I might be biased because I share a studio with them, but The Amazings is a fantastic startup with a creative and socially-aware bent. They offer classes, courses and workshops on subjects as diverse as woodworking, philosophy and bike maintenance, and all the teachers are 50-plus elders with amazing life experience.

Last month I went along to one of their classes – a hand-built clay pot taught by Amazing Lesley, held in her workshop right here in Stoke Newington.

It was a lovely intimate class and the evening sped by so quickly. Lesley was great to spend time with; knowledgable about her craft and full of interesting stories.

After a bit of deliberating, I decided to make a little stout pot with a face on. I had fun trying out all the different stamps to make embossed patterns round the edges, and had help from Lesley getting his nose and ears stuck securely on.

I left my little man pot with Lesley to be glazed and fired, along with the rest of the class’s work. She encouraged us to be really creative and try making anything we could imagine, hence the diversity in the class’s final output.

I just got him back a couple of weeks ago. Isn’t he brilliant?! I think it he looks very at home on my mantelpiece with a jazzy plant hairdo.

I’ve got so many ideas of other thing I’d like to try and make, so I might be booking in more time with Lesley soon.

The Amazings are now branching into online content to allow people outside of London to take part in their wonderful enterprise, so pop over to the site and see if any of the craft class videos take your fancy.

This recipe is a winner! So easy, very few ingredients, but hearty with a massive flavour ‘pow’. Corn-based polenta is lighter on the digestion than wheat lasagne, and cheese aside it’s pretty healthy. I made it for Josh and my sister, and it disappeared too fast to snap a photo – so I’ve done a little illustration instead.

As promised, here are the things I made during my anxiety-induced sewing spree while he was in the vets.

First, a pair of jazzy culottes! I love culottes: the practicality of breeze-resistant shorts with the cuteness of a little flippy skirt is a winner to me. The pattern is the new Megan Nielsen Tania culottes, bought from M is for Make.

The pattern was really fun to put together – it felt almost like magical origami creating the pleats and crotch with simple folds and lines of stitching. The only thing I mucked up is the waistband with some wobbly topstitching – I might unpick and redo it neater. I also haven’t properly finished the bottom edge yet because I’m terrible at hemming, so it’s just overlocked for now.

The fabric is a vintage piece of 70s polyester with a gorgeous Scandinavian-looking mountain print. I love how the patten drape makes the peaks point up and outwards, a little reminiscent of fireworks. Just don’t make the mistake I did of ironing interfacing onto polyester with a hot iron – I burnt a clean plastic-scented hole through my first waistband piece, and luckily had just enough fabric to cut another. I’ll definitely be using this pattern again; in fact I’ve just bought some jersey that I think will make a great no-zip-required version.

(Excuse my face, I appear to have the dead eyes of someone who’s been worrying for three weeks straight..) This is another Scout, although radically different from my last one. The front is made from a vintage silk scarf, which was happily just the right size for the pattern piece. The sleeves and back are the same grey jersey as my ballet dress. Very pleased that this turned out just how I imagined it. The Scout tee is such an amazing pattern: so simple but hangs so well despite having no darts or shaping, and the possibilities for creative variations are vast.

Finally, a fail. I tried to take photos but they looked too awful to share! It was supposed to be a Sureau dress by Deer & Doe, made from a super soft piece of vintage cotton with an abstract tulip print, above. It seems in sewing that lots of small mistakes can add up to a big mess of a garment, which sadly I think happened here. I chose a size too big so the fit isn’t quite right. The neckline was gaping so I attempted a shoulder-line fix, then added a half collar which sits wonkily. The sleeve caps billow at the back. The skirt twists annoyingly to the side. I’m not sure if I’ll try and fix it some more, or cut it down into a skirt maybe. It would be a shame to waste the pretty fabric completely. Perhaps I should start making toiles before cutting the real fabric.

All of the fabrics came from The Shop on Cheshire St, which I visited with Jen one lunchtime (check out Jen’s blog for some much better photos and info, this unprepared blogger didn’t have her camera). It is indeed the treasure trove that countless bloggers promised: walls lined with shelves of vintage fabric, with even more stuffed into drawers and baskets underneath which you’re encouraged to rummage through. There’s everything from recycled curtains to half-finished handmade skirt pieces, plus loads of large pieces of 2-4 metre long cottons and polys, perfect for skirt or dress projects.

