Wishing everyone a safe and happy Christmas. I hope that the new year brings you peace and maybe something exciting. 

Best wishes,
Margeaux

I made this little painting of a fox and owl enjoying a Christmas tree in a snowy forest, as a card for my children. We are in Australia so Christmas doesn't look like this for us, but this is the Christmas I dreamed of as a child. Next year it will be a wombat and wallaby gazing at a decorated gum tree :) 

A free afternoon for a little bit of painting.  I'd like to be hanging out in the shade under that tree right now :) 

After a few requests, I thought I'd demonstrate an easy technique for turning out very narrow sewn shapes for stuffing, with a short video demonstration (below), If you have ever tried to sew and stuff really tiny doll legs, arms or the stalks in my mushroom sewing pattern, you will know how tricky and seemingly impossible it is. 

I've found a brilliant technique for doing this with ease, using a drinking straw and something long, small and pointy - like a small crochet / knitting needle or skewer. 

My next group of dolls are almost finished. I'll list all four little ladies in my online shop on Monday 3rd December from 7pm Sydney time (Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT)).

Each doll measures around 20 cm and is handmade from carefully salvaged second-hand and vintage fabric and firmly stuffed with wool. Bearing a small 'Willowynn' logo hand-drawn onto the inside of one leg, each doll comes with a small signed, dated and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity, in a recycled cardboard gift box made my myself.

​Please be aware that my dolls are intended as a treasure for display only and are not suitable as a toy for young children; due to delicate hand stitching, hair and small buttons. ​

They are priced from AU$380 each + shipping from Australia. I should also point out that I (regrettably) don't have a reserved cart in my online store. So you'll need to move quickly through the checkout process!

I'll also have a couple of my finished dolphin soft toys available to purchase as well. I hope you like them!

A couple of my recent drawings... moody eucalyptus trees (based on a photo taken by photographer Ian Brown), and a crow. I've found that drawing branches is quite relaxing, the more twisted and wonky, the better. 

And this little crow was a good exercise in varying tones and getting the blackest blacks from my pencil. Also, I really like crows :) 

I'm busily working on some new cloth dolls which I hope to have available by end of November (but probably early December). Looking up just now, I caught sight of these two little heads resting in crochet cotton balls and smiled... they looks so content. So thought I'd share that with you :) 

I'm spending this lovely rainy day sewing clothing for my new collection of cloth art dolls. The dress I'm currently working on is Victorian inspired, and I've found that to get that lovely Victorian dress shape, the dolls really need to wear a petticoat and bustle underneath. 

This next group of dolls should be finished and available to purchase via my online store by the end of November. To see some of my dolls, take a look at my gallery page or have a look back through the Willowynn artworks category on my blog.

School holidays means drawing instead of sewing. I don't know why. Also there are lots of fairy wrens flitting around at the moment. If I sit very still, they come through the windows and hop around on my desk. Here's a little watercolour drawing I made, inspired by my little friends.

We've had almost a week of steady rain here in the Northern Rivers so I've been sketching my boys with their gumboots and umbrellas, among other things...

My new dolphin soft toy sewing pattern is now available to download via my online store. My boys and I really love marine creatures and I was inspired to make this one after our regular sightings of pods of dolphins swimming in the sea at our local beach.

This sewing project is nice and simple and works really well with old denim or cotton sheeting. Enjoy! 

Another scene from the Aesop's fable, 'The fox and the crow'... a little challenge (see previous blog post) I set for myself this year. This one is watercolour, pencil and ink on Arches paper. 

At work, stuffing fabric snails while warming up in the sun. 

My workroom gets the winter sun and is the best place to be when it's cold. I've opened up all the windows to let in the fresh air, as it's been really wet here lately. I'll be closing them and lighting the fire soon though... once the sun disappears behind the trees. 

The clothing sewing patterns for my stuffed animal dolls are now available to download and print! Hooray! Now you can make little overalls, pants, coats and dresses designed to perfectly fit your Willowynn animal dolls. ​

These little clothes are simple to sew and are the perfect project to use your special scraps of fabric. I particularly like using remnants of old woollen pants or skirts for the little coats and old denim or corduroy for the overalls (dungarees) and pants. And little squares of cotton print fabric are perfect for the dresses.  ​

I'm really happy with the way these have turned out and I hope you like them. Let me know what you think. How is the fit? What did you make? 

I've been busy designing some little clothing pieces for my Willowynn stuffed animal dolls. So far I've made a jacket (with or without hood), overalls, pants and some little dresses.
 
​I hope to have the sewing patterns / templates for these clothes available for you to download and print in a couple of weeks.  I can't wait to see the clothes you make for your Willowynn stuffed animal dolls! 

My new group of four handmade cloth art dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time - AEDT) Friday 9th March. 

