Wee Birdy

Happy Valentine's Day

I found these gorgeous hand-made paper Valentines at Broadway Market on Saturday. *Swooon!* They're like modern-day Victorian Valentine's greetings, with strips of lace paper doilies adding a decorative touch. I'm not sure if this stall will be a regular at Broadway Market (since V-Day comes just once a year) but it was just next door to the divine Violet Cakes stall.

Special thanks to LondonDaily Photo for the use of this photo, which was much nicer than mine!

For more shops and market stalls on Broadway Market, click here.

What to take home Wednesday: Altered journals

The perfect journal is tangible (ie. not online), tactile and has lots of hidey-holes to stash the assorted paper detritus one accumulates over a 12-month period (think letters, bills, bad jokes from Christmas crackers, photos, business cards and difficult-to-decipher scrawled notes).

London-based designer Jessie Chorley makes altered journals from the body of an old book, and creates “new” blank pages from an assortment of vintage and recycled papers, as well as envelopes, stitched pockets and old-school typewritten messages and reminders. Beautiful and handy.

Jessie’s books can be purchased online, or you can buy them from her wonderfully whimsical stall, Un-Petit-Cadeau, at Broadway Market in Hackney on Saturdays.

Jessie Chorley
Un-Petit-Cadeau
Saturdays, Broadway Market

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Nearest tube: Bethnal Green Station
Nearest train: London Fields BR

For more market stalls and shops on Broadway Market, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.

(p.s. while you're there, check out the exquisite bird-themed jewellery by Buddug Humphreys.)

London shopping: Fabrications

Carrying on from my raving craft post is this charming little shop in the heart of ever-hip Broadway Market in London’s East End, which if anything, supports my new motto, “Craft is Cool, OK”? (Maybe I should run up some screen-printed t-shirts in bold black type, Katharine Hamnett-style…)

Fabrications is alternately an artist-run gallery, shop and studio for in-house designer Barley Massey. It stocks an excellent range of unique, eco-friendly products and homewares that are hand-crafted by local artists and designers.

One wall of the shop features displays of quirky greeting cards, stationery and badges made by Hackney locals, accompanied by a profile on each artist. Keep an eye out for Lucy Jane Batchelor’s sweet retro-style range including tooth fairy envelope cards for children and her clever Missing Button badges.

The nice thing about Fabrications is that stock is constantly updated, so you’re likely to find new quirky gems all the time. I like the fabric pouffes bound by knotted rope using traditional sea-faring techniques (£150) and The Old Broad Bean (the Queen) Cockney jewellery, featuring faces of the royal family (and er, Dodi) on dried beans. Prices range from £3 for a badge to £30 for a necklace or cufflinks.

The other highlight of the shop is the wall of rainbow-coloured yarns (wools for winter and cottons for summer) and a small range of vintage yarn and hand-spun yarn with lanolin. There is also a wide variety of knitting and sewing supplies, including super-sized knitting needles.

Beginners can get fully kitted out here, with knitting packs complete with instructions and a pack of wool, as well as customised sewing kits for £2.50 with basic embroidery stitches. Or you could join one of the regular knitting classes.

When I visited, I found vintage knitting patterns for babywear and some gorgeous ‘80s pattern books including designs by Jean Paul Gaultier and Alaia. I also like the cute knitted goodies, from traditional Bakewell tarts and “I heart Hackney” purses (British souvenir alert!) to potted cactuses (bonus: not prickly at all!).

Don’t leave Fabrications without checking out in-house textile designer Barley Massey’s ingenious range of eco-friendly homewares. Barley recycles materials and waste such as bicycle inner tubes and vintage shirt ties to create beautiful and long-lasting cushions, pouffes, rugs, mats and runners. Amongst many of her commissions was the infamous Lost Vagueness tent at Glastonbury in 2003. Just imagine: your own piece of fabulous festival fun at home (minus the mud).

Fabrications
7 Broadway Market
London E8 FPH
Tel. 0207 275 8043

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Tuesday-Saturday 12noon-5pm
Or call for appointment.

