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At the moment I feel like I am behind in everything. My softie progress has slowed significantly, housework has been neglected, and I have been behind with my blogging. What have I been spending my time on? I couldn’t say really, the days fly by at present.
Anyhow the other day I received a copy of Homespun in the mail, and would you look at who’s inside….
You can find Moby the Whale in the current “Go Green” issue of Australian Homespun. It has loads of other fantastic patterns inside including a very cute apple lunch tote by Meredith Harmer.
If you do make Moby the Whale I’d love to see a picture!
Rachel
Just a touch of celebrity for you today.
Seems like the Foo Fighters will soon be enjoying a little piece of The Two Windmills in their life. Shorties and Sony have sent a super cute bunny to live with Dave Grohl and his daughters- yay!!!
Drop me a line if you want your own quirky bunny for Easter or head over to Shorties in Newtown.
Rachel
Hey there,
Its been a busy week. The kids and I are a bit sick are all suffering from a cold, so there’s been lots of days at home this week. Which means the kids are having afternoon naps and I’m even getting some sneaky sewing in when they are playing happily in the playroom… it happens occasionally…..
So I have been sewing heaps
I am working on a dressing gown. Previously we lived in an apartment and it never really got very cold. The new house is a cold house, as it has loads of windows, no carpet, and inadequate curtains, so I am finding the mornings quite cold.
This is to be a summer weight robe made from Laura Gunn’s beautiful Poppy print
I still need to hem the sleeves, and bottom, and also to make the belt and belt loops. Its coming along quite nicely though. The pattern I am using is the Bathrobe pattern from Amy Butlers In Stitches book.
Also I am working on a really a new doll. I have never made girly dolls to sell before so designing it is a nice change
I finished version 1 last night and it still needs a little work
And lastly I have a pair of shorts for Hamish cut out and ready to sew. They are Sailboat pants and I am going to make them out of some Navy and White Ticking gifted to me by the lovely Christy.
I’m not sure what buttons to use, I had my heart set on the vintage red buttons, but I need 4 so that’s not going to work, I am not sure about the navy ones either, perhaps I’ll just have to go to a fabric shop and buy some today!
For more creative spaces stop by Kirsty’s
Rachel
Yes its been ridiculously hot in Sydney lately, and my sewing room has literally become a sweatshop while I have been sewing softies. Today these little guys headed off to their interim home at Shorties in Newtown.
They are super cute aren’t they!
Rachel
In my creative space today…..
A new batch of softies
including some newbies and some old favourites
and a half watched First Season DVD of Big Love… Oh how I love this show…
What do you think of the new softies, does the Moustache Man take your fancy?
To check out more creative spaces stop by at Kirsty’s.
Rachel
As many of you know I haven’t been producing soft toys for a few months now. It just got way too hard with our previous living arrangements, the move and the renovations. After a fairly long break though I am keen to get back into it. I’ve missed creating toys, interacting with my retailers, writing patterns, and the sense of accomplishment softying (is that a word?) brought me. I anticipate that I’ll be up and running around the end of the month, and I am really excited about it. I’ll be streamlining my range with some old favourites and there will be some cool new designs as well.
If you are a boutique interested in supplying The Two Windmills products contact me through email Rachel@thetwowindmills.com.
Rachel
Hey there… so sorry for the unannounced break. Things have been crazy busy.
The littlest boy turned 2, started kindy, and moved into a big bed within a week. (no doing things by halves around here).
I now have 2 childfree days per week, hurrah. (they have also since had haircuts, Cadel gets a bit bulbous looking when his hair is long).
I sewed lots
Toys, flannelette pjs, and trackies for the boys. Don’t you just love Cadel’s pose.
Another thing is that one of my toys was featured in a Harvey Norman ad in Donna Hay kids magazine. I received a call from a friend who spotted it and it was a great surprise
(incidently if you have this issue of Donna Hay kids the pork meatballs are great).
Dan’s health has been a little better Kidney disease is not reversible but it can be slowed. He started a blog about all this here if you are interested. To all the people who comment about this thanks so much, it really means alot to me.
And lastly we decided to sell our apartment. As much as we’ve loved living here it is now just too small for our needs, and alot of the reasons we moved here (Proximity to cafes, cinemas, the city) aren’t really relevent anymore. So we have decided to move to the burbs. So the other thing I have been doing is decluttering, and cleaning, and even more decluttering. There is a funny article about style a home for selling here.
So there, things might be a bit sporadic around here for a while, but I’ll pop in when I can.
Rachel
I’ve always been a little uncomfortable being the centre of attention… or rather receiving much attention at all, so I was a little uncomfortable when Patchwork and Stitching askied if they could publish an interview with me. That said though I agreed (hoping to drive a little traffic over here- as you do) and it came out along with my pattern for Leander the Lion (or Leola if you prefer). They are in Patchwork and Stitching Vol 11 (2) which is the current issue.
I have been thinking a lot lately about a direction for The Two Windmills. I’m loving that I am fortunate enough to be able to work on my softies, and soon I wil have a massive 2 childfree days a week to devote to softying, pattern writing, etc. I hoping to take it slow and see where it goes. The one certainty I feel at the moment is that I am not ready to go back to working in my profession, I think I am a little burnt out, but then who knows what the future holds, and in a few months I might just change my mind.
Rachel
Today I’m thinking of Robot’s again, imagining fat ones, skinny ones, good ones, and evil ones. They will be part of a new crafty endeavour I am planning. 
I loved these shows as a child!
I’m also putting the final touches onto my whale pattern which will be ready next week, and planning a store update. Also I’ve been looking at the group Japanese patterns on Adults on Flickr and I’m itching to make something like this or this. Not sure If I could pull them off though. Thanks goodness its a sunny day in Sydney today. The kids are a little sick and I have no car today so we’ve been a little housebound, at least today we can go for a nice walk!
Hope you all have a great creative Thursday! As always thanks to Kirsty.
Rachel
Well then, my creative space this week has been super busy.
I am currently working on writing a pattern for my Moby Whale which will be available as a PDF download through my online store. I am super excited about it.
I am also working on pants for the boys (again)
I am a little addicted to making pants for them, this is my 6th pair. At the moment I am tweaking my pattern to make a ‘perfect’ toddler pant. I am learning that:
-my two year old needs pants that are a little higher at the back to accomodate his nappy
-I like a straightleg
-I really, really want an overlocker
-the 3 and a half year looks better with a proper flat front, and waistband
-his butt is superflat so his pants don’t need to be too deep
This pair are made from charcoal denim that I picked up from the oppy. A 4 metre piece for $15, which is a bargain. The feature fabric is a linen kawaii print ordered from karaku
I am also thinking of a simple project that I can take away with me… we are headed to North Queensland on Monday for a week and I’d like something simple to do. I’m thinking embroidery. I love these comfort stitching patterns.
As usual a big thanks to Kirsty for hosting
Rachel
