The Old Haberdashery

During our food styling workshop in East Sussex, we had planned a pub lunch at The Bell in Ticehurst, which was a really nice lunch though service was quite slow for our large group. But before lunch we had a few minutes to take a peek into one of my favorite shops, The Old Haberdashery, which is on the same street as The Bell. I actually hadn't been before that day but knew I'd love the shop from seeing The Old Haberdashery stall at the Decorative Living fair last year and from a wonderful article earlier this year in Country Living. I'd like to move in there! It's filled with everything I love.

Just Keep Sewing

Lately I feel like every day goes by in a flash. I guess that's a good thing though! Though don't have a regular full-time job, I feel much busier than when I did have one. Not that having children isn't a full-time job, but really I only have Ellie 3 days a week now since Lois is in school and Ellie goes to nursery. Still, somehow I always feel frantic trying to squeeze all my need-to-dos and want-to-dos. And I'm almost always vacuuming regardless of what needs doing. I swear I'm attached to that thing. But of course I can usually manage to cram in some want-to-do time like making a visit to Sew Over It.

La Drougerie

Ah, the weather was so nice today! Thank you sunshine! Light jacket, warm in the sun, cool in the shade. I feel refreshed! I wasn't sure that I'd make it one more winter here without buying a SAD lamp, but I just might. I've had some craft projects on the brain, like making the girls some Easter dresses (I might attempt this Oliver & S pattern). The hint of spring in bloom paired with thoughts of ditsy floral prints had me wishing I could go to La Drougerie in Paris, a real treat of a store for anyone interested in crafts. When we were in Paris this past spring I had the pleasure of revisiting La Droguerie. I was able to sneak in early and take photos, which was so exciting! If you ever visit Paris and are interested in crafts, specifically knitting, sewing, or jewelry making, you should definitely put La Droguerie on your "must see" list. Here's a little tour of the shop. Plenty of eye candy from La Droguerie to inspire your next project...

Pretty Nostalgic in SE London

Also in the current issue of Pretty Nostalgic is an article I wrote on southeast London, specifically some of my favorite places in the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and East Dulwich. I live in East Dulwich but often find myself in neighboring Forest Hill since there are so many great shops and cafes there. It was hard to fit all my top picks in one short article, and few places I wanted to add needed to be cut to stick to the word allowance, but I'm still happy with it and happy to share information on some of my favorite places. Of course these are the crafty, vintage, and cute cafe variety of places because those are the types of places I like and the once I knew would interest Pretty Nostalgic readers. You can click on the article pages and zoom in to read it. I took many photos, but of course only a handful could be included in the article, so here below I've posted a more thorough visual tour of some of the places featured in the article.

Amsterdam!

We're just back from a short trip to Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam! I've only been once before, but it's a top city on my list. It's cozy but doesn't feel too small (not to me as an outsider anyway); it's classy but laid back; it's edgy without falling off a cliff; it has a great mix of old a new, and it's just so pretty! I love the architecture of the houses and how the canals make their way between them. If you've read my blog a while you'll know I love them so much I made this, which is also one of my favorite things I've ever made.

Follow Your Heart

Although we've lived here 3.5 years, I still feel a little out of place sometimes, or rather just not quite at home. This is due to a variety of factors, I think, but when I'm not quite feeling at home, I remind myself of all the things I love about living here, and one of those many things is Jessie and Buddug's shop. I definitely feel right at home at their shop. Both Jessie and Buddug have so many new things since I last visited. And they are busily working on stocking the shop for Christmas. Last week I went to their annual tea party and had a wonderful time looking around the shop.

The Montage

Good coffee, compelling art, and vintage treasures all in one place? Yes, please do give me directions! When we were glamping, one of our hut neighbors turned out to be an actual neighbor. Small world, huh? Well, sort of anyway. She and her family live in the neighborhood next to ours called Forest Hill. She mentioned a new cafe called The Montage that happens to have a kids' play area in the back. I'm up for any cafe that has a play area for tots, which is, I've found, the key to having a somewhat peaceful cafe experience with children in tow. She also told me it's also part art galley and part vintage shop. So naturally I decided to check it out.

