The Makers Market Turns the Velvet Mill Into a Seven-Hour Showcase of Local Creativity (cancelled)

NOTE: This event is cancelled due to the nor’easter.

The Makers Market Turns the Velvet Mill Into a Seven-Hour Showcase of Local Creativity Saturday, Sept. 26, bringing artists, crafters, vintage sellers, and small businesses together inside one of Stonington’s most distinctive buildings.

Running from 2 to 9 p.m., the Makers Market takes over the Plaza room at the Velvet Mill with tables and displays filled with handmade goods, artwork, crafts, vintage finds and one-of-a-kind pieces.

It’s also the second market to occupy the Mill that day.

The Stonington Farmers’ Market runs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, followed two hours later by the Makers Market. That makes Sept. 26 an unusually market-heavy day at a building that has itself evolved into a year-round community of artists, makers and independent businesses.

A Market Built Around the People Who Make Things

The Makers Market is less about shopping from established retail brands and more about meeting the people behind what’s being sold.

Local artists, crafters, makers, vintage dealers and small businesses set up individual displays, creating a market where the inventory changes with the vendors.

That can mean original artwork and handmade crafts alongside jewelry, decorative pieces, repurposed objects, vintage merchandise and other finds that aren’t likely to appear on the shelves of a conventional store.

It’s an approach that fits the Velvet Mill unusually well.

The building already houses a community of artists, craftspeople, designers and entrepreneurs. Visitors can encounter working studios and independent shops elsewhere in the sprawling complex, along with places to eat and drink.

The Makers Market concentrates that creative culture into one room for the afternoon and evening.

The Building Was Made for Makers Long Before the Term Existed

There’s an interesting bit of continuity between what happens at the Velvet Mill today and what happened there more than a century ago.

The building was constructed in 1888, when Stonington was looking to attract new industry.

A. Wimpfheimer & Bro. eventually moved its velvet manufacturing operation to Stonington after initially attempting production in Astoria, New York. By 1891, the company was operating 25 looms and employing 35 people in Stonington.

The operation became enormous.

By the middle of the 20th century, approximately 450 employees operated around 300 broad looms at the plant. The American Velvet Company became a major part of Stonington’s industrial economy, with manufacturing processes ranging from weaving and dyeing to finishing taking place under the same roof.

The company eventually moved its Connecticut manufacturing operation to Virginia in 1996.

That could easily have been the end of the building’s productive life.

Instead, the old factory began another one.

From Industrial Mill to Creative Community

Like former textile mills throughout New England, the Velvet Mill found a second life through adaptive reuse.

But the transformation here is particularly appropriate.

The machines and hundreds of industrial workers are gone, yet the building remains filled with people who make things.

Today, the former factory contains artist studios, craftspeople, designers, shops, wellness businesses and other independent enterprises, along with food and beverage businesses.

The Mill itself describes a kinship between the artisans working there now and the generations of people who worked inside the building when it was a factory.

The scale has changed dramatically.

Instead of hundreds of employees producing velvet for a national market, today’s occupants may be painters working in individual studios, craftspeople producing small batches, vintage dealers finding and restoring old objects or entrepreneurs building businesses one customer at a time.

The Makers Market pushes that transformation into the foreground.

A building constructed for manufacturing becomes a place to buy directly from contemporary makers.

Make an Afternoon of the Mill

With seven hours to wander the market, there’s little need to treat Saturday as a quick shopping trip.

The Velvet Mill has gradually developed into something closer to a small indoor district than a single attraction.

Visitors can explore the building’s independent shops and studios while stopping for food, coffee or a drink at businesses elsewhere in the complex. The mix includes an artisanal bakery, brewery, wood-fired pizza and other food and beverage options alongside the creative businesses.

And on Sept. 26, people who arrive early enough can experience two different versions of the local-market idea.

The Stonington Farmers’ Market begins at 9 a.m., emphasizing locally grown, raised and prepared foods.

After a two-hour break, the Makers Market begins at 2 p.m. and shifts the emphasis toward art, craft, vintage pieces and handmade goods.

One supports people growing and producing things locally.

The other supports people designing, creating and finding them.

Both happen at the same 19th-century factory.

A Fourth-Saturday Tradition

The Sept. 26 market isn’t intended as a one-off event.

The Makers Market follows a fourth-Saturday monthly schedule, giving shoppers another reason to return while allowing the mix of vendors and merchandise to change from one market to another.

That’s particularly useful with handmade and vintage merchandise.

An artist can arrive with newly completed work. A craftsperson can introduce something different. A vintage seller’s inventory can change completely between visits.

It makes browsing part of the point.

You don’t necessarily need to arrive knowing what you’re looking for.

In a building that once produced thousands of yards of velvet according to carefully controlled manufacturing processes, that’s quite a change.

Now the appeal is finding something that may exist only once.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

Details

Event: The Makers Market at The Velvet Mill
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026
Time: 2–9 p.m.
Schedule: Held on the fourth Saturday of the month
Location: The Velvet Mill, Plaza Room
Address: 22 Bayview Ave., Stonington, CT 06378
What You’ll Find: Local artists, crafters, makers, vintage finds, handmade goods and small businesses
Also Happening Sept. 26: Stonington Farmers’ Market, 9 a.m.–noon
Venue: Historic former American Velvet Company manufacturing complex, now home to artists, shops, independent businesses and food and beverage establishments
Velvet Mill Hours: Individual business hours vary

 

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.