This is a very exciting week for us at Homespun! In case you didn’t know, we’re the team behind the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange contemporary craft show series and our biggest show of the year is this weekend!

Enjoy over 100 craft vendors this Saturday, June 14th from 12-8pm at the Harrison Center for the Arts. This is your chance to meet some of the artists behind your favorite Homespun products. Ask them questions, see their latest creations and discover new favorites. You can check out the complete vendor list here.

The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is presented in conjunction with the Independent Music and Arts Festival. Be prepared for live music, gallery shows, local food, local craft beer from Sun King Brewery and cider from New Day Craft , ice cream, raffle prizes, and more. And if you are one of the first 100 attendees, check out the Yelp table at the main entrance of Harrison Center for your free swag bag!

We would like to thank this year’s generous presenting sponsors: Sun King Brewery, Just Pop In! and New Day Craft. You’re the best! And we can’t forget our supporting sponsors, too; jakprints, Foundry Provisions, Ronlewhorn Industries , Amy McAdams Design, little robot photography, Forum Credit Union, Yelp, and Harrison Center for the Arts: we’re all working together to put on the best event yet!

Stay connected with Handicraft events throughout the year, like our Facebook page INDIEana Handicraft Exchange

Thanks and hope to see you there!

The Homespun: Modern Handmade Grand Re-Opening party is this coming Friday evening, March 7th, from 5-10pm. Come check out the new space at 869 Mass Ave, hear some lovely music from D. Mark & Jules, enjoy free samples from some of our food and beverage artisans, and see samples from some of our workshop teachers. Free and family-friendly!

The main event will be Friday evening, but we will have fun and exciting things happening in the shop all weekend to extend the festivities.

Keep an eye out at other small, independent businesses around town in the next week to pick up one of our Grand Re-Opening postcards with a 10% off coupon on the back, valid only during our Grand Re-Opening weekend, 3.7 – 3.9.

Make sure to check out our events page for our full workshop schedule. We currently have two wonderful workshops available for Saturday, February 15. Both workshops are open to students 13 & up, which make them a great parent and child to-do. We will also be hosting two artisans in our shop for special Valentine’s events, both New Fangled Confections and Meg Catherine Flowers will be on hand for all your romantic (and just plain pretty) gift giving needs!

Here ye, here ye it is by royal decree that we shall open our doors for business tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, 2014. It has been a long and hectic journey, but we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our fixtures are in place, shelves are being mounted, floors mopped and hopefully soon we will begin to arrange our wonderful displays featuring our amazing artists. Come in and see our progress and don’t forget to join us for our Grand Opening celebration Friday, March 7!

It would seem that we like to tackle big projects in pairs. We opened Homespun in Irvington in July of 2010 and two months later, our son was born. Our daughter was born this October, and three months from now we’ll move to a new, larger location downtown on the east end of Mass Ave.

The decision to move the shop was one of the most difficult and most complex we’ve ever made. As a family and as business partners, we’re rooted in Irvington. When we opened the doors of Homespun we set out to help make East Washington Street a shopping destination and to help strengthen the eastside business community. We’ve been well-supported by fellow business owners and neighborhood residents alike, and we are very appreciative of that. It is not something we will forget. However, as we’ve grown, we’ve run out of space: for in-store events, for sales floor display, for product overstock, even for employees’ coats.

As much as we wanted to continue to grow our business in Irvington, we couldn’t find a suitable space to accommodate all of our needs. So, after many months of debate, we finally made the decision to relocate to 869 Massachusetts Avenue in February 2014. We’ll be just off of 10th Street, in the Trailside building, where Yats recently reopened, and a stone’s throw from Black Market, R Bistro, Indy Reads Books, The Best Chocolate In Town, Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, Crimson Tate and a number of other awesome businesses. (In early 2014, Natural Born Juicers will also join the block!) Homespun will double in size, allowing us to stock more of the best contemporary handmade goods and display them the way they deserve to be seen. The space will be more accessible for shoppers in wheel chairs and those pushing strollers, and our employees will finally have a designated space to eat their lunches and take proper – and much deserved – breaks! We’ll also be able to host workshops and maker demonstrations in the same space once again.

We will be open for business seven days a week in Irvington through the holidays. We will simultaneously operate a preview shop on Mass Ave. on Fridays and Saturdays from Thanksgiving through the end of the year. The Washington Street location will close the final week of January and we’ll reopen on Mass Ave. in early February.

Here’s where you can find us this holiday season:

• Homespun: Modern Handmade (5624 East Washington Street)
  Sunday through Thursday 11am – 7pm, Friday & Saturday 10am – 8pm
• Homespun: Modern Handmade Preview Shop (869 Massachusetts Avenue)
  Friday & Saturday (Nov. 29 & 30, Dec. 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, & 28) 11am – 7pm
• Mass Ave Midnight Shopper (869 Massachusetts Avenue)
  Friday, Nov. 22, 5pm – midnight
• INDIEana Handicraft Exchange Holiday Mini (Harrison Center for the Arts)
  Friday, Dec. 6, 5pm – 10pm
• Irvington Merchants Holiday Open House (5624 East Washington Street)
  Friday, Dec. 6, 6pm-9pm
• Yelp Totally Bazaar (Old City Hall, 200 North Alabama)
  Thursday, Dec. 12, 6pm – 10pm