Christmas singing, glitter, wine and laughter!

Defrost your vocal chords at Stoke Newington WI's Christmas party

Come to Stokey WI's Christmas party where we'll have a singing star alongside Yuletide nibbles and tipples to help us get in the festive spirit.

Vanessa Havell is founder of 40s-style, three-part harmony singing trio, The Marjorie Belles, described by Chris Evans as "mellifluous marvels".

Vanessa is confident she can get Stokey WI and friends singing carols in three-part harmony almost as gloriously - or at least give us a good laugh trying!

If you don't have luck with harmony, you might have better fortune buying a ticket for our Christmas raffle, with three wonderful prizes from local stores up for grabs.

The party is free and open to members and friends, but please book a place as space is restricted.

Book now

Stoke Newington WI Christmas Party
Upstairs at The Prince public house
Kynaston Rd, N16
Mon 10 December 2012, 8-10pm

Private View - Deck the Walls!

If you're looking for an artistic Christmas gift, come to the private view of Deck The Walls, Outline Editions' Christmas showcase of hundreds of signed editions, woodblock prints and original artworks.

5 December 2012, 6-8.30pm
The Gallery behind Stoke Newington Library
Edwards Lane
Off Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington N16

Novembers meeting- all that glitters....

November saw the prince pub disappear under a ton of glittery craftiness!

We were delighted to welcome Momtaz, the author of 101 things to do with glitter

The book is a must for crafty fans, and makes a perfect pressie for crafty pals! It's split into 4 sections and contains surprisingly 101 projects. You can pick up a copy here

Momtaz brought a huge selection of materials and members got stuck in and made some fabulous stuff!

 Here are some Committee members taking the evening very seriously!

 Here's a couple of the projects you could make from the book

Glittery supplies can be bought locally from William Gee on Kingsland road or online from Josie Rose

Go on Get glittery for Christmas!

CL Hardie- Secretary SNWI

The UnderWire Film Festival 20-24 November 2012

UnderWire’s founders Gabriella Apicella and Gemma Mitchell launched the festival in 2010 with the belief that women working in the UK film industry needed more encouragement and a bigger platform for their work. The fact remains that women still make up a small proportion of film creatives, and UnderWire looks to recognise the best short work made by women across a range of crafts – from director to cinematographer; screenwriter to editor. UnderWire believes that a more gender balanced industry will benefit everyone by creating a diversity of perspectives, stories and experiences for audiences.

This year they're holding four days of screenings, sessions and networking at the Ritzy in Brixton.

See the full schedule and get more details at www.underwirefestival.com.

Help us plan Stokey WI's 2013 schedule

It's heading towards the end of the year, so we need to start planning the events for 2013.
We'd love you to help us out and answer this really short survey

Thanks in advance for your assistance, looking forward to hearing your ideas for next year!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

CL Hardie- Secretary Stokey WI

101+ things to do with Glitter

101+ things to do with Glitter

An evening with craft author Momtaz-Begum Hossain

Craft author Momtaz will be sharing a few of the 101+ things we can do with glitter. Her new book of the same title is out just in time for getting ready for the christmas season. Momtaz will be arranging some mini craft sessions, so we should all take away something fun we've made

You can read more about Momtaz on her crafty blog here 

This meeting is free for members and for visitors

Hope to see you There!

CL Hardie- Secreatry Stokey WI

Quilt love- sewing for others!

The book Quilt Love is a book about telling stories.  Telling stories about people, places and the times you’ve loved, with fabric, patterns and colour. It isn’t fussy or formal, but it aims to give you the skills and confidence to create objects for your home that tell the story of your life and your personality. 

Would you like to take part in a project running this autumn? - You Don’t Know Them, But You Know They Need It.

We’ve all known people who are down on their luck, who are cold or lonely or forgotten, but it’s not often that we know quite how to help them. One way to make a difference is with a quilt featured in the book Quilt love, based on the idea that You Don’t Know Them, But You Know They Need It. It can be made from leftover pieces of fabric and doesn’t require any quilting experience. With the help of a few friends you can put it together in an afternoon and make a real difference to someone in need. 

Whether it’s contributing pieces of fabric or getting together to make a whole quilt, you can decide exactly how you want to get involved.

There's a drop-in ‘making‘ event happening soon if you'd like to help to put together quilts.

      Raystitch, Islington,  London - Monday 29^th October from 10am-10pm

If you'd like to go along, book a space by contacting Raystitch on 020 7704 1060 or info@raystitch.co.uk.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can still be involved by sending your fabric swatches to the author  at: Studio, Cassandra Ellis, 44 Crofton Road, London, SE5 8NB. Or if anyone would like to donate blankets or larger volumes of cloth, they just need to get in touch.

Kind regards

Cassandra

We love our breasts!

