There aren’t many people I’d get up at 4:30am for. But Kirstie Allsopp is most definitely one of them.
Last Saturday Kate and I met up at Hampton Court Palace for Handmade Fair, where we found talks, workshops and craft stalls galore – as well as the best hoisin duck wraps we’ve ever tasted.
Fangirl moment ensues ❤
We bought tickets pretty much the second they came out, having spotted an advert for the Fair in a copy of Mollie Makes and figuring that something as glorious as an Allsopp-led craft festival would sell out straight away. As it happens, it didn’t actually sell out at all – but from looking at the rivers of excited ladies we followed from the train station to the Palace, you’d be forgiven for thinking it had.
After witnessing the grand opening by Kirstie Allsopp herself, who was sporting a glorious headpiece I totally wanted to steal, we grabbed a program and launched ourselves into the Fair. We started by scoping out the food stalls – important stuff to know, seeing as we’re both prone to mega bouts of hanger. The scrummies on offer ranged from cakes sold by The Cake Bar to churros, Indian snack boxes and French cuisine; it was a really nice touch for all the food on offer to be sold by independent businesses.
Before our needle-felting workshop – which Kate wrote about here – we had time to mooch around the East Shopping Tent. With the amount of stuff on offer we had to work out a tent-exploration strategy (we lost our bearings about twenty times) and we met loads of lovely sellers including the lovely ladies from Alice’s Bear Shop, The Homemakery, Jessalli and Warm Pixie.
Once needle-felting was out the way, we had chance to check out the West Tent – but it was completely packed! We’d been lucky enough to walk around the East Tent much earlier than most people had bothered to arrive, but as soon as everyone turned up things got seriously busy, so we decided to bail and hit the food stands.
After half-heartedly considering a couple of other options we gave in and hit The Duck Truck for huge hoisin duck wraps and chips cooked in duck fat. They were a little pricey at £7.50 each (and £3 for chips) but, unlike festival food, this completely reflected the quality. Seriously. They were glorious wraps of ducky deliciousness. 10/10, would eat again.
We finally plucked up courage to brave the busy West Tent, which was lucky as it was here that we found some of our favourite sellers of the weekend as well as some seriously beautiful stalls. The cake on display at the Blossom Sugar Art stand was unbelievable, and we really struggled to tear ourselves away from the beautiful hare jewellery by Shark Alley. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the stunning branding over at Stitch and Story.
Having checked out all the stalls we headed for our #worldpomination Grand Makes Session where we tried out pompom makers for the first time. One word. Addicted. Shout out goes to instructor Rosy Nicholas for being generally hilarious, awesomely stylish and my official hairspiration. Check out her website for shoes that’ll remind you of ice cream and glass all at once, and in a really great way.
As the afternoon went on, we finally splashed our cash (we’d wanted to have a look at everything on offer first) and then treated ourselves to some cheeky glasses of bubbly before sitting down to our Super Theatre talk featuring Kirstie and Annie Sloan. The talk was interesting, but not at all what we’d expected; Annie is funny and quirky but looked like she’d be more at home crafting than stuck on a stage.
As we wound down at the end of the day, Kate and I chatted about the event itself and what we’d change. The ticket price was £29, which left us probably with too-high expectations; considering the stuff on sale and the food on the stalls themselves was pricey, it seemed like most of the ticket price went on the talks and workshops which although fun and interesting didn’t quite feel like value for money.
Considering we’d both spent upwards of £30 to get there alongside the ticket price, it was a bit of a shame that the things for sale were so expensive – though from what we did buy, we definitely got what we paid for (if not more!). For next year, though, we reckon things like a free program (it cost £5 extra for just one) or perhaps another workshop as part of the ticket price would make the event feel a little more value for money.
That said, the venue was stunning – neither of us had been to Hampton Court Palace before – and, at the end of the day, the Fair gave us a perfect opportunity to hang together, craft and chill out which, when you live as far apart as we do, is in itself worth every penny.
Hook, Knit and Stitch 
