Our Approach

Craft Atelier is a place where making, learning, and attention unfold together.

We work at a pace that allows meaning to settle. We introduce techniques with clarity and context, then allow time for hands-on practice and integration at each participant's pace. Our workshops prioritise attention and process over speed or convenience. This approach shapes how we teach, how we host, and how we hold the space.

Making here is not about finishing quickly or producing more. It is about staying with a process long enough for understanding to emerge — through the hands, in the body, and into thought.

Our People

Craft Atelier is founded by two practitioners who work closely with materials, tools, and learners. Their approaches are distinct but complementary, and together they shape how the studio teaches, hosts, and supports making.ng.

Chen Chen (left) approaches teaching through attention to the learner. She pays attention to why someone has come, the pace they work best in, and what the next meaningful step in their making might be. Learners often describe her workshops as gently stretching — challenging enough to grow without becoming discouraging. Her craft interests include weaving, sashiko, and kumihimo, with a focus on practices rooted in cultural and heritage traditions.

Hui Lian (right) approaches teaching through the craft itself, with a focus on technique, structure, and depth. Her workshops help learners understand how a craft works beneath the surface — how tension is held and how form is constructed. Learners are often struck by her technical clarity and breadth of knowledge, and appreciate the view she offers of what is possible with time and refinement. Her current work centres on knitting, crochet, and lace-making.

Our Space

Craft Atelier is a working studio. The space is designed to support focus, shared attention, and the rhythms of making. Tools, materials, and equipment are visible and in use, and the layout shifts according to what is being worked on.

The studio moves between quiet, individual work and shared activity during workshops. Surfaces are arranged for work — not for show — and materials are handled rather than styled.

Visitors to the studio are entering a space that is already in motion. We ask that people move with care, notice others, and allow the work at hand to unfold without rushing.

Our Equipment

The studio is equipped to support a range of fibre and textile practices, from introductory encounters to sustained, deeper work. Tools and equipment are chosen for durability, versatility, and continuity of use, and are maintained so they can support different modes of learning.

Where possible, we invite learners to become familiar with the tools themselves, not just the outcomes they produce. Set-up, adjustment, and care are treated as part of the craft, and not as background tasks. This familiarity builds confidence, accuracy, and attention over time.

Our current equipment includes floor looms, table looms, rigid heddle looms, spinning wheels, winding equipment, sewing tools, and related handwork tools. These are used actively in workshops and studio practice.