Softies for Mirabel

I have had an idea for an emu in my head, so I thought I'd try and translate it into real life for my softie for Softies for Mirabel which Pip from Meet Me at Mikes is organising. Mmmm the girls think it is a duck and Chris thought it was a dodo. Hopefully it will find someone to love it for what it is.

Minifashionista

My order for Minifashionista has arrived (I am always so relieved when parcels arrive safely) and is up on their website. There are dolls, platypi and echidnas.

Wombats

A couple of new wombats which can be found here.

The new MixTape just arrived in my mail box so I'm off to read.

Labels

I read a great comparison of labels and where to get them at Old School Acres a few weeks ago and thought I'd give a new place a try. These are from FancyWeaver on ebay. They are excellent. You can choose from lots of colours, sizes and any free font, plus they are not that expensive. the best thing was that I had them in two weeks. They don't fray on the edges which is great.
The only downside is that there is not much room either side of the writing so it can be a bit tricky sewing them into seams.The other place I get labels from is Apparel Labels in Australia. They are great quality and come in lengths you have to cut apart and there is plenty of room on either side of the writing to sew them into seams. The only problem is the length of time you have to wait to receive them. My last order took 2 months and several emails.

Some new Moo cards arrived last week. It's nice to have something a bit professional looking to hand out.Some new pig pillows I finished this week.

Why would you live anywhere else?

The dog was barking yesterday which is nothing new, but it was a really different bark, the snake bark, but we found something much better than a snake. This turtle was slowly cruising through the garden heading back across the road to its pond. The girls were quite excited to see it.
Below is a picture of the five ducks we have been watching grow up. As our neighbour said - why would you live anywhere else. I agree - I just need to stop thinking about the snakes.

I finally bought a print from Sugarloop. I love all of her work. My craft room was needing a bit of colour and this is now above my sewing machine.

Plush You and Patterns

The Plush You exhibition was on in Seattle last week. I sent tome of my Australian animals. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the things I sent. I found these on flickr, platypus and koala and there was a wombat too. So thankyou to everyone who took pictures so I could see the amazing creations everyone made.

I had some exciting news yesterday. I didn't think this would be out for ages - the Australian Women's Weekly published an extract from the Softie book and also included my elephant pattern.

A Wrist Bag

I have made bigger and smaller versions of this bag, but they were not quite right, so I played around with the width and length and I am happy with this version. The lining is cotton voile which is quite light, but I found some great woven interfacing which makes it prefect for lining.

This is Lila who is now in my shop.

A Dishcloth

The new Ottobre magazine arrived yesterday and as usual it was filled with wonderful patterns including these for premmie babies. I hope I won't be needing them, but it is good to know there are some patterns out there. We had such a hard time finding cute clothes for the girls. They spent all of the first six months in onesies as that was all we could find to fit them. They didn't fit into 000 clothes until they were six months old. So it was lovely to see some cute patterns for tiny babies.
I have finally joined the dishcloth bandwagon. This little turtle was knit using Lily Sugar n' Cream Cotton from this pattern.

Dolls in progress and a giraffe

A finished giraffe and a sneak peak at some dolls which just need a bit of finishing.

Blog Action Day

I know I'm a day late to Blog Action Day, but I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I just need to read it again with a notebook and pen. It really was an interesting read with lots to think about and even if you don't think you could completely convert to eating locally there are lots of ideas and smaller things you could do.

The other thing we have been thinking about is how much stuff we have in out house that we just don't need. We have a pretty small house and there is so much stuff in here and just like Nikki we have been thinking about Christmas and overconsumption.

People still get amazed when I tell them I use cloth nappies for twins (I admit that I don't when we are out during the day for a long time). And then more amazed when I tell them I don't use nappi san (I really hate the feel of clothes after using it), I don't soak nappies and even in winter here you can usually get them dried on the line and the sun tends to get rid of any stains nappies don't have to be sparkling white - who sees them? I didn't know anyone using cloth nappies when I started and I got lots of information from here. I also use terri towelling wipes. They really do the job and last a long time - I still have some the original ones after 2 year.

Life has just got easier as our shire has introduced recycling bins which means we don't have to collect all out recycling and then taking it to the depot ourselves.

A nice day

I've had a wonderful Sunday. The weather was perfect and I had lunch with some wonderful friends. Back when we first started playgroup with our babies we decided to do a lunch once a month and try to do it child free. It was such a good idea, I never realised before having children just how hard it is to have a conversation when they were present. Even though we see each other during the week there is little chance of really talking. So today was perfect for sitting outside, talking and eating wonderful food.
With life back to normal now, it means there has been a little time for sewing. I have been working on a wholesale order, but I found some time to finish a new giraffe and a platypus.

Monkey Socks

Socks for my sister for Christmas - so Gem don't look or forget really quickly.

Monkey Socks using Fleece Artist and 2.5mm needles.

