Days out with Mom

I still need to go through my workshop photos! I'm sorry to be so slow to post those photos. But I haven't had time to do that yet because my mom came in town the day after our workshop ended. I quickly washed sheets, cleaned house and tried to make things pretty for my mom's arrival (the bathroom looks quite clean here, doesn't it? I stashed away all the kiddy stuff!) Whew. I managed to tidy up well enough and then almost as soon as she got here, we were busy out and about most days that she was here. We had a great time. We mostly visited some of our usual favorite places. Liberty is always a must, shown below, but I also took her to a few places she hadn't been before.

One of those places was Haymarket Hotel for afternoon tea. I'd been once before with a friend, but on that day we couldn't have tea in the conservatory like we had planned because it was under renovation. When I went with my mom though, it was open. It's such a pretty room! I love the wallpaper, the fabrics and all the decorative details. In general, our food served with the afternoon tea was okay, but the scones were amazing! We probably should have just had scones and tea, but we were also simply happy to be in that beautiful room. 

We went to Kempton Park for the antique market. My mom had not been before and of course she loved it!

At the market, I loved these clothes made primarily from vintage linens pieced together. I got one dress and love it. 

I also got one of these enamel trays. They were just 5 each! And Alice from Homes and Antiques asked me about my find and posted about it on the Homes and Antiques blog. Scroll down to see me with my score!

We also took a class together at Sew Over It. We took the leather clutch class, and shown below are some of the bags student's made. How cute, right?!!

 I made a rectangle shaped clutch, but now I want to make a half moon shaped one as well. Here I am below modeling my finished bag. I wanted to see how it would look if I took it out with me.  

In other sewing-related news, I wore my Miette skirt out for the first time. I really like it and want to make another one soon. 

We also went to Islington to some favorite crafty shops there. I took my mom to Ray Stitch and one of her favorites, Loop. 

While we were at Ray Stitch, I was admiring a dress on a dress form and considered buying the pattern but I wasn't totally sure what size I'd be based on the sample. They offered to let me try it on and then asked if they could take a picture and post it on their instagram! Here I am in the vintage Vogue dress pattern V8789. I wish I had worn different shoes that day and sat up a bit straighter, but I love the dress, which fit me well so I decided to buy the pattern. I love the sash and the fabric shown, which is Leah Duncan's Summer Grove By Day, but I think I'd shorten mine a bit.

A day out in Islington isn't complete without a visit to Ottolenghi! We had a great lunch and took home some really delicious deserts. 

I love this photo below of their meringues in the window. I'm often so impressed with the quality of iPhone photos. This one below has a nice narrow depth of field, and I didn't even need to use the tiltshift option in instagram. I just focused on the little tip of the meringue and snap! 

So those are just a few highlights of my mom's visit! We had a blast, and she was so helpful with our girls. I wish she lived closer! Here's my mom below outside of Liberty. Until next time...