Glasgow Arts and Crafts Venues: July 2024

Arts and crafts are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to a night out in Glasgow. Among the most visible businesses in this category is The Craft Pottery, the colourful BYOB pottery painting spot on Washington Street which is a short walk from Central Station. The studio runs workshops in pottery throwing, alongside their ever-popular pottery painting sessions – a regular spot for birthday parties and hen nights. Here participants can choose from a selection of plain items – cups, plates, vases, trinket dishes – priced according to the value of the item itself (starting at as little as £5) and transform them into masterpieces of their own making. The studio also runs themed painting sessions, such as Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan nights complete with lyric stencils and stamps.

This BYOB painting trend pops up elsewhere across the city and makes for a low-cost alternative night out. Vine and Canvas on Hope Street offers classes hosted by experienced art tutors, from life drawing to pop art where professional guidance is provided to replicate the techniques of great artists. A messier and more active version of this format is available at Splatter Art Studio at the Briggait. For just over £30 you are dressed up like a Ghostbuster in a head-to-toe protective boiler suit and encouraged to go wild decorating your A3-sized blank canvas. Weaponry includes sponges, splatter brushes and powerful paint guns. Staff offer lessons in how to achieve certain techniques such as gradients and textures, but this advice is widely ignored in a place where chaos reigns supreme. You can bring drinks with you here too but take it from us, it may be best to opt for something with a lid.

Art Space G41 in the Shawlands Arcade is a varied space that does a bit of everything. From pottery painting, to art classes, to mending and sewing workshops, it is a CIC (community interest company) meaning all the profits are fed back into the community, being used to pay tutors or fund projects in the local area. These include art therapy classes for veterans and a partnership with Rainbow Families, offering free arts and crafts opportunities to LGBTQIA+ families in Shawlands. Among their most popular evenings on offer are the blocks of Beginner’s Sewing Classes which take place on Tuesday evenings, starting with simple handheld sewing techniques, building up to creating cushion covers and pyjama trousers on the sewing machine.

Sew Confident over in Rutherglen takes these kinds of classes to the next level, with a packed menu of sewing workshops available from beginners to advanced. Here, sewers can have a go at dressmaking, crochet and even homeware projects such as curtain and blind making. They also have occasional 'Sewcials' – open days for menders to bring in their own project and connect with other sewers over lunch and refreshments while clocking a few more hours on their project under the experienced guidance of the Sew Confident teachers. More centrally located mending classes can be found at The Stitchery, not far from Mitchell Library with many focusing on prolonging the life of our favourite items of clothing.

Although not strictly in the arts and crafts space, it is worth shouting out R:eVolve in Rutherglen here too, a swap shop for second hand clothing. The shop, like a lot of the mending spaces listed above, is a response to the fast fashion industry. It works on a points system, just drop off a bunch of your pre-loved clothing and you’ll build up a points balance which can be used in-store whenever you like.