Colour Makes People Happy

There are a handful of places in our neighborhood that I really love, a few little gems that sparkle in the otherwise dullness of a series of mini-marts and banks. One of those places is a paint shop. I've just been in a few times as I'm not often in need of paint, but this is really so much more than a paint shop, and by far THE best paint shop I've ever been to. It's just paint, right? It could be. Just like everything else, I guess. But Simon, who owns Colour Makes People Happy takes his paint shop over the rainbow. He wanted a shop that sold paint, and just paint, where people could engage more intimately with color.

The Art of Simple

Quickly before heading to my Lisbon post I meant to also mention a great shop in Seaside, FL called The Art of Simple. One of our rainy day activities during our drenched beach week was to go shopping (of course!) so we left Seagrove and headed to Seaside nearby where there are a handful of great shops (and some pretty great food trucks as well, BBQ and shaved ice to name a few). The Art of Simple is a gift shop, filled with plenty of nice soaps, candles, and various "gift shop" items, but what I really loved about the shop is they also sell some great vintage items as well.

Fabric Happy

This week I made this skirt. Pretty cute huh? It's my first skirt with a zipper! I used a pattern from Sew Over It, the gathered skirt pattern. I don't normally like gathered skirts on me, so I'm not totally sure why I bought it except that it seemed like a good, easy project for fun zipper practice, and I really liked the sample they had in the store. But as I suspected, I don't like it on me! Update (see below)! I think I'd prefer something more flat and A-line, like this, which might be my next skirt project. It's just a bit poofy in all the wrong places. I don't want to walk around looking like a muffin top rising in the oven, and the gathers just give that poofy muffin risin' in the oven look that most of us just don't need. I imagine it would look really good on some other people, but it's just not so flattering on me. I need to take it in to Sew Over It and see if they can help me understand a few things I know I did wrong. You can't see my errors in the photo, but I did make a few that I just don't understand. I do love the fabric though!

Sew Over It

Last week I finished my first dress-making class! I've been wanting to sew a dress for myself for a few years now, and I have some patterns, but I'm always so intimidated by patterns and sewing terms I'm not familiar with that when it comes to actually doing it, I end up setting it aside and working on something else. I even had a "how to read a pattern" one on one session with someone a few months ago to help me get started, and I STILL felt intimidated to get started. I've made a few dresses for Lois, but girls dresses are quite easy in that they don't really have to fit well anywhere beyond the shoulders. So if you mess up a little, it hardly matters. And the dresses I've made for her were incredibly easy.

A Little Gem

Today I took Lois to a cooking class in Hither Green. I knew nothing about that neighborhood other than what I could see on street view the night before, which didn't look like much. But right near her class I found a wonderful tea room-flower shop called You Don't Bring Me Flowers. I didn't even need to step inside to know I'd love it. I could tell from the outside that it would be great, with its cute terrace tables and pots of flowers and bins of books. Stepping inside was wonderful too. As soon as you walk in the door you're greeted by the wonderful smell of flowers and coffee and the sound of music like this, playing on a record player! I love the duck egg blue walls and all the mis-matched, colorful mid-century decor.

Lise Meunier for 91Magazine

I'm very excited to have another article in the UK based 91Magazine! This might be my favorite issue yet.  It's really a wonderful magazine packed with wonderful articles and lovely photos on all things craft and vintage. Here's a peek at my article on Paris ceramicist Lise Meunier. You can read the full article here on p48. You can see more photos from my photoshoot of her work and home here.

