of children who are non-verbal or bilingual. We find that craft encourages our bilingual children, and our children with additional support needs, to use speech with increased creativity and confidence. This has been evidenced through year one of the MAKE with the Knit Shop (MWTKS) project and the participation of one of our children with additional support needs. She really flourished in her communication during the pupil-facing sessions.

Within our classrooms, we also see how craft activities can impact emotional wellbeing. Many of our children are coming into school from trauma and deprivation backgrounds. Craft gives affected children pride and some much-needed time out. It’s a way to switch off but, crucially, it also builds self-esteem and helps children to process their emotions. These are all really good outcomes for us at Rosebank, and obviously, developing creativity and skills is something we’re trying to do in all aspects of STEM. All of this, on top of sharpening problem-solving skills, building resilience and developing fine motor skills is why craft is a key part of our strategy and planning. Teaching through craft feels truly transformational for us.

Maker Kim Norrie with Rosebank teacher Jess McIntosh

What is your vision for embedding craft across Rosebank?

We want craft to be seen as a vibrant element of our offer at school, to be a part of the curriculum and to be considered at every aspect of planning – accentuating and complimenting all aspects of the school experience.

We have a ‘wider achievement passport’ in the school and we include craft skills in this. So, for example, the primary fives must have experience of knitting, another year group will learn how to sew on a button. We understand that these are essential life skills, and that their benefits can cross a lot of our learning experiences and outcomes. Embedding craft in this way also allows experienced pupils to share their skills with less experienced and younger children. We begin skills development with card or plastic needle threading sets in primary one. Giving our pupils such practical opportunities also helps us to celebrate diversity through a number of our craft-based projects. For example, one of our pupil’s mums is coming into school during our expressive arts week this term to do Arabic painting and paper craft. This encourages our children to talk about their families and backgrounds, which is so important.

We are connecting craft across the curriculum through our work with the Meta-skills Progression Framework[ii]. Meta-skills are innate, timeless, higher-order skills that create adaptive learners and promote success in whatever context the future brings. We use the framework as a tool to spotlight key skills and we are currently focusing on ‘curiosity’ and ‘creativity’. They are skills we are embedding continuously, but using the framework, we are naming them too. This enables us to be more strategic in how we think about building curiosity and creativity, often through craft activities, into our teaching outcomes.

To the side of this work, we seek out ways that we can be responsive by bringing in craft skills. For example, we have a big dolls house situated at the edge of our school ‘Makerspace’. We undertook a ‘country study’ last year and designed each room within the house to focus on a different world country, so there’s a Japanese room and a Scottish room, amongst others, and the children have been using the rooms for stop-motion projects. This work has made me think about links to craft, puppetry and storytelling. We are also looking into the links between craft and coding and 3D-printing, because we have an in-house 3D printer, and we are continuing our exploration into traditional crafts from around the world, linking to geography, history and social studies. We will also continue to draw on crafts’ benefits in supporting mental health and wellbeing. Simply keeping craft integrated into school improvement planning, I think, is really important.

Can you tell us more about Rosebank’s Makerspace?

Our upper school Makerspace has really evolved over time. It began with Sarah Jenkins, who is our STEM lead. She first piloted flexible seating in the classrooms at Rosebank. We decided that we wanted to go further and began by creating a physical zone in our corridor area, specifically for creative activity, which included craft and art supplies, and a workbench.

Over time our resources have increased and now we have three sewing machines (which are tightly managed by me and Mrs Mullay, the Deputy Head). Our aim is for the Makerspace to be as inclusive as possible. Activities are bilingual and include visual guides for a range of learners. At the crux of the space is an ambition to build an inspirational area that the kids want to work in.

Primary Six are the key custodians of the Makerspace, but we also open it up to other years on particular days. We want to make sure as many children are getting access to it whenever it’s possible. In general, the children understand how to use it and don’t mess about. They respect the space and the privileges they are given within it.

How do you make sure that your staff are confident to teach craft skills?

