Exciting sewing stuff

Well!

After my sewing frenzy (way back at Christmas), followed by the incredible illness (boring), and the working too hard February, I finally got back to the sewing machine on Sunday night.

And just in the nick of time!

Look what showed up in the mail yesterday:

MM-hhm! I had been hearing about Ottobre magazine online for a while now. Lots of sewing bloggers rate it very highly, so I quietly put it  on my Christmas list, and my lovely parents got me a subscription. Just the women's clothing magazine; I don't have kids to sew for, but I love what I've seen of the patterns and wanted to give it a try.

You can preview what's in this issue on their website.

I can't decide what to make first! I'm not likely to make the cover top, but look at the preview to see the retro trousers and tops, and my favourite, the blue silk and linen ensemble. I think I'll need to practise before attempting the delights of the blue tulip-skirted coat.

Yippee! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Can you help your national library?

If you are in Australia, and you're hanging out in op shops or other vintage-treasure hunting spots, you might want to have a look at this plea from the National Library of Australia.

Quoted from the National Library eNews for February2010:

"Wanted: Missing Issues of The Australian Women's Weekly

Are there any old issues of The Australian Women's Weekly gathering dust in your shed or under the bed? If so, we want to hear from you.

The Library is digitising issues of The Australian Women's Weekly dating from 10 June 1933 to 15 December 1982. We have checked our holdings and identified missing copies - we need your help to fill these gaps.

The Australian Women's Weekly has been published for more than 75 years and offers a unique insight into the social fabric of Australia.

In association with Australian Consolidated Press and the State Library of New South Wales.

Visit The Australian Women's Weekly Digitisation Project homepage to view our list of missing copies."

 

Note to self: buy a bigger sketchbook

 

Sometimes it's annoying when you hit the edge of the page. 

Still painting, still sketching. Stomping the streets, sketchbook in hand. 

This is the first layer of watercolour for a portrait I scribbled tonight. It might stop there, as it's so delicate I rather like it...

For Zachary

This one's for my little nephew, just turned one.

I've been keeping up with the plan to draw something every day (or almost), which cuts down on blogging time a bit. And still some days I'm out there wandering the internet, looking for inspiration.

One of my favourite places for a bit of fun and a reminder of all the wonderful ways the world can be drawn, is Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty. This blog is a Dad's postings of his kids' drawings, but boy, these kids can draw. It's a fun place to hang out for a few minutes to see what they've been doing. A year or so back, before I'd found the site, they posted a challenge and asked any ilustrators out there to respond to their drawings with a version of their own.

So my challenge that day was set by a four-year old. I had to draw and paint something inspired by her image.

Here it is:

Seems to me they're having a great deal of fun!