​Each one of a kind doll is around 20cm tall, handmade here in Australia from vintage and second-hand fabrics, comes with a cloak or shawl and has tiny lace-up boots painted on. Intended as an art piece to display, and not suitable as a toy for children.

​These dolls are priced from AUD$340 each + shipping. There's a more detailed description of the dolls below... I should also point out that these dolls sometimes sell in minutes so be sure to move through the check out process quickly if you would like one. 

Thank you!
​Margeaux

Description:
​
Small fabric art dolls designed and handmade in Australia by myself, from carefully salvaged second hand and vintage fabric. 

They are firmly stuffed with wool and their limbs are attached to the body with moveable button joints. Each doll wears a removable cloak or shawl and little lace-up boots (painted on). Their dresses are not removable. Each doll bears a small 'Willowynn' logo hand-drawn onto the inside of one leg, and comes with a small signed, dated and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity.

These dolls are intended as a treasure for display only and are not suitable as a toy for young children; due to delicate hand stitching, hair and small buttons. These are entirely artist-made cloth dolls with some imperfections and visible stitching. Though I have made them with the utmost care and attention to detail, spending many hours perfecting them - please be aware that limbs, head, hair and clothing are hand-stitched onto the body and will come loose if pulled repeatedly or handled roughly.   

Measures approximately:
Length = 20cm (8in)

Dolls will be carefully packaged in a lidded cardboard gift box which I have made myself from recycled brown card. 

​All four cloth dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time - AEDT) Friday 9th March.

Six weeks at home with my kids during the school holidays means I don't get very much of my work for Willowynn done... in fact I don't really even try to get any work done.  I have been drawing though... which has been so nice. I think I'll try to spend more time drawing and painting this year... it's something I used to do all the time but dropped away once I had children.  

I'll have some new cloth dolls available to purchase via my online store Thursday 7th December from 10am Sydney time (Australian Eastern Daylight Time AEDT).

​I thought I'd add some photos of the four dolls below, along with a general description, so you can have a look before they are listed.  Each doll is priced from AUD$320 + shipping.

​I should also point out that my dolls sometimes sell within minutes, so if you'd like to purchase one, it's a good idea to go through the checkout process as quickly as you can, so you don't miss out.  Items in your cart are not reserved until you've purchase is complete. 

These are small fabric dolls designed and handmade in Australia by myself, from carefully salvaged second hand and vintage fabric. 

They are firmly stuffed with wool and their limbs are attached to the body with moveable button joints. Each doll wears a removable cloak or caplet and little shoes or lace-up boots (painted on). Their dresses are not removable. Each Willowynn doll bears a small 'Willowynn' logo hand-drawn onto the inside of one leg, and comes with a small signed, dated and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity.

These dolls are intended as a treasure for display only and are not suitable as a toy for young children; due to delicate hand stitching, hair and small buttons. These are entirely artist-made cloth dolls with some imperfections and visible stitching. Though I have made them with the utmost care and attention to detail, spending many hours perfecting them - please be aware that limbs, head, hair and clothing are hand-stitched onto the body and will come loose if pulled repeatedly or handled roughly.   

Measures approximately:
Length = 20cm (8in)

Dolls will be carefully packaged in a lidded cardboard gift box which I have made myself from recycled brown card. 

Thanks!
​Margeaux

I'm running a special mushroom-making workshop in the beautiful old Federal hall, in the Byron Bay hinterland on Sunday the 10th December. We will spend the morning making some little fabric mushroom ornaments... just in time for Christmas.

​In this workshop you will learn some soft sculpture techniques as well as various stitches for hand-sewing and embroidery.
​
This class is most suitable for adults with some machine and hand sewing experience.​

​For more information, or to make a booking, please visit my online store.

I've been slowly making a sort of diorama / doll's house room to display my cloth art dolls in. As with most of the creative projects I take on, this one took a lot more time and effort than I anticipated... but I've really enjoyed it and have learned a lot along the way. 

I wanted to make one large room with interchangeable walls, windows, a door and wooden floor boards.  I really love the way it's turned out - kind of like a cottage or cabin in the woods. I'll continue working on it - adding things like book shelves, furniture, curtains etc., but just wanted to show you what it looks like at this stage and describe how I made the floor, windows and door.  

​I'll start off by explaining how I made the tiny floor boards, and save the window/door tutorial for a later post...

So delighted to find this lovely article written by Janai Velez featuring my workroom in the November issue of Homespun magazine. It really is beautifully written and I love the way Janai has described my dolls. I always draw a blank when asked to describe my work so it's really helpful to hear someone else's words. ​

Homespun is a treasure of a magazine, if sewing is your thing, and is packed full of inspiring projects, tips and interviews.

​The magazine is available from Australian newsagents throughout November and is also available as a digital copy online at www.zinio.com.
​