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. 

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. 

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

​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 :) 

Best wishes,
Margeaux

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...

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! 

​Well it's taken me a lot longer than I anticipated but my platypus sewing pattern is now available for you to download.

I've really loved creating this unusual Australian animal soft toy and I hope you enjoy sewing it. It's a fairly simple tutorial, full of step by step photos, which includes machine sewing and some hand sewing.  Great for advanced beginner sewers wanting to tackle a slightly more complicated soft toy project that includes darts, gussets (and some soft sculpture techniques for making the webbed feet). You can download the pattern via my website or my Etsy store.

June has been a very busy month for me. I've been working on some new designs, new sewing patterns and creatures. These three (above) will be available in my online store from 10am (Sydney time) Monday 26th June.

​My fox is made from an old (and very vibrant) orange woollen blanket. The other guy is kind of a wombat/bear blend... also made from an old woollen blanket. I'm actually not sure what he is but I like him. I'll just call him a wombat. And then there is a platypus. There's more about him in my last blog post... what a journey. I hope you like them!

My son needed a platypus (and this photo of me making it) for something at school. It took me several prototypes to get the shape you see here and there are still things I'd change... but I'm thinking of maybe offering it as a sewing pattern. Would you make a platypus? They're pretty fantastic creatures.

​Would you like to make these little hanging fabric ornaments? I've put together a sewing pattern for them which is available here. These ornaments make great little presents, and not just for Christmas trees... enjoy!

...and my fox and wolf toy sewing pattern is also now available to download. Phew... these ones took me ages. Thanks for waiting so nicely.

I've been working on a new design for a little fox softie using the basic shape of my bunny and bear dolls. This is what I have so far...

​His face is longer and more pointy, he has a tail and I've given him a white ruff and belly. I'm planning to make this into a sewing pattern which will hopefully be available by the end of September. *Fox soft toy sewing pattern available here.

​This particular fox is made from scraps from upcycled woollen blankets and stuffed with organic corn fibre fill.

My blue whale sewing pattern is finally finished and available in my online shop as a PDF download. I'm so excited about this as it is one of my favourite toys to make...and they make the perfect gift for a small person. Enjoy!

Just bought 'Go to sleep Jessie!' by Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood. Such a beautiful little story... and if you look carefully, you'll see a little grey Willowynn fox hiding throughout the pages (thank you Freya!).

Well it took me months and months to get this finished but finally the sewing pattern for my bunny doll (and bear) is ready for you to download. It's full of easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photos and is the perfect project for the advanced beginner sewer wanting to tackle a slightly more complicated soft toy project that includes darts and gussets.

Some hand and machine sewing experience is recommended but really, I think anyone could give this one a go...and you get a cute little friend at the end of it.

I can't wait to see how you go...please just ask if you have any questions and I'd love to see photos of your finished bunnies or bears.

My little boy sorting through my button tin...he's made a rainbow.

My little boys and I made a few of these little tiny cardboard ships the other day. They wanted a little ship for their whales to swim underneath...

Once we'd designed and made a template, we sat down and made lots and lots of little ships using cardboard from an old box, craft glue, a wooden skewer and paper. If you'd like to put your ship in water, you could use waxed cardboard from an old milk or juice carton.

Here's the rough template we came up with (below). You could save this photo and print it off to make your own boats. Here's how...

Cut out this template and draw around it onto a piece of cardboard. Cut it out and fold it into shape, using glue to secure it all together. We used clothes pegs to hold it in place while the glue dried.

For the base inside that holds the sails up, just cut out a small rectangle of cardboard and fold it to give it three sides. Then poke a hole in the middle (for the skewer). Position it into the boat with glue and poke the skewer piece into the hole.

You can make sails however you like. I made three little sails out of some paper from old book pages. Just poke holes at the top and bottom edges of the paper and thread them onto the skewer. Have fun!

Have I mentioned my little boy loves blue whales? I made this one for him. I made seven (!) prototypes before I was happy... *This design is now available as a sewing pattern. 

Today my boys and I turned some old cardboard boxes into houses. Something that I thought would be a fun thing to do for maybe half an hour, ended up occupying them for the rest of the day. I just cut in some windows and a door and stuck on a roof with masking tape...

Here are the houses at night with a lamp inside one of them. Pure happiness. I can't believe how happy this made them (and me).