Time for gathering the troops!

About a month ago, charming Pepperberry & Co launched her Mission Stalker-Getter, with great success I might add. Good onya Sandra!

Since reviving my Blogger thingo at the start of this month I've been meaning to rip off her idea and try to get some followers of my own. I had intended to start it yesterday, being a Monday, but Hubby T was home sick from work and it's quite hard to concentrate on anything when he's moping around the house. So I'm pretending it was a long weekend and Tuesday is the start of the working week.

What would I like you to do?
Follow me, follow me! I feel like I'm singing a modern hymn about fishers of men. None the less, if you'd like to hear more from me just click the 'Follow' doohickey or, if you're on a different blog platform, add me to whatever blog reader you use and post a comment here letting me know you're on the team. And if you'd like to mention this giveaway on your own blog or point a few of your friends over here, I'd be humbly grateful. And that's an attitude you don't see often from me!

What's the payoff?
Cushion!

Everyone who makes friends with me before midnight Friday 16th May (including those who already have, bless you!) will go into a randomly-selected draw to win a personalised W Class Cushion in classic Met colours. These went down an absolute treat at the Made 'N Thornbury market and I've got them for sale in my Made It shop.

The winner will get a cushion with their choice of destination and route number. You can even have a name and birth year if you like - these are proving popular gifts for babies and toddlers.

I'll mail the cushion cover (without the insert) anywhere in the world - you could have it sent to a friend who's missing Melbourne! If you don't already have an old cushion that needs sprucing up the inserts are only $4 or $5 at your local supermarket/two dollar shop/undetested craft store.

And what about after this week?
You get to hear more from me! Hmm, how do I make that sound appealling? Hopefully introducing myself will be enticing rather than off-putting. My name is Jennie and I turned thirty on Valentine's Day this year. I live with my hubby T and my eight month old baby Jack in an overly tiled house in Northcote, Victoria. Australia, if you hadn't caught on. About eighteen months ago I became brave enough to write 'dressmaker' as my occupation on forms that wanted to know. After outfitting a dozen or more bridesmaids I wish I hadn't. I write about my cushions and also dressmaking projects for clients and friends. I like to ponder questions of ethical fashion and crafting, and why Spotlight can't manage to keep basic sewing supplies in stock.

If none of that interests you, I promise to post gratuitous cute Jack photos.


I look forward to meeting you!

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Speaking of ethical sewing, this week is National Volunteer Week. I'll be volunteering at a sewing class for Sudanese refugee women, which I've been doing for the past few months. I'm not telling you this to brag - read on.

After a lot of drum und strang Hubby T has got a job promotion, hurrah! This will be a huge difference for our single-income family. Unfortunately the new job is in Broadmeadows and he'll be using the car every day. Not only does this mean more pollution in the environment, but I will no longer be able to get to my weekly volunteer session in Footscray.

The sewing group has the aim of giving refugees in Melbourne's suburbs an enjoyable creative and social outlet, something to look forward to each week in what can be a pretty awful life. When women first come along they've never used a sewing machine before, and we teach them how to thread up, sew 'straight' seams and then make simple quilts and so forth for their homes. Sometimes they just come along for the opportunity to chat with other people from their language group and that's fine too.

The group I volunteer with is all women from Sudan, but Centacare (who organise the groups) also run weekly sewing sessions for other nationality groups in various northern/western suburbs around Melbourne. I don't have the info on the other sessions but can get it if you're interested. All the groups could use more volunteers. The hitch is they do run during the day on weekdays. But if you have some free time - especially if it's from 11am-1:30pm on Thursdays near Footscray - here's a way you can use your crafty skills to make a difference in people's lives. Please let me know if you can help out!

If this doesn't quite suit you but you're interested in making some kind of contribution to the community you can find volunteer positions near you at volunteer.com.au, run by Seek.