canterbury

Mindful making: the Christchurch woman whose handmade dolls inspire inner strength

Mindful making: the Christchurch woman who makes dolls to inspire inner strength
Hilary Tapper-Zakheim creates her inspiring, eco-friendly Khadil dolls with a hand-powered sewing machine in her Christchurch workroom. She uses handwoven cotton, woven by empowered village women in India, and other natural materials to create dolls that celebrate natural beauty, wholesomeness, inner strength, and handmade, conscious living.

Copper, timber and time: the sculptural forms of Cobredera

Copper, timber and time: the sculptural forms of Cobredera
Like many makers, Christchurch craftsman Ben Teeuwen’s journey started with making handcrafted gifts that drew compliments and led to word-of-mouth interest. From that emerged a plan to fashion beautiful jewellery using natural timber and recycled copper. His shop name, Cobredera, comes from the two Spanish words for his favourite materials: cobre (copper) and madera (wood).

Featured seller: Evelyn Rose Design

Sarita Muir’s love of animals is very apparent in her creations and in her day-to-day life, as she divides her time between design for her label Evelyn Rose Design and rescuing unwanted rabbits and guinea pigs. Sarita finds it an exciting time to be a designer-maker, saying “The digital printing age has really embraced small businesses, creating new opportunities to print small runs of fabric.”