Last year was the first time I went to the September Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, and I was excited to go again this year. It’s the largest of the Renegade Craft Fairs and it is such a fantastic experience. I follow a lot of the vendors on Instagram and it was great to finally see their work in person.
Last year I left with quite a few purchases, but all I got this time was a headband. I still haven’t framed and hung up all my prints I got last time, so I refused to let myself but any this time. Since I don’t have purchases to show off, I’m just going to show off some of my favorite vendors this year.
Poppy and Fern
This was one of only two needlework artists I saw and Renegade and the work was amazing! I love the intricate necklace frames and the delicate stitching.
Genevieve Santos
I love Genevieve’s style and I couldn’t resist her amazing, furry sign! That orange monster is too adorable! She has such a sweet, beautiful style and it just made me smile. I especially love that she has rubber stamps available, what a neat idea!
Zealous Bee
52Lasers has made me pay a lot more attention to laser cut items, so between the laser cutting and the hexagons, I couldn’t help but stop and look! There was a lot of fun pieces and I loved seeing the hand painted wooden pieces, especially that ice cream cone!
Family Tree Design
I absolutely love Family Tree Design, Josh actually has a set of their monster friends prints in his office. I was so, so tempted by the Belefonte print because I love A Life Aquatic, but I ultimately decided against it didn’t look like a size I would easily be able to get a frame for. But it was very difficult to pass it up! I also loved the idea of the “digital business card”!
Biggie Handmade Goods
My mother-in-law lent me a couple looms recently because I’ve been really wanting to try weaving. The colors and the patterns of these were so amazing! I find weaving to be so fascinating and I loved examining these up close.
BRIKA
BRIKA is a curated online marketplace featuring handmade goods. I loved seeing the wide variety of different styles and makers together in one booth.
Perfect Hair Ties
Perfect Hair Ties is where I got my headband. I had to include them because I really loved that they had a laser cut sign and their scrappy hexagon wall hanging with a Mary Poppins’s quote needed to be shown off!
Innad
I loved the colors and patterns on the products by Innad. I’m not really a backpack user, otherwise I would have been very tempted! The shoes were so fun and the designs are all just so unique and fun!
There were so many more amazing vendors that I didn’t include because you would be reading forever. It was so great to see so many talented makers together in one place! Have you ever been to a Renegade Craft Fair?
Great post! A trip to a Renegade Craft Fair is definitely on my bucket list. Though, my checking account would be very unhappy with me afterward.
It’s definitely an amazing experience. The first time I went I spent a ton, but I haven’t bought as much every other year I go because there are a lot of vendors that come back.
Wow, that looks like loads of fun! I love those cross stitch necklaces, so tiny!
I actually had been admiring a cute embroidered wall hook at Anthropologie the other day and just found out it was done by the same woman! The quality was amazing!
That fair looks amazing!! They are all pretty far away from me, but maybe someday I could get to the NYC one because my in-laws are only 2 hours away.
Definitely sounds like a good time to play a trip to visit the in-laws! It’s amazing how far people travel to take part in the show!
jealous!! wish there was one closer to me. my mom went last year and loved it.
Maybe next year you should plan a trip to Illinois in September!