We rely on each other’s skills, and cascade learning across the school. We also have ‘friends of Rosebank’ – people local to the community who do voluntary work at the school – and they come in and teach knitting skills for example. Career-long Professional Learning (CLPL), such as the MWTKS project is crucial and there needs to be more CLPL opportunities like it. We are also always trying to see where we can get parents to link in, or local businesses and the local community, to share craft skills that are new to us as a teaching team.

Jennifer Heffell and Jess McIntosh with maker Kim Norrie during the MWTKS CLPL Programme

Can you share an example of craft’s benefits to your pupils?

We have observed how the Makerspace benefits our ASN children. An example, from our Primary Four group, focuses on a child who wasn’t coping well with regulation. He was able to sit and work on his craft project with a group of children around him – and he was helping them with their projects too. It evidences to us that, because he was able to access the project his own way and do so independently, craft increased his general confidence and his social skills. We have also seen, through the MWTKS project, that the collaborative element of craft projects, when linking to enterprise, builds ownership and autonomy as well as friendships and different kinds of understanding around how to work together.

Why did Rosebank decide to become part of the Make with The Knit Shop programme?

We took part in the ‘Trashion Show’ project with the V&A Dundee in 2023, developing a fashion show, with our Primary Six and Seven year groups, working with upcycled materials. We connected the fashion collection to our curriculum rationale. So, one of the outfits was ‘STEM’, one of the outfits was ‘diversity’. The children just loved that project, and we felt, from that, that it was important to continue bringing external craft knowledge, expertise and projects into our classrooms.

Learning craft skills through the MWTKS CLPL has allowed our teachers to connect with professional makers and bring them into their classrooms, hone their skills, be inspired, build resilience, take creative risks and be less afraid of getting it ‘wrong’ – because with craft you can start again or take your project in a new direction. Craft has the capacity to really open up the idea that everyone can be creative and I have found that this is really important for building confidence within the staff team. Through the MWTKS CLPL our teachers have been able to believe: ‘Not only can I do this, but I can teach it with a class of quite challenging children’. This kind of self-belief is crucial for the teaching team – for their own development and to share with other teachers –  as well as their pupils.

Maker Kim Norrie at Rosebank

Learn more about the aims of the project here

MAKE with the Knit Shop

[i] Rosebank moved the new Coldside shared campus in August 2018 and share the site with Francis Wright Nursery, Our Lady’s R.C. Primary School and The Hilltown Community Centre.

[ii] The Skills Development Scotland meta-skills progression framework has been developed in collaboration with partners and practitioners from across Scotland and aims to help with identifying and understanding what meta-skills look like in the classroom. The framework builds on the ‘Skills 4.0 – A Skills Model to Drive Scotland’s Future’ paper and illustrates examples of meta-skills across Curriculum for Excellence levels, from early years through to senior phase.

MAKE with the Knit Shop is a two-year teacher development project designed to embed craft approaches in schools.

Working with six primary schools in Dundee and three textile makers: Kate Scarlet Harvey, Jolene Guthrie and Kim Norrie, the project introduces teachers and pupils in p5 and p6 to new craft-based approaches that support numeracy skills development in the classroom. As we reflect on year one of the project and look ahead to year two, we chat with Kate, Jolene and Kim about their connections to Knit Shop, the importance of learning by doing, risk-taking in the classroom and their experiences of the project so far.

Hello Kate, Jolene and Kim! Can you each introduce yourself and tell us about what you do?

Kim: I’m a textile designer and maker and I also work in filmmaking. I specialise in constructed textiles, knitting and hand needle weaving, a giant type of embroidery I came up with while studying. It’s a very easy and therapeutic practice. Until a few years ago, I sold my work through the New Craftsmen (now called the New Craftmaker), a showroom in London. I currently split my time between filmmaking and textile projects.

Jolene: I’m a Dundee-based designer specialising in knitwear. I run my Scottish knitwear brand, Jo-AMI from my studio and work part-time as a knitwear developer at Knit Shop.

Kate: I’m a printed textile designer also based in Dundee. I work with vinyl print, screen print and digital print. I create one-off printed clothing, wall hangings, and various digitally printed accessories.

How did you get into textiles?