There’s also a great line in vintage notions, and basket upon basket of vintage silk scarves at around a fiver a pop. At the back are curtains, cushions and clothing and there’s also plenty of knitted scarves and crochet blankets. Prices are eye-poppingly amazing, ranging from a few quid for the smaller bits to no more than £15 for larger pieces (my take-home stash that made everything in this post was only £18). You’d be hard pushed to find such a lovely variety of prints in new fabrics for those kinds of prices. Find The Shop at 3 Cheshire St just off the top of Brick Lane – I’ll be back to replenish my stash very soon.

It feels like I’ve cried out every tear I had in me, but I do at least take comfort in knowing that this little cat has had the best life we could have given him, and will continue to for as long as he’s got left in him. He certainly couldn’t have been more loved, and I’m very sure he knows just how special he is to us. He’s my best bud and it’s been so lonely not having him around for two weeks. Of course our other kitty Lila is lovely and very special to me too, but they are worlds apart in terms of personality. Lila is so laid back, content and happy – she’ll gladly take a quick cuddle then pad off to lie in the hallway for a nap. Yoni is more demanding: always up in our faces, wanting hugs, wanting food, wanting to see what we’re up to and trying to nose in. So I’ve felt the loss more acutely because everything – from eating breakfast unhindered by meowy demands to share, working at home without my cute furry colleague, to going to bed without his comforting warm weight at my feet – reminds me of him.

I was basically a wreck last week, when we weren’t even sure if he’d make it home at all. I couldn’t really work as my mind was so fractious. I could barely remember to eat or drink, and only got dressed so we could go and visit him every day. It’s really hard to keep distracted and will the days along when you feel too sad to do anything that you used to find fun. I found the few things that gave me any calm were keeping busy with making and doing at home. Pottering in the garden, tending to our little veg patch and taking quiet enjoyment in seeing the plants and flowers unfold into spring. Every day there’s little jobs to do and progress to see out there, and the recent rain followed by warmth has made our veggies bloom.

I turned into a sewing fiend. I blasted through the stash of vintage fabric I bought at The Shop the previous week and made two tops, some culottes and a dress in a matter of days – with varying degrees of success. I find time flies when you’re at the sewing machine and that’s exactly what I needed to pass the hours between our visits and phone calls with the vet. I’ll share my makes and a bit more about The Shop soon.

I’m also having a think about if there’s way way I can help other cats and owners who find themselves in this awful situation. It seems like there’s a lack of information about lots of things relating to kitty health – especially blood transfusions – that my internet skillz might be able to help spread. I’ll also be reopening my Etsy shop shortly with some proceeds going to cat charity (and some towards our vet bills – ouch).

Well we had a pretty intense weekend with a very long to-do list of house tasks: mostly involving cleaning, removing and assembling stuff. But there was definite light at the end of the tunnel by Sunday evening, and the best part was finally finishing off the bedroom. It’s been a long time coming… soon after moving in we wallpapered and painted the walls, bought some cheap curtains and put in a fitted wardrobe, but it was full of old mismatched furniture from our previous rentals and needed tying together. After this weekend – nearly three years after moving it – I’m calling it done! And I love the result. Let’s take a tour…

Here’s the view from the door. The bed is the Lansdowne from Made.com which I’ve been very pleased with – it’s super comfy and sturdily constructed and I love the padded headboard for reading. The reading spotlights were supposed to be wired in but our wall wasn’t suitable so we had them adapted to be plugged with a coloured flex. I got two sets of Orla Kiely stem-print bedding while it was on sale at Achica. The wallpaper is Cole & Sons ‘Trees’.

We were going to get a custom bookcase built to fit this annoying sticky-out bit of wall, but then found this John Lewis one that was the perfect width to fit. I built and installed it single-handed on Sunday morning, then tried – and got bored – colour-coding our books.

View from the far corner by the window. Like the living room we’ve got a lot of mid-century style wooden furniture in here. It took quite a long time to source each one and get a set that sort-of matches and suits our storage needs. The latest addition is this adorable sideboard from Hopper and Space.

Hello mirror-me! The dresser by the window serves as my vanity area and storage for more books.