October's meeting was all about 'loving our breasts'.  In a room festooned with 'bra bunting' our lovely new WI member and GP, Zoe, taught us how to check our breasts for lumps as well as what other signs to look out for on our breasts that might indicate a health problem. We all learned something new and the neighbours close by to The Prince must have thought it an odd sight when 30 women all stood up and felt their breasts in unison! 

Next Sue demonstrated the knitted 'Boobie Beanie Hat' using a teddy as her baby. It's a hat that looks like a breast to be worn by a baby while breast-feeding. Funny and confusing! Patterns or knitted hats are available frombabypdesigns.etsy.com

Rosanne from Rosa's Lingerie shop in Stoke Newington Church Street then demonstrated on a couple of 'volunteers' the mind-boggling differences that wearing a correctly fitted bra or a different design of bra can make. With special thanks to our members Anna and Lis who were such brilliant models, again giving the neighbours something to talk about!

We collected a whole Bra Bin full of unwanted bras for charity, and there was plenty of time afterwards for catching up with old members and meeting new ones.....all in all an informative yet important night for Stokey WI. 

November will be something crafty, so watch this space......

Love your breasts- October is National Breast Awareness month

Love your Breasts! 

 October is National Breast Awareness Month!

Next months meeting will be a boob extravaganza as October is National Breast Awareness month. No need to panic, you don't need to have them on show, we just want to raise awareness about breasts and have experts to talk just about that!

One of our new members, the lovely Zoe, is a doctor and she's going to remind us about breast health and how to check our breasts for danger signs.
We also have Rosanne from 'Rosa's', the fabulous lingerie shop on Church Street, coming along to demonstrate on a couple of game volunteers the best way to measure yourself for a new bra to ensure the perfect fit. (Don't worry, they'll probably keep their t-shirts on!)

Both speakers will be available to answer questions after their talk.

Bring Us your Bras! 

Please bring along any old or ill-fitting bras you no longer wear, or that impulse buy that's sat in your drawer never worn! We will be donating them to the 'Against Breast Cancer' an amazing charity who, as well as seeking a vaccine against breast cancer, send bras to Africa. See the charity details here: www.againstbreastcancer.org.uk

Although this is a serious subject, it looks like it's going to be a fun and informative night.

Don't forget to grab a drink from the bar when you arrive - and there'll be an interval for refills!

This meeting is free for members and visitors

Alternatively Lovely! September's meeting

Ree Ree Rockette- From school teacher to beauty Entreprenuer & Miss Honey Bare- Vintage hair and make up artist

Monday  September 10th at 8pm in The Prince pub

This month's we have a double whammy with 2 experts in the field of Alternative beauty, both have had amazing journeys into the lifestyles they now lead, and are inspiring women!

Ree Ree Rockette- From school teacher to beauty Entrepreneur

ReeRee, a local business woman,  will be talking us through her career change from Teacher/librarian to blogger and business woman. She made the leap from steady career path to creatively self employed, and says technology largely allowed her to do so. Happy to talk business, geekery and positive thinking, ReeRee will be sharing her story so far, as well as answering any questions you may have. Ree Ree is  heavily involved with the "Vintage Scene" and her first blog was called alternatively lovely, and challenged the notions of what beauty means to all of us

Ree Ree's motto is "that we lead the life we choose, and despite liking my career in education a lot, it just wasn't what I wanted for myself long term. I needed to take some time to figure out not only what I wanted, but what else I could ever be good at. What followed was a blog, a lipstick brand, a women's business group and a hair salon. I'm ambitious and have so much more I want to achieve!''

 Miss Honey Bare- Vintage Make up artist will be showing us a couple of hair and make up demos

 

Miss Honey Bare is a fabulous freelance hair and make-up artist specialising in retro and alternative styling. She has an amazing background in fashion, originally having trained and working as a fashion designer and pattern cutter.

She loves cake, B movies and reading until my eyes go squiffy. She also collects tattoos and vintage crockery. Miss Honey Bare lives in East London with her partner and their pet snake, Reuben.

This meeting is free for members and there is our usual £5 visitors fee

A rainy june meeting- braved and enjoyed!

Out and about with a "Women of Hackney tour

Not to be beaten by the great British weather, several of our hardy members braved the lashing rain and took the the streets of Hackney with Simon Cole From Hackney tours. Despite the rain, it was a great event, and we hope to enjoy one soon in more clement weather!

Claire-Louise Hardie- Secretary SNWI

Ready, Aim, Shoot!

August's meeting- 'Ready, aim, shoot'
Take your photography to the next level. Learn some tips on lots of things from low light, composition and portraiture from a seasoned photographer. There will be practical bits, taking photos and being the subject and learning about your camera (or camera phone). It will be fun and giggles with the learning!   So, please bring your compact camera or camera phone and be ready to get the best out of your photography.

