New this year, the Islington Design District – part of this week’s London Design Festival – brings together a collection of some of my favourite design shops and cafes from Angel through to Camden Passage and Upper Street. It has been organised by SMUG (you might remember I wrote about them recently when I attended an origami workshop, see here) with a programme of fantastic workshops as well as a new collection from Donna Wilson. Their hub, Cafe SMUG is also offering free WiFi for design hunters seeking a respite from the hustle and bustle of the festival.
At the weekend I attended a screen printing workshop with Lambs Conduit Street resident Thornback & Peel. They create quintessentially British homeware inspired by an eclectic mixture of Victoriana, Mr McGregor’s garden and 17th century microscope imagery of the natural world, among other things. They have an exclusive guinea pig and pineapple print with SMUG, so the session offered visitors the chance to create their very own hankies. I had never done screen printing before but it was remarkably easy, as long as you position the fabric and stencil straight and secure, and have a tight grip on the squeegee. It would even be quite easy to do at home. The results were a turquoise pineapple and a delightful blue guinea pig, which are almost too good to use as any old hanky! Here’s a few snaps from the afternoon:
The results! You can find out about more workshops at SMUG here. 
While on my trail of the Islington Design District, I also paid a visit to Present & Correct, a stationery paradise. For London Design Festival they have set up a Stamp Station, where you can make your mark on an array of old and new ephemera using a collection of graphic stamps.
All images my own
