So excited to share that my new children's book 'What Stars Are For' (published by Affirm Press) has been selected for the 'dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books' list for 2024. 

Whale watching season has begun here on the north coast of New South Wales (Australia). Cape Byron is a great spot to see humpback whales travelling north to warmer waters for birthing.

I made my first whale toy after my boys and I saw the whales from the Byron Bay lighthouse years ago. My sewing pattern ended up being based on a blue whale and then I made a dolphin sewing pattern shortly after. 

The whale and dolphin are still two of my most popular sewing patterns and ones that I make for any new babies that come into my life.

These sewing patterns are available to download via my online store. 

Autumn is slowly creeping in here. The nights are getting cooler, the camellias are flowering and the twilights are longer. My favourite time of year :) 

And I'm excited to finally be able to share with you, the cover of my new children's picture book 'What Stars are For', published by the wonderful Affirm Press.

​The story follows a shy and inquisitive snail named Henry, who spends his days hiding in his shell and his nights wondering one thing; what are stars for? It's a story about curiosity, overcoming your fears, and the possibility of finding a friend.

This book has been an absolute dream to create and I can't wait for you to see it.

'What stars are For' is out on the 30th April, and is available to pre-order  via Booktopia now. 

​"In the tradition of great high seas adventure stories of times passed, with one key difference - this is a true story. The epic adventure of four-year-old Giovanni and the journey that could have ended his life, bringing him instead to start a new adventure in a new country, Australia".

I loved doing the research that came with illustrating a story like this one. Thank you to Crystal Corocher for your beautiful writing, and to Rochelle at Wombat Books for this wonderful opportunity :)

I've spent February tucked away sewing and am happy to report that I've finished making a new group of cloth dolls. Hooray!

All four dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight time - AEDT) Friday 3rd March. 

I have a full and messy sewing table again. There should be a new group of cloth dolls  available via my online store in the next week or so. I'll let you know exactly when they'll be listed :) 

​Hooray!

​Here is my entry with this year's theme, 'Door to adventure'.

I've finally finished my latest group of dolls. I've been working on these for so long!

All five dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from Thursday (19 May)  10am Sydney time (Australian Eastern Standard Time - AEST) . 

I have handmade each doll myself, from reclaimed & salvaged fabrics and stuffed with wool. The dolls each come with their own removable cloak and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity.

They are quite delicate with lots of hand-stitching, and are intended as little art pieces to display rather than toys for small children. Each doll is around 25 cm tall and is priced from AU$430 + shipping (worldwide). 

My dolls sometimes sell out within a few minutes so be sure to move through the checkout process quickly, as I don't have a reserved cart on my website. 

I hope you like them!
Margeaux

I've spent the past few weeks making foxes from old woollen blankets, and barn owls from cotton, old upholstery fabric and wire. I haven't made these foxes or large clawed owls in such a long time... I missed them :) 

They're very firmly stuffed with wool and feature lots of embroidered details. The owls stand approximately 35 cm tall, and the foxes are around 25 cm tall.

All four of these creatures will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Thursday (9 Dec) Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). 

I've spent the past few months designing, perfecting and putting together a knitting pattern for tiny jumpers and cardigans to fit my Willowynn animal dolls... you an see my progress here.

And HOORAY, the pattern is finally finished and available to download via my online store!

​It turns out, designing a knitting pattern for a jumper, to fit a certain sized toy was not as easy as I originally thought. Especially since I had to learn to knit first :) 

I had a lot of fun coming up with designs and trying out colours and differnent types of yarns. And it's lovely to see everyone on my work table, now with their own jumper :) 

You can download the knitting pattern for my miniature jumpers and cardigans via my online store. Pleaese let me know how you go. I can't wait to see what you make!

I've finally finished sewing my latest collection of Willowynn dolls. They will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Thursday (24th June) Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). 

Each doll has been handmade by myself, from reclaimed & salvaged fabrics and stuffed with wool.

They are quite delicate with lots of hand-stitching, so are intended as little art pieces to display rather than toys for small children. Each doll is around 25 cm tall and is priced from AU$430 + shipping (worldwide). 

My dolls sometimes sell out within minutes so be sure to move through the checkout process quickly, as I don't have a reserved cart on my website. Again, they will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am (AEST) Tuesday 24 June.

I hope you like them!
Margeaux

I finally learnt to knit!

I've been spending my nights knitting in front of the fire, trying to design and knit the perfect jumper (sweater) and cardigan to fit my Willowynn animal dolls.

My pile of not-quite-right tiny jumpers is growing but I think I'm almost there... 

Knitting pattern coming soon! 

Edit: My tiny cardigan/jumper knitting pattern is now available to download via my online store. 

I've made so many prototypes, trying to get the design and size right... now everyone on my table has a jumper :) 

P. s. The Willowynn animal dolls pictured are not for sale, I'm sorry, but the sewing patterns are available in my online store :) ​

I'm very excited to announce that 'Kingdom of Rooms' written by M. J. Gibbs and Jenny Catalano (and illustrated by myself) has just been published, and is availabe to purchase via the author's website.

