Our story

Craft & Create is a family-run maker’s studio based in Basingstoke, Hampshire. We are three — Vedia, Umi and Celal — and between us we bring over three decades of combined making experience across candle and soap formulation, longarm quilting and upholstery.

The studio was built on a simple belief: that things made slowly, by hand, with proper knowledge and care, are worth more than anything produced quickly at scale. That applies to everything we do — from a small-batch candle poured at the right temperature to a heritage armchair restored with traditional techniques.

Vedia has spent over ten years developing original fragrance formulations, working with botanical waxes and plant-based ingredients to create candles and soaps that feel considered rather than commercial. Every scent in the range is an original blend — designed to evoke something specific, whether that’s the cool mineral air of a coastline or the last quiet hour of the evening.

Umi is our longarm quilter, working on an APQS machine with Intelliquilter technology from our Basingstoke studio. With a library of over 400 patterns and the ability to accommodate quilts up to 12 feet wide, she brings the same unhurried attention to finishing your quilt that you put into making it.

Celal is a master upholsterer with 25 years of experience working across heritage houses, luxury hotels, London properties and private commissions at the highest level. He works in both traditional and contemporary techniques — there is very little he cannot upholster — and brings to every piece the kind of skill that simply cannot be rushed.

Together we run workshops that open these crafts to anyone who wants to learn — from beginner candle making to advanced upholstery techniques — as well as corporate events and collaborations for businesses looking for something genuinely different.

Everything here is made or done properly. That’s the only standard we work to.