Shop News

I will be updating the shop today at 7pm and then another at 10pm UK time. It has been a busy week.

This will be the last update now till the New Year. Me and the trusty elves need some time to catch up with other things and spend time with family, as I am sure everyone else will be doing. So it's time to batten down the hatches, cook some mince pies, light the fire and put up decorations and settle down for Christmas. We wish you a happy holiday season. xxx

Knickerbocker Glory...

Wikipedia says "A knickerbocker glory is an ice cream sundae that is served in a large tall glass, particularly in the United Kingdom."

But the knickerbocker is a pair of knee-length trousers for children, particularly boys, and those engaged in outdoor activities such as sports, golf, baseball, cycling etc. 

But the knickerbocker didn't go away, it just got crazier and was an essential item in any self respecting culotte wearing 70's fashionista. I remember having a pair myself in the 80's too, so one has to respect their short stature as a trouser but longevity in wearabilty.

Until finally it has been revived from the sartorial back of the 

wardrobe by me and the moshi elves.

And there will be a little shop update on Sunday this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for times which I will confirm soon.

The Winner Is....

Number 7 in the comments won, sorry it was a bit late, I forgot to do it earlier. Thanks everyone for taking part.

Christmas Give-away

To wish you a happy Holiday season and to say thank you for a wonderful year, Lily wants to give away her outfit from Le Jour B. Leave a comment at the end of this post, and a flickr name where I can get in touch with you and we will select a winner using random.org on Wednesday at 5pm UK time. Tis the season to be jolly!! Tra la la la la! La la la la!

Custom Order Update

Well, as promised I have decided to open up a few spaces on the custom order list. Christmas and December seems a good time to get on with that as lots of people are busy with family and other things so the shop is quieter and gives me a bit of breathing space. The way it works is that the first five people to leave comments on this post will be given a space, sorry it is such a few, but you know by now that I hate big lists. In order for me to contact you and start the ball rolling could you also give me your flickr name so that I can fm you there, but following that I will contact you through etsy.

I love Paris in the winter..

Well, Le Jour B was a fantastic day, the organisers were brilliant and did such a good job of looking after everyone and it was lovely to catch up with old friends and to make new ones too. I was exhausted afterwards from so much smiling and chatting but in a totally nice way. It always amazes me how much creativity there is in the Blythe world, and to see all the other makers was so inspiring. It was also wonderful to take in the sights of Paris once again, it is truly one of my favourite cities and certainly one of the most beautiful that I know. I bought some very beautiful fabrics and some clothes for me too, as who can help themselves in Paris, and we ate delicious food and drank french coffee and wished we were Parisiens. 

Etsy Update

The shop will be updated tonight at 10pm Uk time with a few items. If you use this code MOMO5739 on checkout you will receive a 10% discount.

in the shop later..

There will be a very mini shop update this evening at 10pm UK time. Just a few extras from my Paris batch, but anything left over from the weekend will be in the shop next week.

nearly ready for Paris

nearly ready for Paris, a photo by little_moshi on Flickr.

all sewing done, packaging almost finished, now I just have to decide what clothes I need to take for me...

Moshi-News Bulletin

Just to let you know I have not disappeared, just very busy with getting my work together for Paris. I think I need employees at the moment as I would like to be able to stock the shop too, but there are not enough hours in the day. I have made some duplicate outfits that I will put on etsy later and I will also open the custom order list when I get back. I know it is a long wait for all my lovely friends who will not be in Paris, but I ask your forbearance and hopefully you will see the fruits of my labour soon, as I have been working on some new patterns which will be in the shop soon. If I can get everything finished I will be putting some things in the shop mid-week, but I don't want to do it know as I won't have time to post before I fly. Thanks for your understanding and hope you are all having a good weekend.

Winter in Paris...

Frankie, a photo by little_moshi on Flickr.

As some of you know me and a few of the moshi-elves are off to Paris in December for LejourB, something which we are very excited about. It will be a chance to catch up with friends and hopefully meet some of the lovely people I talk to online for real. I had such a great time in Berlin, and I think the best part of these occasions is to meet people and get inspired too, by all the amazingly creative people there are in the Blythe world. I don't just mean the people who make clothes and take custom commissions either, but all the people who style their dolls so beautifully, take such wonderful photographs and make a whole world that you can step into. One of the things I love is the humour and imagination that I see every day on flickr. Blythes and their human owners make me smile and laugh and wonder at how beautiful and funny and amazing they can be.

