Preparing for Dressing

At work one of my tasks is collecting the mail from the post office box. The local post office happens to be directly opposite a cheap fabric shop. Some days I coordinate the mail pickup with my lunchbreak. Today was one of those days.

On the left, a cream ground with leafy swirly bits in navy, coral and tan. Possibly some cotton content. $4 a metre.

On the right, a pale blue ground with a yellow, coral and brown floral-ish print. Interesting slub texture. $3 a metre.

The question is, which dress to make from which fabric? Speak your brains!

My Punky Shirt

Aaaages ago I won a giveaway on the mighty blog of Vic, Punky & Me. The other day I got a surprise package in the post (about time too)!

It is fitting that I wore this today while spending nearly $70 at Spotlight. Mostly fabric for another Pretty Ditty Apron and for baby presents, but I also picked up New Look 6968 after seeing how devastatingly handsome it looks over at Lower Your Presser Foot (and again). Now for the fun of going through the stash and selecting which fabric gets first go at making this pattern a favourite (I hope).

Today I've sent out the first batch of orders for my new style of W Class Cushions. Go forth and create joy, little cushions!

On Saturday we bid on a really really lovely house at auction, but someone else thought it was worth more than we did. It's tough knowing that we could have bid more and maybe it would have been ours, but I have to console myself that we stuck to the rational limit we set before the auction. But it was such a nice house... I think it's going to be a situation of, it takes one to get over one. If anyone wants to sell me a charming house within 1.5km walk of a Melbourne train station for cheap, get in touch.

Ten months!

And numerous weeks late, as usual!

Amy has two teeth. Amy pulls herself to standing. Amy is very affectionate. Amy loves a bit of gentle rough & tumble (she doesn't know the definition of 'oxymoron'). Amy doesn't always cry when we say goodbye at childcare. Amy is back up to the tenth percentile for weight! My eight kilo girl.

See Baby Amy grow.

Unsynchronised Travel with Punky's Mamma

I'm experimentally travelling with Vic (by way of Lonely Planet)

1. First stage is your starting point (Take a photo).

2.Walk in any direction for 50 or 100 paces, then turn 180 degrees (photo).

3. Continue walking in that direction until you see something blue (photo).

4. Make a left turn & walk 50 to 70 paces (photo).

5. Walk in any direction until you see something that either is or looks like the number 7 or

11 (photo).

6. Take the first left & continue walking until you find somewhere to sit (photo).

7. Choose any direction & walk for 25 or 50 paces (photo).

8. Continue walking until you see an unusual colour, shape or texture (photo). Turn 180 degrees. *I didn't turn 180 degrees because I didn't want to walk past the same group of smoking teenagers a third time.*

9. Keep walking in any direction until you see an archway or an unusual architectural feature (photo).

10. Head for home but continue looking for something that catches your eye. When you find something, take your photo with it. *Whoops, didn't write down the instruction about being in the photo!*

That's All Nations Park and surrounds on a late Sunday arvo. Join more travellers here.

Pretty Ditty Apron for a Fairy Goddaughter

Last month I sewed this cheerful apron for my turning-four Fairy Goddaughter's birthday. Her birthday was on Thursday so now I can share!

My initial plan for this apron was to cave in and use pink. I started with some pink fabrics, but then the kalidescopey one was so much fun, and the black ground with hot pink and teal is something I would have loved as a kid. Plus it nearly matched the jacket her mum, my BFF, had made for her, so I was confident there wouldn't be any contretemps about me making her preschooler a black apron.

I ended up being not at all keen on the reverse side. The colours of the folksy circular pattern are just too dull. I think it was only $6 a metre, which isn't even why I'd chosen it. I had trouble browsing for fabric that day because I'd taken Amy into Spotlight without a pram, and was trying to juggle bolts of fabric with a wriggly fussy baby. Not a good look! But the most important thing is that my Fairy Goddaughter loves it and has been insisting on cooking with mum just so she has a reason to wear it.

