All women welcome to EEWI's Christmas Market!

Yes. It's nearly here. Our EEWI Christmas Market is on Tuesday 3rd December, doors open at 7pm (free for members, £4 for visitors). A glass of mulled wine and a mince pie is included in the entrance fee, plus tea and coffee, and there will be lots of lovely stalls selling prettiness crafted by local makers. We'll be handing over our gifts to the ladies from U-Turn, and there will be a raffle too, with lots of lovely prizes. Tell your friends, bring you mum, aunties, sisters, print off a poster and put it in your window. And do come - we'd love to see you there.

what we did last week

Such a lovely evening we had, either sitting playing with ribbons and sequins and beads, or making willow stars and wands. This is Stacey's flower which wound round the neck of her cardi. There were lots more flowers and beads and sari silk.  And lots of stars and laughter too, though we didn't manage to capture those.

The loveliest thing of all, I feel, was the gentle industry of women making stuff, concentrating as they threaded beads, riffling among ribbons, admiring flashes of creativity, sharing gossip, encouraging their friends, laughing at the incongruity of waving willow wands and casting spells to send off our leading ladies with the very best wishes for sharing their skills.

Very many thanks to Barley Massey for coming along and showing us how to transform rags to riches, and to our lovely Karen for making magic with willow. And a special mention for Annie who wore her newly embellished little black dress on Friday for our coffee morning, another hour or so of delights.

You can visit Barley's shop, Fabrications, in Broadway Market for more inspiration, including classes of all sorts. We'll also be selling Barley's Rethinking Rubbish kits at our Christmas Market on 3rd December, more of which anon.

embellishing the little black dress

Feeling the pinch? Well, come along to our evening meeting next week, bring your little black dress and jazz it up with a bit of embellishment. You'll save a fortune. The lovely Barley Massey from Fabrications will be helping us to get snippy and sewy and add a little bit of loveliness to our party wardrobe. Barley will be bringing along some lovely recycled bits and bobs for us to use. All you have to do is get to work with needle and thread and a bit of imagination. Don't worry - your party outfit doesn't have to be black, or little, or even a dress. If you have something in your wardrobe that needs a bit of extra pzazz, you might prefer to work on that. Or maybe just make a little fancy to pin on your partywear.

We're meeting as usual at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2 (just follow the signs on the gate next to the Gallery Cafe.) Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30 start. Free to members, £4 donation for visitors. Refreshments will be available and, as ever, you are invited to bring along any home-made goodness or snacks to share.

Our coffee morning will be on 22nd November from 10.30am at Paper and Cup at 83 St Paul's Way, E3 do think about joining us - no need to be a member. You just need to buy yourself a cup of tea/ coffee and settle down for a chat. It would be lovely to see you.

Lots of other activities coming up soon - check our Diary Dates for more info.

(And belated congratulations to the winners of our local history quiz and Country Living Christmas Fair tickets. Hope you enjoyed your prizes.)