Nearest tube: Bethnal Green Station
Nearest train: London Fields BR

For more shops on Broadway Market, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.

London shopping: Buggies & Bikes

What’s this? A Bratz-Free Zone? Well, I never. But it’s true, and this toy shop in Hackney is still pulling the kids (and the parents) in with its unique stock of locally-produced goods and products sourced from niche companies around the world.

It’s the perfect destination for picking up a cool gift for your favourite under-12, with a plethora of innovative and educational toys. While this might sound like death-by-dodgy-craft to your average 10-year-old, I’d dare them to not find the love for a remote-controlled moon light (that surreptitiously teaches them the phases of the moon while they’re NOT going to sleep). Nifty.

And I reckon the African xylophone and bongo drums (£16.50) will also do a bangin’ job in extracting them from the X-Box. Create your own Partridge family, noughties-style. Rock on.

The hero products of the store (and hence its namesake) are the collection of beautifully designed German wooden trikes, bikes and walkers. But if you’re on a tight budget or after quality party bag fillers, look out for the RSPCA animal figurines from £2 and the collection of felt fruit & veg for £1.

I like the woven retro-style mini saucer chair from Africa, and the clever range of felt creatures made by a local mum who brings to life her son’s imaginative drawings.

The other big drawcard is the glorious range of children’s fashion, which features many locally-produced brands, like Edge & Jo, a Hackney-based co-op that makes batik-print frocks and matching pants. Christa Davis is another local who makes an ultra-sweet range of vintage and Liberty print dresses for little girls.

If you’re after babywear, look out for the small rack of woollen and cotton hand-knitted pieces. Apparently a Scottish Gran is largely responsible for this adorable range, which includes knitted cardies, all-in-ones and an ultra-cute striped knit pinafore. There’s also a small collection of vintage baby clothes.

Adding to the strong sense of community is the light-filled space downstairs that’s available to hire for parties and groups.

Buggies & Bikes
23 Broadway Market
London E8 FPH
Tel. 0207 923 2408

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Monday-Saturday 10am-6.30pm
Sunday 11am-5pm

Nearetst tube: Bethnal Green Station
Nearest train: London Fields BR

For more shops on Broadway Market, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.

London shopping: Rebel Rebel

It was (a) sight and (b) smell that lured me to Rebel Rebel some time ago. Wandering along Broadway Market one Saturday morning I discovered a sandwich board out the front of a shop which announced “Titania sleeps”. Intrigued, I turned to face a gorgeous window display of blooms that looked as though it had indeed been transported from a Shakespearean fairy’s moonlit forest garden. Then I inhaled … and discovered the true fragrance of fresh roses.

Rebel Rebel is a flower shop which delights in stimulating the senses of its customers, as well as its long and impressive list of corporate clients (like Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, L’Oreal, the BAFTA’s TV Awards, et al). But what I like most about their work is how they use the delicate and tiny flowers from a variety of herbs (such as mint, dill, fennel, rosemary, oregano and chamomile) to add texture and interest to their bouquets and arrangements. It’s an unusual and distinctive touch which adds to that all-important unstructured and “just picked from the garden” feel.

The roses, are of course, the hero bloom of the store. Rebel Rebel has a knack for selecting big, full-bodied roses with loads of petals and a delicious fragrance. When I visited, the deep blue-purple of some new hydrangeas were also impressive, as were the row of blood-red gladiolis in the window.

The store also stocks a small selection of quality cards, as well as a range of French Manuel Canovas luxury scented candles. The most popular fragrance is Nuit de Serendip, which boasts a staggering list of ingredients including freesia, tuberose, cinnamon, clove, peach, cherry, plum and vanilla. Can I hear the fairies beckoning …?

Rebel Rebel
5 Broadway Market
London E8 FPH
Tel. 020 7254 4487

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 10am-6pm
Saturday 10am-5pm

Nearest tube: Bethnal Green Station
Nearest train: London Fields BR

For more shops and market stalls on Broadway Market, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.