Thankyou for taking the time to recommend your family paediatricians, consult with colleagues to get a name, or simply offer support. I took the recommended names to our GP and got a referral to one of them, who referred us to someone more specialised, who our speech therapist then said is one of the best people to go to. We have to wait until October for Jack's assessment but the other specialised paediatrician didn't have a spot until Feb or March next year, so we're grateful to only be waiting two months! We've got some paperwork to fill out for the Early Intervention group therapy public waiting list, which apparently takes forever to get into. Not really 'Early' then, is it? We're probably going to be handed a 'delayed development' assessment rather than ASD. Jack is a happy, healthy and affectionate little boy who approaches the world with curiosity and excitement. He just needs a bit (okay, a lot) of assistance with communication and socialising.

No craft going on around here. My tonsils have noticed I'm under a lot of stress and taken the opportunity to swell to the size of Fitzroy*, as they always do under these conditions. It's really hard to rest your voice while looking after little kids but I'll do my best.

* Melbourne's smallest suburb, but still too big to be in my mouth.

Help me help my son

I've tried to put an attention-getting title on this post, because I am after recommendations, hopefully from local parents (Melbourne's northern suburbs).

I've mentioned before that my son Jack has been on the local community health centre's waiting list for speech therapy. He finally started a week and a half ago, having been on their waiting list since January. If we'd known it'd take this long yada yada yada, but this is how things have worked out. The therapy is great, the therapist is lovely and Jack responds really well to her. Turns out he'll say a lot to get toys with novelty value from a stranger.

The speech therapist has advised us to take Jack to a paediatrician for a full developmental assessment. I've booked an appointment with our GP for Wednesday to get a referral, and this is where I thought I'd harness the power of Teh Interwebz. Do any of you parents (or healthcare workers) out there have experience with a paediatrician around Melbourne's north who you can recommend? Having waited this long to get to the speechie, we've decided to see a paediatrician privately and avoid wasting any more time.

Jack does a Duplo Dance

I don't feel like writing a full 'honest' post tonight. I've managed to sound incredibly breezy in what I've written above, considering what it means for Jack and how it makes me feel. I've also noticed this is my 400th post, but I'm not in a celebratory mood. There's a lot going on, not all related to Jack. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to talk about on the weekend.

Thankyou.

Giveaway winner!

Wait, what? Oh yes, there's been a secret giveaway going on! A while back Jodie of Vintage RicRac had a secret giveaway for a random commenter from recent entries. I thought it was such a lovely thing to do - rewarding regular readers without attracting people who'll comment on anything with 'giveaway' in the subject line.

I lined up all the comments on my three last posts about my new cushions and used a good ole random number generator.

Number one! According to my list, that's the lovely Mookah sisters from Inverloch! Lucky ladies, they just won a giveaway last month as well! The Mookah label makes cushions too so I hope mine make the grade. Wonder if they'll flip a coin to decide whose couch it lives on? Hopefully they won't be flipping a coin to decide who gets to not live with it...

Can't wait to fill my first custom cushion order and I'm delighted to be making it for one of you nice people out there. Mookah, check out my newly relaunched Made It shop for a listing of the different styles, destinations and route numbers.

New W Class Cushion pics

Finally the weather and my timetable have aligned and I've been able to take some proper photos of my new tram cushion designs. Photo obese, as they like to say on Craftster!

I'm still trying to figure out how much they'll cost so I can repoen my MadeIt shop - or should I follow the lead of some other crafters and go for a BigCartel shop instead? Can I figure these things out without actually having to think about them?

On the one hand I'm very excited to finally bring this new cushion concept to fruition, but on the other it's been such a lovely break for the last four months or so not running a business. When I've had a busy week I haven't had to be afraid of opening my email and finding orders I have to fill. I think I'm ready to get back into it. But I'm also in the third week of my new Actual Job (I get paid to do stuff!) and we're starting to get serious about house hunting and I'm not sure this is the right time to make myself available to the craft-consuming public again. But is it ever the perfect time for anything? Sometimes, yes, but most of the time no.

I will reopen my shop and start taking orders for these. Just need a few more good sleeps first.