White text on black background that says 'make shift'.

👋 Hi, we’re Makeshift Collective, local artists manifesting Durham's first craft-focused makerspace.

We’re tired of crafting alone and bet you are too. So we’re building a room big enough for all of us.

Makeshift is a shared craft studio and gathering place in Downtown Durham. We believe:

  • We all need a third space that helps us get offline.

    Screens have filled in where community used to be. Third spaces are disappearing everywhere, and craft, done with other people, is one of the oldest and best replacements we know of.

  • Knowledge that skips a generation is worth preserving.

    Techniques passed hand-to-hand for centuries are at real risk of dying with the people who hold them. We want the person who's been quilting for fifty years teaching the person who picked up a needle last week.

  • Access to tools shouldn’t gatekeep craft.

    A loom, a serger, a good 3D printer; these are expensive tools. We believe access to them shouldn't be. Shared equipment means the biggest barrier to making something is showing up.

  • Durham has a rich craft story that deserves to be told.

    This city has a real craft culture and history that doesn't have one shared home. We want Makeshift to be where it gets celebrated, documented, and passed forward. Actively.

OCTOBER 2026 - JAN 2027

Right now, we're proving our concept at ReCity in downtown Durham.

If Durham shows up for it, we go permanent.

From October 2026 through January 2027, we're running a trial residency in Downtown Durham with open studio nights, classes, and community events, three evenings a week.

This isn't a soft opening. It's an experiment with a real deadline, and it needs a real answer from this city; which is exactly what we're counting on you for.

When: WED / THU / FRI 5-9pm

Where: ReCity Network (112 Broadway St), Durham

Learn more

Showing up matters as much as giving.

  • Donate

    One-time or monthly: every dollar is tracked toward our $100,000 trial goal, transparently.

    Give to the trial

  • Volunteer

    Demo your craft, staff a shift, help with kids' craft time, or help us spread the word. Volunteers earn free studio access and classes.

    sign up

  • Teach

    Working artists and experienced craftspeople: propose a class or workshop. We handle the space, the sign-ups, and fair pay. You bring the craft.

    Propose a class

  • Simply show up

    Come to open studio. Take a class. Bring a friend who makes things. Attendance is its own kind of proof.

    schedule coming soon
Group of six women sitting and standing indoors, laughing and smiling near a window with plants and colorful lamps

WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS?

We’re a group of local makers, fiber artists, and serial crafters who met working at Freeman’s Creative.

We love to make things together, share ideas, and support each other’s entrepreneurial dreams.

Now you’re invited too.

A smiling woman with wavy brown hair and earrings, sitting in front of green plants in a cozy, well-lit indoor space.

MEET MAKESHIFT’S FOUNDERS

WEAVER, DESIGNER, 3D PRINTER

Sharon Brener is the founder and fiber artist behind Touch Grass Textiles. She spent 15 years as a VP of Product and Design and now channels that energy into making 3D-printed mini loom kits, teaching local workshops, and weaving one-of-a-kind scarves and home goods on any loom she can find. The first act of her career was about delivering great user experiences on screens. This is her second.

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Sharon Brener

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair and glasses, smiling, wearing a white sleeveless shirt with floral print, sitting indoors with a large green plant and a colorful lamp in the background.

NEEDLE FELTER, LASER CUTTER, PUNKY NERD

Allison Dupuis, a fiber artist and needle felter, is a Chapel Hill / Durham native who made her way back to the Triangle after spending a couple of decades in Texas. She owns BaconAstro (a needle felting kit and supplies shop) and spends most of her time stabbing wool, making a mess with her daughter, and painting the occasional chihuahua portrait.

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Allison Dupuis

A woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nose ring, sitting indoors with greenery behind her and large leaves overhead.

FINE ARTIST, RUG TUFTER, SEWIST

Katie Hatfield is a Durham-based textile artist, designer, and texture connoisseur helping art lovers adorn their spaces with exceptional pieces by creating unique fiber art that pushes the boundaries of what home decor can be. Through her work, she navigates concepts of community, our shared humanity and the depths that can be found when we dig below the surface of ourselves. When not in the studio, you can find Katie on the outdoor patio of one of her favorite downtown Durham bars getting lost in a steamy romance novel or laughing loudly with her pals.

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Katie Hatfield

A woman with curly dark hair and blue eyes smiling while sitting on a beige sofa in a plant-filled room with colorful artwork and fairy lights in the background.

STAINED GLASS ARTIST, APPAREL DESIGNER

Camille Barot is a French multidisciplinary artist based in Durham, NC. After ten years in the home sewing industry, including running the sewing pattern company Deer&Doe and a brief stint as a fabric business lead in the corporate world, she is now embracing stained glass as her medium of choice. A reformed academic researcher with a PhD in AI, she focuses on artisanal production and traditional craftmanship while exploring sustainable uses of technology to expand creative possibilities and accessibility. 

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Camille Barot

Happy young man with dark hair and a septum piercing, smiling and resting his head on his hand indoors near a large green leafy plant and a colorful table lamp, with a brick wall background.

ILLUSTRATOR, DESIGNER, KNITTER, SEWIST

Gabs Taccir is a graphic designer, illustrator, and crafter based Durham, NC. Known in Durham as the designer behind Durham Farmer’s Market Tomato Day. He owns and operates Studio Gabba, their independent design studio generating graphics, branding, and merchandise. They spend their time knitting, rolling on the mats practicing Brazilian JiuJitsu, and reading romance books.

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Gabs Taccir

Black and white line drawing of a girl on a skateboard, wearing a hat and a backpack, with trees and clouds in the background.

Your face here? Join the newsletter to be the first to know when we open up Founding Memberships.

A glass table displaying various sewing and craft items, including cross-stitch patterns, colorful felted wool yarn, fabric swatches, a metal box, and decorative embroidered textiles.

WHO CAN JOIN

For fiber artists. Crafters. Hobbyists. Everyone still figuring it out.

Makeshift is for:

  • The maker who crafts for work and needs a legit studio setup

  • The sewist with a pile of mending and zero table space at home

  • The weaver who doesn’t want their cat destroying their warp

  • The crafter who wants to learn hand-dyeing, weaving, or needle felting for the first time

  • The needle felter who wants to talk shop and commiserate on their finger wounds

  • The knitter who needs a place to block a sweater and grab a coffee with a friend

But really, this space is for anyone who wants to make something one-of-a-kind, in good company, in the heart of Bull City. 

join us for an event

Find us out and about in Durham, NC.

While our forever home comes together, we're hosting pop-up craft events and teaching classes at coffee shops, boutiques, and bars around Durham. Come find us.

If you’d like us to host an event at your favorite venue, DM us

Tomato Day was our first event →

We popped up at Durham Farmers’ Market on July 18 with a craft raffle (craffle?) and helped raise almost $1000 for the Double Bucks program.