L'OisiveThé for Mollie Makes

Oooh, I'm so excited to have written another article and taken the photos for Mollie Makes! This time it's on the best knitting shop and tea room in Paris: L'OisiveThé. Aimee, the owner, is wonderful and her shop is equally great. If you like to knit or like tea, or if you just like to find cosy lunch spots in Paris, make sure to visit!

J&B The Shop for Mollie Makes

I'll get back to Paris posts soon, but for this post, we're headed to London. I was going to post about this tomorrow, but I'm so excited I can't wait! An article I wrote and photographed for Mollie Makes on Jessie and Buddug's wonderful shop on Columbia Road is in the current issue and on stands tomorrow. (You might recognize some of the photos from previous posts!) The editor emailed the feature to me today, which I was not expecting, so it was a fun surprise to see it, and here it is! Mollie Makes is such a great magazine. I can't wait to see the rest of this issue. If you don't already know of the magazine, it's perfect for anyone who loves crafts or vintage and even better for anyone who loves a great mix of both. I feel honored to be a part of it and to have shared a bit of Jessie and Buddug's story.

La Droguerie

I had a great time with my mom while she was visiting. She left today and I'll miss her, but we had a really nice time while she was here. I have a backlog of photos to show from my mom's trip. One of her favorite places was La Droguerie. I knew she would love it! I posted a few of these pictures recently, but I took a few more photos and wanted you to have a better look. I think we were there for 2 or so hours, and my mom was wide-eyed and wanted some of everything.

Tea Feature for 91Magazine

I've hinted at a tea project recently, and I'm really happy to reveal that it's an article on a few London tea rooms I wrote and photographed for 91Magazine! Here are some screen shots of the article. You can read the feature here. It's on pp. 18-25. And if you'd like to see more photos of these tea rooms, you will find many more in my "shop photos" flickr set.

Tea Party on Columbia Road

Last Saturday I went to Jessie and Buddug's summer tea party at their shop on Columbia Road. It was great to say hello to them again, and I got to show Jessie my embroidered Amsterdam in person, which was nice since we could only get so far in class. The shop looks wonderful, and as usual, is filled with beautiful and inspiring creations by Jessie and Buddug, including a great dollhouse. Jessie's dad custom built the dollhouse, and Jessie and Buddug have filled it with handmade miniatures. It's beautifully displayed in the window.

Georgia Junkin'

One thing I wanted to do on my trip back home was go junkin' with my mom in the sticks. We thought about driving to Opelika, AL since my mom knows of some junk stops along the way and some in Opelika, but she had also heard that Monroe, GA was a great place for junkin'. A quick Google search led to Sassytrash, a cute blog where we saw some pictures of the great antique malls in Monroe. Monroe isn't exactly the sticks, but the photos were all we needed to see to make a decision. And off to Monroe we went! Our first stop was The Cotton Depot.

Le Chandelier

Yesterday I visited Le Chandelier, a beautiful cafe-restaurant and atelier in East Dulwich. I always love discovering new tea spots here in London, and when I read about Le Chandelier on Tea for Joy, I put it at the top of my list. It was as beautiful in person as it is in pictures. The light-filled space, with white washed walls is narrow and long, with high ceilings, and the cosy atmosphere and decor make you feel like you're in a 17th century salon. You can choose from more than 25 loose leaf teas, which are selected by Le Chandelier's very own tea master. They also serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner (dinner on certain nights), as well as a beautiful selection of sweet delights from their patisserie. As you sit and sip your tea and indulge in a nibble, it's easy to be dazzled by all the beautiful chandeliers overhead, which are for sale, and sourced primarily from France. Le Chandelier also has a vibrant Moroccan room, which can be reserved for private parties, and the entire space can be made available through 1st Option for photoshoots as well. If you go to Le Chandelier, I'm sure you'll leave feeling refreshed and inspired like I did. I can't wait to go back.

Le Chandelier

161 Lordship Lane
London
SE22 8HX
Tue-Thrus 9:30am-6pm
Fri and Sat 9:30am-11pm
Sun 10am-6pm