This room’s a little lighter on the art and clutter than the rest of the flat – for now anyway. I’m not really sold on this wall config, but I love both my Kozyndan bunny prints and the vintage letterpress sketches, and it’s a big wall to fill. Maybe I’ll put all four bunnies along here and the letters above the bed.

There’s a touch of vintage pottery and indoor planting going on in here too. The pussywillow branches and aloe vera are from Columbia Road market – a treat on Sunday afternoon after the hard work. Pro tip: get there around 4pm as the traders are packing up and you’ll get a bargain.

Our coats and laundry are tucked away behind the door. We got the big fitted wardrobe built across the back wall a little while ago. It’s not exactly beautiful, but it stores a hell of a lot of stuff – all of our clothes, spare bed linen, suitcases etc. Debating switching the handles and maybe adding some kind of decal to the doors to make it a bit prettier.

I think this means it comes cat-approved. He pleasingly fits the colour scheme, too.

Stockists

Wallpaper: Cole & Son ‘Trees’
Paint: Dulux ‘Egyptian Cotton’
Wardrobe: Sliderobes doors and custom-made frame
Bed: Made.com
Bedding: Orla Kiely via Achica
Lights: Garden Trading, adapted to be plugged with Fabric Cable flex
Bookcase: John Lewis
Mirror, dresser, pictures, bedside table, vases, pots: secondhand/vintage

During the daytime of ATP when the bands weren’t on, we made the most of being on an unfamiliar stretch of the south coast and did a couple of little local trips. I’m always amazed to find places so close to home yet so startlingly different to what I’ve ever seen of the UK before. It’s a little island of surprises that I really should explore more.

On Saturday we went to Rye, which we both really loved. It’s packed with vintage shops, tea rooms and pubs and an amazing sense of history. For once I didn’t do a ton of obsessive research before arriving, but it was actually nice to wander without a set plan in place and just see what we discovered.

You can feel the history seeping out of the old brick walls.

Some of the superb vintage shops – I picked up a little vase and some Scandinavian-looking etched glasses for under a fiver.

The gorgeous Merchant and Mills flagship shop, where I drooled all over the beautiful linen, denim and twill fabrics. I didn’t know the company was founded in Rye until we stumbled across the shop.

We had lunch and a delicious scone at Edith’s House, a sweet retro cafe set up by two ex-Londoners and their cheeky scraps-loving French bulldog Roux.

Pretty flowers everywhere around the churchyard

We had a pint in this pub which dates from the 15th century.

On Sunday we took a cab to Dungeness, a little further down the coast towards Kent. Again we didn’t really have a clue what to expect other than a vague urge to hunt down some post-war acoustic mirrors. The cabbie told us about the old lighthouse and the mini railway, and dropped us off by the lighthouse.

First we took a trip up the old lighthouse. I loved the room with the coloured lenses, and the view from the top.

We started to walk towards where we thought the acoustic mirrors were. The landscape is like nothing else I’ve seen in England – so flat, barren and desolate, littered with dead boat carcasses, little rusting metal shacks and incinerator chimneys. I’ve never really seen anything like it. Even though it was a lovely sunny day the wind was extremely strong which made walking quite an endurance feat. My inappropriate slip-on footwear didn’t help matters at all.

Mystical gifts and angling parties are the height of entertainment around here.

One randomly cool Grand-Designs-esque house. We also spotted Derek Jarman’s old house, Prospect Cottage, but didn’t realise until afterwards. Apparently all the shack-like houses are highly valued, particularly from people looking to get away from it all. You’d certainly do that here.

We stopped at a level crossing to watch the little railway train go by. Despite looking cute, apparently it was used to convey messages and help shoot down the Luftwaffe during the war.

We realised the mirrors were a bit further up than we originally thought, so took a quick chips-and-pint pit stop in the lovely pub The Pilot, and hopped on the hourly bus to speed us up the road.

After a bit more exploring including a fun diversion through a motorhome park, we did finally find the mirrors – but unfortunately we couldn’t get very close so they were a bit less than spectacular. After all that! (You can take proper tours to get up close to them in the summer months.)

Still, it was a fun adventure and it’s inspired us to take more day trips around the southern coast. Might be easier to hire a car next time, though.