Catherine is a talented photographer who has shot an number of weddings and fashion shoots, she is passionate about portraiture and that everyone can take, and be in a great photo.  Also that it does not take lots of equipment to produce good photos.

Catherine is a fellow WI Sister, from new group Gothic Valley WI, and we're super excited that she's coming along to share her tips and tricks for excellent pics! You can read her top 6 tips here

This is a free meeting for members, and there's a £5 fee for visitors


Claire-Louise Hardie- Secretary SNWI

"Everything Alice"-the wonderful book of makes review

I discovered this week that the team behind delightful craft book "Everything Alice- The wonderful book of makes" have a new book coming out "Everything Oz- The wizard book of makes and bakes", so I thought i'd finally post my review of the first book.
I was drawn into this book immediately by the striking red cover, and by a personal love of everything Alice too!

This book really is a journey into wonderland. Unlike other craft or sewing books, it perfectly blends delicious pages of  food and drink with delightfully quirky and inspiring craft projects. I struggled to choose my favourites!





The craft based projects have something for everyone from cute lavender dormice, to fabric covered chairs and fabulous mad hatterhats. My personal favourites are the "Time for tea Jewellry" and the "Cheshire cat hand warmers"





Not being a complete domestic Diva myself, I also loved the playful food and drink projects, I'm sure even I can follow the clear instructions and rustle up some "Drink Me Cordial" Although the fabulous "Duchess Macaroons" may be too much as a non baker. They do look divine though


There are lots of ideas for themed tea parties too, and there are templates at the back of the book for you to trace off and enlarge. My only bug bear, is that not having access to a photocopier that enlarges, I can't make full use of the templates. This is however a common issue with british craft books.
If you're interested in making things and are bored with the same old cookery books and crafting books, then I highly recommend you invest in this book.

(Disclaimer -Stokey WI was sent a review copy by the publisher Quadrille, However I made up my own mind about wether or not I liked the book)

Claire-Louise Hardie- Secretary SNWI

Pimms o'clock in the prince

Pimms o'clock at the prince and a good ole summer social

It's summer!

So chances are it'll rain on our planned picnic outside! Rather than play roulette with the weather, we'll be holding an indoor summer social at 8 pm in the Prince pub. There will be a loose "Pimms o'clock" theme, we'll supply some pimms, you bring along some nibbles, anything you fancy. We'll have bunting and afternoon cakes and a general indoor themed picknic...

 

We'll be playing some silly ice breaker games! think twister, giant Jenga and all the things you played on damp camping holidays!

We'll also spend some time chatting to ladies we've never met, it's so easy when there's an event planned to not have time to catch up and make new friends!

No charge for this meeting, but do bring along some food!

And wear a sun hat!

Out and about with a "Women of hackney" walking tour

Out and about with a Women of hackney tour

Please note- This walk will be starting at a venue away from the prince pub, and will start earlier than usual to maximise light

This month it's free for members to attend and a £5 fee for visitors,  

Simon Cole of Hackney tours is an educational tour director and freelance writer. Once he discovered Hackney and its radical history and liminal spaces, he realised there was a strong narrative of radicalism, reform and revolution here. Furthermore, he noticed that a lot of the key figures in these stories were women - yet no-one seemed to be telling this amazing story.

Simon decided to combine his passion for guiding, history and socially progressive issues to share this tradition of people fighting for things we take for granted today - like racial and sexual equality or religious tolerance. The takeover of the UBS Building in Hackney and the Olympic focus on the borough seemed the perfect time to launch these tours.

Simon has recently written some tours for the guardian!

A big thanks to Aggie Mackenzie, Stoke newington's queen of clean!

May  Meeting- Aggie MacKenzie- Good housekeeping Guru and cookery author

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity we had to meet and chat with Aggie MacKenzie a local stokey resident who became a household name on Channel 4's How Clean is Your House? Aggie's work covers a broad range: apart from TV and radio presenting, she writes a food page every month in Good Housekeeping, tests kitchen gadgets every month in Delicious, and writes a weekly page in Best

Aggie shared some of her top tips for cooking, cleaning, and life in general. We loved that she admitted to not being a "clean freak" Aggie says a home should be clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be happy. Here's a couple of the tips she shared with us-

Copper bottomed pans- 

This would be one of Aggie's desert island utensils, and she can't do without her trusted and well loved pan

An Aerolatte whisk-

This inexpensive device is great for creating barista style Lattes at home without sacrificing valuable space for large coffee maker machines. Combined with a stove top perculator, you'll never want to nip out to a starbucks again!

Green fairy Liquid washing up liquid-

This inexpensive product is a the ultimate pre wash solution and de-greaser. Forget expensive pre-wash stain treatments and get back to basics with a readily available product. Washing up liquid is designed to cut through grease, so is great for grubby collars, oily spots on clothes and even works on tomato stains!

