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down tools

Feeling really spent the last few days, and really uninspired. So I took a break from sewing up dolls (6 new ones in the works), downed tools and sewed up this bib for the little man. The cowboy fabric is a vintage piece from Lisa I've been holding on to for just the right project. It's backed with white flannel, and closes with a snap. I'd love one of these snap fastening machines - hammering small objects while pregnant (read: clumsy) is a dicey proposition. Also, I fluffed the binding a bit. It's some really thin stuff (about 5mm wide when sewn in) that I picked up at the op shop ages ago. I knew at the time that it should have been hand sewn instead of squeezed though the machine, but forged ahead bloody-minded anyway. Love that colour green, though.

Thanks for all your lovely comments recently, about my grandfather and about baby boy. Please know that I absolutely appreciate each and every message. Oh, and I know I'm often a broken record on this count, but I've fallen behind with my emails again. Thanks for your patience if you're waiting on me.

pigeon pair

Here I am today. Twenty-one weeks along and still so much bigger than I was at this point when I was pregnant with Audrey. We had our 20 week scan the other day, and thankfully everything appears to be in the right place. Still getting my head around it, but that tummy? There's a little boy in there! And a fairly active little chap he seems, too - perhaps it's a good thing his older sister already trained us well in the ways of sleep deprivation. ;)

rewind

I've had the best of intentions when it comes to blogging over the last couple of weeks. But then it's been one of 'those' last couple of weeks. I know everyone is busy at the moment. Perhaps it's the time of year, the change in season. For me it's been a mixture of those: lots of family stuff, good and not so. Beginnings, celebrations and endings - Audrey's 4th birthday (so fun), a wonderful 20 week ultrasound with our new little one looking a-ok (relief), and then my grandfather passed away suddenly Sunday evening. So, a time of both reflection and gratitude here. A strange mix.

Anyway. I've been missing this space and am going to make an effort to post more regularly. I was going to take a leaf out of Leslie's book and try posting every day, but I'm thinking every other day is a more reasonable expectation for me! To start, here is Dolores monkey, who (with her 3 brothers) found new homes via my etsy shop this afternoon.

Also, while I'm rambling insanely, I may as well add that I've listened to the new Clare Bowditch song about 100 times today. Love it.

wednesday

Working from home. Carrying my wip basket around with me to steal some time handsewing in the sun.

Walking past the fridge, smiling every time at Audrey's artwork (that's me with the baby in my belly!)

Thinking about the weekend (including dinner with friends and the Royal Adelaide Show - we have one very excited little girl on our hands). On Saturday at 4pm, Carly will be hosting a wee party at Nest Studio (18 Elizabeth Street, Croydon, SA) to help launch Softies, the book recently released by Penguin Australia. Among many of the beautiful toy patterns by amazing designers like Kristina, Sarah, Myra, Carly, Abby and Sooz is one for my monkey, Albert. Copies of the book will be available from Nest on the day, but can also be purchased from all good local bookshops or online here. Come and say hello if you are in the area!

moving on up

I finally moved my whole shop setup to Etsy for an update this morning. Lordy, it's so much better over there than cranking through it myself (no suprises there!) Thanks so much to those who purchased toys, and made me feel so warmly welcome in my new digs. I hope the experience was as straightforward for you guys as it was for me. The toys above have all found new homes now, but my plan between now and the end of the year (or early February, when the baby is due) is to keep my space over at etsy updated on a fortnightly basis. Grand plans, I know. But I'm not taking on custom orders at the moment, and have stopped with the wholesale work, so hopefully I'll be able to achieve some kind of rhythm with it.

Thanks again, all. Happy, happy weekend.