Kate: I have been obsessed with textiles since I learned to sew in Home Economics at school! I loved coming up with designs for cushions and aprons and learning how to pattern cut. I initially wanted to study fashion at university, but closer to the time, I realised that textile design was actually what I was interested in. It blew my mind to see what students created for their degree shows. I knew I wanted to be in that world, so I went on to study Printed Textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. I didn’t start selling my work or working in textiles until a few years after I graduated. Once I started, there was a snowball effect, and opportunities began presenting themselves to me, which has led me to where I am now.

Jolene: I also studied textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, graduating in 2016, and went on to complete an MA in Knitwear – Design, Heritage and Production at Heriot-Watt University in Galashiels in 2017. I then carried out various design internships with local brands and worked in industry, down in London, before staring my own brand and freelance working.

Kim: I went to Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen to complete my undergraduate degree, where I specialised in textiles. I received a First Class Honour’s Degree and won two prizes, one for my degree show and the other at the graduate design event, New Designers in London. This gave me the confidence to apply to the Royal College of Art (RCA) where I gained a Masters Degree, also in textiles. During my time studying at the RCA I received a scholarship from Johnson’s of Elgin, who also provided me with wonderful work experience at their Mill and an opportunity to work in their Selfridge’s Christmas store, specialising in personalised embroidery. When I graduated, I worked for Donna Wilson and set up my own brand selling through the New Craftsmen.

The Knit Shop, Dundee

And you all have a connection to the Knit Shop?

Jolene: Yeah, I am the knitwear developer, working three days a week. I operate the electronic knitting machines, working through the production schedules for Donna Wilson and other clients. I also take initial design enquiries through a development and sampling process to create a final piece that is ready to be produced for the customer.

Kate: I am a seamstress and studio assistant at the Knit Shop – I sew a lot of the products for Donna Wilson and other small designer brands and I help to maintain the studio by running the knitting machines when needed, and various other cleaning, packing, and box moving activities!

Kim: I previously worked for Donna Wilson in her London studio. I was her design assistant for around a year. More recently I created a series of mending videos for her website that sit alongside her knitwear and creature repair kits. When I heard Donna was opening the Knit Shop in Dundee, the area I’m from and have since moved back to, I got in touch to ask if there was anything I could do to help to help out. Shortly after, she asked me to take part in the Make with the Knit Shop project.

Jolene working in the Knit Shop

You were commissioned by the Knit Shop to develop and deliver textile activities for p5 and p6 pupils with a focus on numeracy, working directly with teachers on the process. Over the course of the last year, has this work influenced your own practice? 

Jolene: It has made me think about different knitting techniques, construction methods and working with different sustainable materials. I have developed some new Jo-AMI styles using the recycled cotton rope yarn that I used to deliver my workshops, creating a new eco product and construction method using arm knitting as the technique.

Kate: Yeah, since being part of MAKE with the Knit Shop, I have been considering what materials I use and how they can be more sustainable. Last year when we were devising the workshops, one of the main focus points we considered was sustainability and how easy it would be for the schools, going forward, to replicate the workshops and have easy access to materials.

I made full use of Dundee’s ScrapAntics – a ‘scrap store’ which sells everything you could need for craft activities in all forms. I bought a huge bag of scrap fabric and embroidery thread for the workshops, and I had so much left over that I was able to use in my own work throughout the summer – veering away from only using HTV (heat transfer vinyl) or other plastic-based products. It has also made me aware of hoarding materials I don’t use and as a result, I have donated bags and bags of stuff back to ScrapAntics, ready for someone else to discover!

Kim: It’s shown me that running a workshop with kids, much younger than I’ve had any experience with before, is a wonderful way to spend time and something I’d like to continue doing. I’ve always played with the idea of running workshops before and this experience has really shown me what it takes and what people struggle with specifically when it comes to my craft. Surprisingly it’s threading the needle, not the actual sewing, that causes most people issues.

Kim introducing Rosebank Primary School pupils to her weaving activity

Has anything surprised you about pupils’ responses to the project?

