Hobbies once reserved for bored grandmothers and desperate housewives have been creeping up the local trend ladder in recent years, with Bangkok craft shops becoming hangouts and handiwork becoming a favored pastime of young style-makers and even high society women.

The leading indicator that the trend is here to stay is this month's launch of the Thai edition of globally worshipped monthly mag “Martha Stewart Living."

But it hasn't been an overnight process, with Bangkok craft shops focusing on knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and silk weaving slowly moving in to take up prominent spots in the usual trend haunts.

“We're offering trendy people a chance to create something of their own, something that no one else can find in any other store,” says self-proclaimed knitaholic Nice Tansrikul, manager of Big Knit Cafe in Thonglor.

Part of the appeal of her Bangkok craft shop is that it combines the art of knitting with a sense of community.

“All our staff are professionally trained knitters," she says. "We're not only selling the equipment and the yarns, we also offer guidance for those who need it.”

Nice says that knitting actually has therapeutic qualities. Don't believe her? Psychiatrists at the nearby Samitivej Hospital are already incorporating BigKnit's work into their sessions.

The Loom

Traditional Lanna art gets a tech boost

A similar art with supposed therapeutic benefits is practiced at The Loom. Once an exotic craft practiced in the hills of Chiang Mai, weaving now attracts Bangkok's socialites and celebrities who come to the shop to turn spools of thread into a scarf or skirt.

The room is filled with 10 “looms,” specially designed weaving machines just like the traditional ones found in rural silk villages -- but with modern adaptations. It’s owned by a silk-making family that has brought their 40-year-old passion and experience to their very own weaving club.

“With these new technologies, it makes it much easier for people to try handicrafts,” says Pongtep Jaruckjanyanam, executive director of The Loom.

The Loom promises students they’ll leave their first two-and-a-half-hour course with a fully completed scarf. Because of the location of the store and nature of the hobby, most of the clientele is still Japanese. But Thais living in Thonglor are getting curious, prompting this Bangkok craft shop to expand its eccentric hobby hub to a more commercial locale with a larger reach -- Siam Paragon.

Applique

Scrapbooking and crafts for the uncrafty

Siam is not new to all this, being home to some of the city’s first hobby and craft stores, like Goose, a shop in Siam Discovery dedicated to the art of scrapbooking. It also stocks decorative papers and stickers, colored glues, template cutters, pens and markers in all the colors of the rainbow.

There’s also Applique, a fabric craft and knitting supply store on top of handmade fashion accessory store Nana Coco. Applique's main seling point is probably the most convincing of them all -- handicrafts created with the least amount of effort.

“Our motifs [decorative cut-out shapes that can be ironed on fabrics] are pretty, easy to use and come in a variety of designs," says Tawatchai Sareedenchai, marketing manager of Applique. “The limit is your imagination. Seriously, who can't do this?”

The cute motifs come in different themes and shapes, from animals and wedding icons to gadgets and food items. All the products sold in his Bangok craft store, like laptop cloth bags, T-shirts and stuffed cloth dolls, provide great canvases for decorative motifs, making it a hit among lazy teenagers roaming Siam Square.

But despite their differences, these Bangkok craft stores share a common thread -- they're changing the image of crafts and making them more accessible to the masses.

“We had a customer who came in with a picture of her Persian cat,” recalls Nice of Big Knit Cafe. “Though she went home with an end product that looked like a dust ball, she was proud of it nonetheless.”

And that's the point of it all. To create something you can be proud of. Just like Martha Stewart always says, “That's a good thing.”

Shop details

Big Knit Cafe
88 Sukhumvit 49 (through Thonglor Soi 13), BTS: Thonglor
Tel: +66 (0)2 260 5050

The Loom
Lee House Building, 275 Thonglor Soi 13, BTS: Thonglor
The Loom also has a space at the Hobby Club, 4/F Siam Paragon.
Tel: +66 2712 7823

Applique
2nd floor, Nana Coco, Siam Square Soi 4, BTS: Siam
Tel: +66 (0)2 634 4133
There are also branches in Central Pinklao (2nd floor) and Siam Paragon (4th floor).

Goose
Siam Discovery, Rama 1 Road
Tel: +66 (0)80 201 9421

261/4 Sukhumwit 55 (Thong Lor 13)
Tel: +66 (0)83 242 7089