We booked on a bit of a whim to go to the TV on the Radio-curated ATP last weekend. There’s something so deliriously surreal about pitching up to an out-of-season family holiday park that’s definitely seen better days with a bunch of musicians that most people have never heard of and a few thousand other music fans for a weekend. Throw in a desolate beach, no phone signal let alone 3g, one hourly bus out of the place, no other entertainment except a really rubbish arcade, bars which basically only stock vodka VKs and Carlsberg… and you get the idea.

What’s really great is you’re all lumped in the middle of nowhere staying in these hideously dated and depressing little chalets and the bands all stay there too so you’ll spot the artists wandering round around, watching the bands with you and visiting the local attractions. It’s now your last chance to experience the spectacular weirdness as after this year there’ll be no more holiday park ATP festivals, so grab some tickets for the June or November events while you can.

Here are some photos of my favourite acts from this time round.

Mykki Blanco

doseone

Why?

Dark Dark Dark

EL-P

TV on the Radio

View them all nice and big on Flickr.

So that we didn’t go entirely insane, we took a couple of daytrips while the bands weren’t on which turned out to be pretty great. Post about Rye and Dungeness coming soon..

This is the Dixie ballet dress, made in some charcoal grey jersey from Tissu. I followed the pattern pretty much to the letter, just shortening the sleeves and adding a cuff. The sleeves and armholes came out a little loose: I think because I can’t figure out how to compensate for reduced seam allowance when overlocking around armhole seams. I still love this dress anyway, it’s so comfortable and the kind of thing I’ll wear all the time. (Yes, the cat must appear in all my MMMay photos now.)

I used the leftover fabric along with some pink-marl jersey from Minerva for this raglan tee, based on the free Dixie Hot Cocoa pattern and very much inspired by Bee’s Madewell tee. Two-tone raglans for the win!

I just lengthened the body, shortened the sleeves and added my now-traditional UCP (Useless Chest Pocket), which I interfaced before sewing on so it didn’t get all stretched out. The bottom hem is just overlocked, but it looks kind of unfinished so I think I’ll hem it properly. Such a quick, fun sew, I’ll definitely make more.

I really want to make Dixie’s two-piece tunic as well, so I’m on the lookout for some interesting fabric to try it in – I think something vintage would work well.

I found these photos when I developed my film from Barbados. I think they’re from 2011 given that they’re of the South Bank’s Festival of Britain, which was that year. A little time capsule of summers past.

Not a week into the month and my first Me-Made May task is complete. And I’m calling it a success! Here’s my Marc-Jacobs-inspired woven chambray tee, made in just a day and happily worn already.

It feels almost like I cheated since this make was such a breeze. The Scout tee pattern I used is so simple that the cutting and sewing took about four hours total. Of course I still managed to mess up a bit: I sewed on one of the sleeves is inside out so there’s an exposed seam tucked under the arm. I coud fix it, but no one realistically will see it and I almost like keeping it there as an ‘I made this!’ Easter egg.

One of my favourite things about making my own clothes is adding the little details that make your garment totally unique – purposeful decisions as well as inside-out sleeves, I mean. Want longer turned-back cuffs, a curved hem, denim-style topstitched seams, a comedically large patch pocket? Do it! With such as simple pattern it’s a nice chance to go a bit mad with embellishments.

Mistakes aside, this is definitely my most successful handmade garment so far. I did all of the seams on my overlocker which gives it a lovely finish on the inside as well as allaying my fear that it’ll fall apart in the wash. I’m really happy with the fabric choice too: the chambray is light and soft with good drape and a little comfy stretch. I went a size up for an oversized look and it’s much more forgiving in the fit department that way too. I’ll definitely be using the Scout pattern again: I have visions of one in this nutty cat print fabric.

So that’s the first Me-Made May task down, keep ‘em coming! Next? I’ve just ordered the Sew U book about stretch fabrics on Kathryn‘s recommendation to give me ideas for my jersey fabrics. As a brucey bonus, I have almost a yard of this chambray left which I might just be able to squeeze a little skater skirt out of too.

Pattern: Scout woven tee from Grainline
Pattern modifications: Lengthened sleeves and added turned-back cuff. Lengthened body. Curved hemline. Patch pocket.
Fabric: Pale blue Chambray from Minerva Crafts (bought 2yds, plenty left over)