Kate: I was so surprised at how quickly the pupils took to the activity and showed real interest. I was particularly impressed with how much interest the boys showed, as craft historically has such feminine connotations – it was wonderful that it didn’t come up in conversation once as I was fully expecting, “this is for girls” type statements. They were all so keen to learn and get to grips with the project that it made teaching it a delight. I also found it interesting that most of the pupils were very hands-on learners and needed to be shown multiple times up close how to sew. I was very lucky that both teachers I worked with were crafty and had background knowledge of stitching, so they could help get the pupils started. Even things you wouldn’t think – like tying a knot – were new to some of the pupils, so having extra teaching help for that skill was so important.

Kim: Yeah, I was surprised by how much everyone enjoyed it. I expected to have at least a few kids who were not into the project, but they were all so full of enthusiasm. They were thrilled to be making something they could take home.

I was also surprised at how therapeutic they found the repetitive task of hand needle weaving. I thought they may struggle, but the only thing a couple of them found challenging was threading the needle. The absolute joy and pride on their faces when they finished a specific task was really sweet. It was so special to see this craft project give them confidence.

Jolene: I have been surprised by the resilience and creativeness of the pupils, their ability to think outside the box and create new, interesting things with skills that they have only just learnt about.

Kate showing pupils at Downfield Primary School printed wall hanging examples

Has the project influenced your mindset in thinking about how craft can aid with the teaching of numeracy and maths skills?

Kim: Absolutely, I couldn’t believe how well the kids responded to this project. I could see them counting the rows they would need in one colour and how many in another. Thinking about pattern and symmetry. Craft may not be a conventional way to aid the teaching of numeracy and maths skills, but I could see how much more confident the kids were in talking about numbers and counting when it wasn’t their primary focus. It was just something they needed to use to get the project done, which is the way designers and makers use maths in the real world. It’s a very clever way to teach kids multiple skills at once.

Jolene: The project has also highlighted and reinforced how often I use numeracy and maths skills we use in my everyday design practice. Whether I am working out the dimensions and angles of garment panels so they fit together exactly or I am calculating how much I should charge for a certain product or service, it is apparent in nearly every exercise.

Kate: What really helped me was working directly with the teachers while we were devising the project so they could match up the craft activity with a numeracy learning intention. Personally, maths was never my strong suit at school, but looking at it from the point of view of craft makes it so much more accessible. I think that attaching the maths ideas to a real-life activity makes it less scary or intimidating for many pupils.

Jolene assisting a Claypotts Castle Primary School pupil with a hand-knitting technique

A key part of our teacher development project is to explore confidence-building through skills-development, experimentation and creative risk-taking in the classroom. How important do you think this kind of professional development work is for pupils?

Kim: Personally I believe in letting kids experience as much as possible, so that they can foster some kind of passion – a hobby or interest that can lead to a fulfilling career when they are older. Without creative experimentation and risk-taking in the classroom there may not be any other scope for kids to receive these crucial experiences.

There are so many avenues one person can take when it comes to a career. Having people come in and share their knowledge in a fun and engaging way is a wonderful way for kids to learn life skills. To learn about jobs they didn’t know existed, meet people they can aspire to and use the existing skills they have in a real-world application.

Kate: I think it is important for pupils to experiment and colour ‘outside of the lines’. In my memory of being in primary school, we had to make our art as neat as possible and I always struggled with that idea, feeling like I was doing it ‘wrong’. When I was in primary six, our teacher did an art lesson with us which always stayed with me – she put out trays of paint and paper on our tables and told us to do what we wanted – make a mess, use big brushes and cardboard tubes to paint with, to just play, no rules. It was amazing to relax into it and to paint intuitively. It gave me confidence and opened my eyes to different forms of expression, and I think this is something that is needed, this idea that how you show up is okay, and there is nothing wrong with what you made, or how you painted.

I wanted to have an element of this approach in my project. Even though it has a focus on shapes, the shapes can be irregular; even though we are sewing up the edges by hand, we can use different stitches or different colours. This gives pupils confidence in their abilities and choices and produces interesting and unexpected results.

Jolene: I think this is hugely important as it comes at such an influential stage – pupils can realise their own interests and discover skills they never knew they had. This builds confidence and self-belief, which are so important in allowing pupils to reach for their dreams.

Learn more about Kate, Jolene and Kim and the aims of the project here

MAKE with the Knit Shop