We were immediately greeted by some art work by Francisco De Pajaro, who has been working on various pieces around Darlington this week and was doing the same around the site today. They are so much fun, and it was great to spot them throughout the day![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5581,5582,5583,5584″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851233983{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Right from the beginning of the day, there was such a lovely atmosphere and SO much going on. We started at the Arena and main stage and pottered around the stalls there. I loved the Charity Shop DJ where people could choose cheesy tunes from a box of LPs from local charity shops, and have a go at DJing.

 [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5587,5588,5589″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411847878771{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next, we headed into the Beehive – just look at that writing! I love the retro styling of Lingfield Point.

There were some fabulous stalls in there, and I was super organised and got a couple of Christmas presents. It was here where we bumped into curators of the Festival of Thrift, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway! I explained that I’m a part of the School of Thrift, and they very kindly agreed to having their photo taken – thank you so much to you both!

After that we left them to rummage through some LPs and continued on our way. We came across a stall from The Beehive Brand, which had the most beautiful knitted garments in traditional patterns. I can’t really describe how beautiful they were, so you’ll have to take a look : [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5596,5597,5598,5595″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851507792{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]The Beehive Brand was established in 1785, but after a period of decline has recently been bought by Andrea Freeman, who’s passion for this exciting project really shines through. Not only is she recycling the old brand, but the old patterns too, and new garments using old patterns are being gradually released once more. I’m really excited to see how the brand develops! If you’d like to find out more, visit her website.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411850503131{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Here are a few more photos from around the site! Look out for the tea ladies with the invisible dog (if, indeed, you can ‘look out’ for an invisible dog!) if you’re going tomorrow – they’re hilarious![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5602,5603,5604,5605,5606″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849392734{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5607,5608,5609,5610,5611,5612,5613,5614,5615″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849832037{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Mum had a go at weaving, and made this to add to the huge spider’s web – fab!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There were so many lovely stalls around the event, but I was really pleased to catch up with my friend Victoria, aka Dizzy Miss James! We met a few years ago at a craft fair and it has been wonderful to see her shop develop. She designed all of these little guys herself – aren’t they adorable!?

It was also brilliant to meet some new people at the event, including Angela from Maison Royale – her stall was fabulous and she was so lovely to chat to! You see that gorgeous arrow light? That will be hanging in our new kitchen in a few months! Yes!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851452668{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]I took so many more photos, but I don’t want to give everything away! If you’re in the area tomorrow then you MUST go along. And don’t forget to tag your photos on social media – #FOT14

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So here’s my bag before I got started:

It has a large main pocket, with another one at the front and one at the back. I cut out the main pocket, leaving a couple of centimetres of the lining at the top where it was sewn in. Once this was done, I did the same with the other pockets.

You’ll need to cut out the pockets that you need to replace – don’t throw them away just yet, because you’ll need to use them as templates. I unpicked the old pockets so that I had flat pieces to work with. Lay out your new fabric and place the pieces on top, cutting around them leaving a little excess around each edge. I used this fab Amy Butler fabric from the Hapi collection.

This first piece had a zip pocket in – you don’t have to put one in if you don’t want to though! First, I measured where the zip should go based on the template piece. I marked where it should go with a dressmaking pencil.

Then I used a seam ripper to open it up, and cut diagonally at the either side of the opening to be able to fold back and press to create a rectangular opening.

I stitched the zip in on my machine, and then began attaching a pocket on the back. I made this using a rectangular piece of fabric, which I folded (right sides together) so that the top was a couple of centimetres higher than the bottom. Then the pocket can be made by machine stitching down each side.

To attach the pocket, I stitched the bottom to the bottom zip tape, and then repeated this with the top.

With the other half of the large main pocket, I made a simple side pocket by stitching some bias tape over the top of a rectangle of fabric. Then I stitched this onto the side piece, making two pockets out of it by stitching a line slightly off centre.

My bag also had a long strip of fabric to create the bottom of the main pocket, so I pinned it and then stitched it all together.

Next I made the final two pockets, which were far easier in comparison to the first! I cut out rectangles using the old pockets as templates, pressed about 1cm back on both top edges and stitched down the side edges with right sides together. As with the previous pocket, one side of each pocket was higher than the other to be able to attach them to the bag.

The next step was to pin the pockets to the bag. I started with the smaller pockets because they had to be stitched in before the main one. I used a small running stitch and pink thread to attach the top of the pocket to the original fabric I left attached in the bag.

Once attached, it looked like this:

I repeated this with the other pockets, making sure I didn’t sew right through to the front of the bag. Ta-dah!

If you’re wanting to have a go at this, you might need to adjust some of the steps depending on the size and shape of your bag. I bought 1 metre of fabric for this project and that was plenty – the zip was 7″ long. Although it seems like a tricky project, as long as you use your old pockets as a template you should be fine. It’s a great way of updating a bag that may otherwise be thrown away because of a damaged lining. Yay!

The post How to re-line a bag appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The Festival of Thrift was launched last year at Lingfield Point in Darlington, with the aim of showing just how much fun and creativity there is to be found in living thriftily and sustainably. Thrifting, the idea of creating something yourself or ‘make-do-and-mend’-ing has definitely seen a huge revival over the past few years and this is something that the festival celebrates wholeheartedly.

The team behind this fantastic event includes Co-Curators Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, Festival Director Stella Hall and John Orchard, a Director of Marchday, owners of Lingfield Point. When speaking about the festival, Wayne said: “The success of last year proves even further that thrift is not just a flash in the pan but a set of values applied to the way you live your life. Thrift has become a vital, contemporary movement reflecting traditional values, and it’s evolving each day as our needs and the needs of our planet change”.

Activities at last year’s festival included sewing, dancing, foraging, playing, music-making, hula-hooping, theatre, gardening, upcycling, eating, bargain-hunting, learning, oven-making, quilting, baking, crafting – and plenty of inspiring talks on sustainable topics taking place. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I must admit that I couldn’t actually go to last year’s event (because we had a family party following our wedding) but the excellent news is that the festival will be returning to Lingfield Point in September this year!

As part of the launch for the 2014 Festival of Thrift, the Festival of Thrift’s ‘School of Thrift’ has been set up online at their Google+ page. Here you will find expert advice from the lovely people at Festival of Thrift, plus they have recruited some fantastic bloggers to share their ideas and tips about how to upcycle and generally lead a more thrifty life. Throughout the past week, contributors to the School of Thrift have been announced and these bloggers include:

Vicky from The Owl and the Accordion (I absolutely love her style and have been following her on Instagram for a while now)

Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary (possibly Britain’s most Northerly food blog – the photos will make you hungry just looking at them!)

Sarah from Drawn Threads (who has declared 2014 her ‘Year of Thrift’ – find out more on her blog!)

Kim from Witchmountain (based in the one of the most glorious parts of the UK, the North York Moors, she’s one super-crafty lady!)

Karen is an international contributor to the School of Thrift, and she makes amazing videos with her husband, Danny, of their thrifted makes in Australia – see them on her YouTube page.

And the next contributor is…me!  Yay! I’m so excited to be a part of this wonderful project alongside some really talented people. It has been brilliant to find out who else is involved and to meet new bloggers, crafters, artists and thrifters. And there are so many more to come! I’m already planning some exciting projects, so stay tuned…

The Festival of Thrift takes place on Saturday September 27 & Sunday September 28 2014 at Lingfield Point, Darlington. You can find out more and sign up for updates at the Festival of Thrift website. I hope that the van is there this year – I’d like to have afternoon tea in it too!

All photos courtesy of Festival of Thrift 2013.

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