Aggie is the proud Mother of 2 sons, and her eldest is currently training as a chef, cooking must be in the blood! We spent a lovely hour with Aggie, and would like to thank her for generously giving up an evening to be with us
Claire-Louise Hardie- Secretary SNWI

Meet Aggie Mackenzie- Good housekeeping Guru and queen of clean

Meet Aggie MacKenzie- Good housekeeping Guru and cookery author

Aggie MacKenzie first came on to our screens in 2003 as the Dirt Detective in Channel 4's How Clean is Your House? Since then she's appeared in many different programmes, from reporting on The One Show and The Politics Show to cooking on Come Dine With Me. With a background in women's consumer magazines, Aggie's work covers a broad range: apart from TV and radio presenting, she writes a food page every month in Good Housekeeping, tests kitchen gadgets every month in Delicious, writes a weekly page in Best, covers numerous subjects for other national publications, often participates in advertising campaigns and takes on public speaking engagements.

This month it's £3 for members to attend and there's our usual £5 fee for visitors,  do remember to grab a drink from the bar on the way in.

Love sewing? why not sew for the dress a girl around the world campaign...

Hello, 


I'm Claire-Louise the Secretary for Stokey WI. 
I was recently asked to make a video on how to make a little girl's dress from a pillowcase. As a professional stitcher (my alter ego is The Thrifty Stitcher) I am keen to give something back and put my skills to good use. Last year I searched for sewing based charities, and although there seem to be many great charities for knitters to give something back, there was little for stitchers like me.



I discovered only one sewing based Charity- "Dress a girl around the world", and it frankly slipped my mind. One day whilst on twitter I saw a tweet from Sew Scrumptious about the dress a girl campaign, and having just shot the video on making a pillowcase dress and it seemed like serendipity!


In essence "Dress a girl around the world" send dresses to countries in the developing world. The dresses and boys shorts are made by sewing enthusiasts, and provide valuable clothing for girls and boys whose parents couldn't afford to provide good clothes for them


I got in touch with Louise from Sew Scrumptious who has become a british ambassador for this charity, here's what she told me-


"Every Girl Deserves a Pretty Dress

This statement really struck a chord with me when I read it in a sewing magazine last year, An American charity was asking people who could sew to make simple pillowcase dresses to be sent to girls living in poverty in developing countries. I could sew and had lots of fabric lying around so I felt I had to get involved and make a dress or two. I have a sewing blog called Sew Scrumptious and decided to blog and tweet about what I was doing to try to encourage other people to get involved and to date I have collected nearly 1200 dresses from all around the UK and Ireland. I am now the UK International Partner for the charity and also responsible for finding homes for all the dresses too! Over 600 have been distributed so far to children in Malawi, Ghana, Kenya and India with the rest going off to Uganda, India and Ghana over the next few months.

We still need lots more dresses though! We want to continue making and sending dresses to girls and are encouraging schools, colleges, sewing groups and WI's to get involved. Its a great opportunity to get involved in a charity project in a practical way (we don't want any money, just your time!) and a fun way to connect with other like minded fabric addicts! The dresses can be made from new fabric or recycled pillowcases (hence the name!). Each dress is made from the same simple pattern but each one is individual and unique and can be decorated in any way the maker chooses. 

I photograph every dress I receive and feature them on my blog before they are sent off to projects in developing countries (often schools and orphanages). It is the most fantastic feeling to see a photo of a girl on the other side of the world wearing a dress that you have made. You can also make shorts for boys too! We are currently trying to collect 127 pairs of shorts for boys aged 5 to 14 to go to Uganda in June.

There is lots more information on my blog including links to tutorials and patterns along with my contact details  http://sewscrumptious.blogspot.co.uk/p/pillowcase-dress-info.html

There are also some lovely photos of some of the dresses being worn. There is also a facebook page too http://www.facebook.com/DressagirlaroundtheWorldUK

I would love to see what the WI ladies could make!!

Louise @ Sew scrumptious

So!.....

Stokey Wi are going to get some dresses made. This is not only a fabulous charity,  but it's also a way for us to get more people sewing. We'll be running training events and if you don't know how to sew or don't own a sewing machine, we'll be running workshops and training sessions very soon, dates TBC

Right now what we need is a stash of pillowcases. If you've got some you'd like to donate, please e mail CL stokenewingtonwi@gmail.com and quote "dress a girl around the world"

As soon as we get some training sessions lined up we'll let you know, but if you watch the video above you may just fancy having a go and donating a dress instead...

We've raised a bit of cash for ribbons and trims, so it won't cost any money to get involved, just some keen and nimble fingers and a needle

Claire-Louise Hardie- Secretary Stokey WI