Vomiting

Life was all fun until the girls started vomiting. We set off for Perth last Friday and made it as far as Bunbury when Chris started to feel sick and then Amelia vomited in the car. So we cleaned that up and then Grace vomited in the car. So we went home and the 3 of them vomited for the next 24 hours.
The original plan was to visit some good friends in Dongara so unfortunately we never made it, but I'm glad I seem to have avoided getting sick. We did manage to make it to Perth for 2 days to see Chris' parents this week and now we are back to enjoy the last of the school holidays. Sewing seems to have taken a back seat this week, but I am slowly working on a few orders and I did manage to finish some aprons for little girls birthdays.

Vogue

I had a bit of a surprise last night when I had an email telling me one of my toys - one of my dolls with buns - was in the November edition Vogue. This is one magazine I never thought I would be in! Coincidentally I am just cutting some more of these for Minifashionista.
Edited to add: They did have permission - they requested it from Minifashionista a few months ago, but I had no idea when or even if they would use it - so it was a surprise to see it.

It has definitely been spring weather this week and after seeing this great twirly skirt I was inspired to make some for the girls.

Apparently this is what you do when you are told it is too cold still for swimming, swim in sand.

Visit to the Farm

We had a lovely end to the long weekend. A visit to my sister on the farm. It was great to show the girls all the animals and they could run free. It is really nice to have my sister living on a farm and my parents still on theirs. I loved growing up on the farm and having the experiences and freedom we had. I am so glad that even though the girls will not have that all the time they can still visit and experience a little farm life.We took some toys over to my niece Lyssie. I can see a little farmer in the making sitting on her John Deere tractor.
The weather is starting to warm up and the girls are needing some summer clothes. I started with some pants. I just drafted a pattern off some winter pants, changed and enlarged it all and then cut it into 3, matching the front and back and sewed it all up.

Cooking Focaccia

The girls love cooking at the moment. Several times a day they put on their aprons and try to convince me they need cake. Yesterday we made focaccia bread which they refused to eat, but they had great fun making it.

A Weekend in Melbourne

I think I have nearly recovered from our whirlwind trip to Melbourne. The girls didn't forget us, even though they had a great time with Mum and Dad and didn't seem to miss us much.
So a quick summary of the weekend.
Wandering aimlessly around the city - I had forgotten how much fun that is.
Actually reading Saturday's papers.
I think Chris enjoyed having no plans, sleeping in, playing computer games with Paul and going to the movies.
Going out to restaurants and having great food and Gemma cooking great food for us too.
I dragged Gemma to some craft shops I really wanted to see - here are some photos of what I had to have.
Felt from Winterwood

Baby Cashmerino from Sunspun (so soft and squishy)
Fabric from Amitie
Chris and I went out to Bridge Road on Friday and it was so nice to go into Meet Me At Mikes and meet Pip.

On Saturday we dropped into My Poppet and met Cintia and saw her gorgeous new shop. I had to get these shirts for the girls. Now I have to finish a few more loads of washing and the house should be back to normal and I hope it won't be another three years before we have another trip like that.

Inspired to Sew

I think I have found my sewing mojo. Chris and I are off to Melbourne this weekend to visit my sister and I was planning the craft shops I need to visit and all of a sudden I was inspired to sew again. I finished a giraffe and some platypii and planned the rest of the pig quilt.
I haven't really thought about the weekend before now, I feel a bit paranoid about leaving the girls even though I know Mum and Dad will look after them and they won't care that I will call 10 times a day to check on them.
I am starting to get excited about going now, I'm thinking of time to read on the plane, eating out, getting to craft shops I only read about on blogs and getting to touch the stuff I only ever see pictures of and time to just wander around without a double pram and two children screaming for chocolate milk (which they rarely ever have, but lately have been asking me for at least 10 times a day).

Something New

I've finally started something new. A quilt for my niece. I had wanted to make something with pigs for a while, but every pattern I found was just not quite right. So I have decided to have a go at designing my own pattern. It is also the first time I have used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine and so far it seems to be working out ok.

Meme

Amanda tagged me for this meme which is very handy as I have one picture of a finished doll and not much else to say this week except we have nearly recovered, except for my sense of smell, you would think it would make me stop eating, but no it hasn't.

Q1. What were you doing 10 Years ago?
I had just finished Uni and really didn't have a plan and just took work wherever I could for a year.

Q2. What were you doing 1 Year ago?
Pretty much what I am doing now. At home with the girls and I'd just started really getting back into sewing and desiging my own soft toys.

Q3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
Tim Tams, Pink Lady Apples, Almonds, Shortbread biscuits, Celery with peanut butter

Q4. What are 5 songs you know the lyrics to?
Quite a lot of great/bad 80s music (depending on your perspective)

Q5. 5 things you would do if you are a Millionaire?
Travel, a slightly bigger house, donate more to charity.

Q6. 5 Bad habits?

I try to keep these to myself

Q7. 5 things you like to do?
Sew, read, cook, spend time with Chris and the girls, quiet time by myself.

Q8. 5 Favourite Toys?
Sewing machine, overlocker, camera, MP3 player, computer

Q9. 5 things you would never wear?
Shorts - haven't worn them for years, gold lame, tiger print, acrylic jumpers, midriff tops.

Q10. 5 things you hate to do
Get up when it's cold, clean the bathroom, dust, shopping with the girls, pack to go anywhere.

So if you are looking for something to write about this week consider yourself tagged.