At Make Believe Cafe we had a busy weekend. Our posters are being put up today so we needed to have the tickets ready. With the aid of a trusty badge machine and our children we churned out two hundred badges and eighty tickets ready to deliver to Kelly’s brother Si at Si’s Sounds on Station St (Lewes). He’s agreed to sell them for us though he did point out that it’s not very rock n’ roll. What’s not rock n’ roll about Pimp Your Wardrobe?

The latest Cath Kidston magazine arrived in the post today and I found these diagrams for sweet little patches that they have sewn on to a bag, but you could sew any where. You can get your own copy here: http://www.cathkidston.co.uk

I am very lucky to have some of my grandma’s old cardigans. However she lived with lots of moths and they also liked her cardies. To cover up their handy work I decided to do a little handy work of my own. Here are the results:

You could do any type of embroidery to cover up a hole. On a plain woollen garment it’s very hard to hide even the neatest stitching, so making a feature of it can be a good way around it. I was looking for good links to illustrate decorative darning. I didn’t find many but I came across this post on ‘my favourite colour is shiny’ by Ginny Branch Stelling. It’s got a little bit  about darning, but I really liked the book she’d bought, and it’s a lovely site to browse.

Emma

It is.  Real.  Today it felt as if it could really happen.  Kelly had baked and ‘maked’ all sorts of things - almond tart, chicken and roasted aubergine salad and an idea for the perfect ticket, (based on an old hotel room tag).  Such a happy afternoon eating and sorting.

Emma at the door.

This is going to be such a pleasure.

Lou

It felt like a skive.  I sat in Vanessa’s kitchen, listening to the chickens scratching, drinking mint tea from the garden and crocheting.  I had asked Vanessa to teach me to make a simple scalloped edge that I could sew on to the cuffs of a jumper or around the neck of one of my youngest daughter’s cardigans.  I’m a crochet novice and still prone to forgetting to wear my glasses and swearing.  But it was peaceful and easy and deeply pleasurable to sit quietly and create something delicate and decorative.  

Inspiration - one of Vanessa’s broaches and a lovely old book with yellowing pages and gorgeous designs.

I had brought chocolate - just in case.

More of Vanessa’s work.  Find it at kissysuzuki.com

And TA DA.  This is what I made.  Thanks Vanessa.  If I can do it, any one can.

Lou

Another warm afternoon.  Children catching insects.  And the three of us capturing ideas.

There is something fragile and lovely beneath our concrete plans.  As we talk, laugh, drink, type notes, field each other’s children and drop stitches, we explore the parameters of our friendship and dip into a pool of creativity.

We are all makers.

From the moment we open our eyes we start to make…

Today I have made:

• Coffee
• Breakfast for three people
• An apple and blackberry pie for tea
• A mess
• 2 beds
• A salad
• My mind up that I like what I’m doing

What have you made today?

What would you like to make today?

What could you make differently tomorrow?

Can we help you to learn a new skill? – a new way of working?

Can we inspire you to live more creatively?

Think for a moment…. With teachers in embroidery, crochet, knitting, textile printing and sewing at your fingertips, what will you make at Make Believe Café?

Make Believe Café 10^th Oct. The Art Hole, Phoenix, Lewes.

£20 per morning.

£35 per day.

Homemade cake, good coffee and muse included.  Lunch available.

Psst – complete needle novices are as welcome as sewing devotees.

Recipe for success = roast a chicken, bake some spuds, open a bottle of red wine and chat whilst the kids play lego around you. If only all business meetings could be this way.

Well why can’t they?

Today marked the first official meeting of the Make Believe Cafe founding members.