With the theme of 'royal palaces' and 'collecting', this fun-to-read-aloud book is full of poems that children will enjoy. 

I loved spending time researching and drawing the kinds of things that I think would be in a palace full of interesting bits and pieces - coats of armour, statues, Victorian toys, books and rocking horses... and soooo many peacock feathers!

And luckily for me, I had my boys to help me with ideas when I got stuck like, "The boy on the cover should be roller skating and wearing a knight's helmet". Brilliant!

​I created the illustrations using watercolour, pen and ink on paper and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have!

I'm finally creating a downloadable sewing pattern for my snail soft sculpture!

There are snail prototypes all over the place here, and not just on my desk (pictured below). I have made so many snails, after first creating my design back in 2013, but offering it as a sewing pattern means I now have to make a proper template! So I'm tweaking and perfecting the shape, size and design. 

I took the photo above, years ago, upon discovering this little drawing on my work table. My family and I are fascinated by snails and have a very large (and growing) collection of huge snail shells. We live in a sub-tropical region of Australia, with rainforests nearby - where we regularly find the giant panda snail. 

I decided that my doll house needed a Christmas tree... because, why not?

My boys made the presents under the tree by wrapping some little cardboard shapes with patterned washi tape. I found the tiny battery-powered fairy lights at my local dollar store and the 'holly' on the stairs was picked from my garden (it's not holly, it's a native Australian shrub with these tiny holly-like leaves). 

This tiny pretend lounge room is permanently set up like this (minus the Christmas things) and includes a crocheted granny square as a rug (made by me) and a vintage green velvet sofa (found second-hand), that I would absolutely put in my own house, with a doily draped over the back. I made the round velvet cushions. 

Also, if you own a dollshouse, you'll know that the best part is looking through the tiny windows to see the miniature world inside :) 

If you like, you can see more blog posts featuring my dollshouse by clicking on ' dollhouse' in my blog categories.

I hope you all have a happy and safe holdiday this year and a terrific New Year. 

Best wishes,
​Margeaux 

I've just restocked my little illustrated holiday greeting card packs. The cards feature three of my watercolour illustrations - all pine tree / Christmas tree themed of course!

They're available to purchase via my online store, are ready to post straight away and are sustainably packaged. 

Obviously there are quite significant postal delays right now, due to the pandemic, so holiday mail will have to go out a lot sooner than usual, to arrive by Christmas.

​The estimated delivery time for these cards to reach you is up to ten business days within Australia, and up to four weeks outside of Australia. Plenty of time!

I've shared photos of my sewing table here so many times but I don't think I've ever really shown you where I spend the other part of my working life... this desk on the other side of my work room / studio.

Author Marg Gibbs and I were recently interviewed by the lovely Romi Sharp for the Just Write for Kids blog, about the making of our new book 'Goose at the Gate'.

You can read the interview here and watch a short video trailer all about this fun book of poetry for kids. Enjoy!

I've been working on a new group of dolls over the past few weeks, and they are almost finished. They will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Tuesday 22 September - Sydney time (AEST - Australian Eastern Standard Time). 

*The doll pictured in the bottom row will not be for sale.

My Covid lockdown period earlier this year was spent creating illustrations for a new children's poetry book by author Margaret Gibbs (and home-schooling my kids and designing elephant dolls), This is the kind of thing I've been wanting to do FOREVER and I had so much fun illustrating Margaret's gorgeous poems.

'Goose at the Gate' includes 40 poems for kids, along with a collection of my watercolour illustrations and Margaret's own bright and colourful collages. And it's out now!

​'Goose at the Gate' is available to purchase here. 

I'm having fun designing new elephant dolls (which are now available as a sewing pattern). Right now I'm trying to perfect their elephant heads by sewing prototype after prototype... using the fabric from an old bed sheet.

This is my favourite stage of soft toy design - looking at pictures of baby elephants, trying out different shapes, testing the scale of the trunk / ears etc... trunk up or trunk down (I've decided to include an option for both). Lots of fun and also a bit of a brain strain, and I'm happy to report that they're coming along nicely.

These guys will be similar to my other animal dolls that can be downloaded as sewing patterns. I also have patterns to sew their little overalls, dresses and coats. 

* Edit / update... the digital sewing pattern for my elephant soft toys is now available to download and print. Happy sewing!

As most of us are staying at home right now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I thought I'd offer this soft sculpture / embroidery tutorial as a free download ​... in case you're looking for something to do.  
​
It's also a great beginner sewing project for school children - for those of you at home with kids (me included). You can sew these using the sewing machine or by hand, and then decorate them with some simple embroidery stitches. 

​​The pattern includes instructions for stuffed fabric star, tree and round ornaments which are easy to sew, make great presents and look lovely hung on a garland or mobile (or anywhere really). I've put together some simple instructions, photos, an illustrated embroidery stitch library and templates. You can download the PDF sewing pattern here, for free, ready for you to print at home.

I hope you enjoy making these. You'll find more Willowynn sewing patterns available to download here.