Now it is a great shame that all the people I speak to and who spur me on with their support of my work cannot come to Paris, and as a little compensation I am trying to make spares of most of the outfits I am taking to Paris to put in the shop next weekend. I hope you will like them, and I will announce a discount code too nearer the day that you can use in the shop.

Hopefully tomorrow I can give you a sneak peek of some of the outfits I've been working on.

Shop News

Next shop update will be on Wednesday 14th November. UK time 10pm. You can calculate the corresponding time in your country here.http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_GB.aspx

This week's sewing

Sewing for LeJourB in Paris this december.

Stripey tops for the shop

Spotty Coats for the shop

New fabrics to inspire me

Shop Update

Cozy Cookie coat

The shop will be updated with my new sewing tomorrow. I will do two updates one in the morning and one in the evening, same collection in each one, the next update is at 10pm Sunday 4th nov UK time.

Sewing in the moshi-house this week

New fabrics from London

Playing with combinations for outfits

New girl in the house 

Joni dresses and Liberty fabric

Cozy winter coats

Carrot and Peanut butter soup

Carrot and Peanut butter soup, a photo by little_moshi on Flickr.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or a large knob of butter if you prefer
1 large Onion finely chopped
1 Stick celery finely chopped
1 clove garlic
4 medium sized carrots peeled and sliced
I large Tablespoon of peanut butter
Vegetable stock, about a pint, you can top up later
Salt and pepper to season

Method:

In a large saucepan fry the onion, celery and garlic with the oil or butter, on a gently heat till they are transparent and just beginning to go golden in colour.
Add the carrots and stir well, cook these for another five minutes on medium heat. keep stirring so as not to burn the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, then turn down heat to simmer.
Cook for about 20 mins to half an hour on a very gentle heat until carrots are soft, then add the peanut butter and stir in.
Turn off the heat and using a hand blender or other blender if you have one, blitz till you have a silky smooth consistency, add more stock or water so that soup is as thick as you like it, or as thin, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a little greek yoghurt swirled in and a sprinkling of fresh parsley and wholemeal toast.

This recipe owes everything to my dear friends Ronnie and Reiner.

Moshi-moshi Custom orders:

I like to limit my custom order list to 10, so that it does not feel like an onerous task and one I will never get to the end of. Also if I have people waiting on the list for too long I just feel guilty and awful, so 10 works for me.  Right now the list is full and I am a little slow with getting through it, the reason being that I am trying to prepare my work for LeJourB in Paris in December, so I am hoping that anyone interested in a custom order will not mind waiting a little longer and I will notify everyone when there are spaces available. I will make more Rive Gauche dresses too, as I know they were very popular, and I will try to stick to my plan also of making them all individual and unique in the combinations of ties. 

Shop talk

Just to let you know I will be updating the shop tomorrow Wednesday 24th October 10pm UK time.

Busy busy busy.....

Well, what a busy week we have had in the moshi studio. I decided to start on a bumper crop of rive gauche dresses, so for the shop and also later some for Le Jour B in Paris this December. This is such a pretty pattern, and inspired by some cute designs in the YSL Colouring book I bought in Florence.

FInished Dresses

Dresses in Progress 

And the other job I have been busy with today is sorting out postage and packaging for this week, which always takes up a huge part of the day. But all done now, and in the hands of the Royal Mail to wing them to their destinations.

Packaging

Sewing on Poppers

Sorting ready for packaging

I hope that I will be on schedule to update the shop on Wednesday this week. I still have a few things that I am working on. 

Moshi-moshi Wallpapers

Download for your desktop

Shop News

My etsy shop will be updated tomorrow at 10am and 10pm UK time. Identical collection in both listings.

Shop Talk

Shop update coming up Wednesday 3rd October at 5pm and then another at 10pm, same as last time, duplicate collections in each update. UK time

Meanderings

The creative process for me is like a game of chinese whispers, or a kind of free association where one thing always leads to another. The juxtaposition of one object with a random neighbour can send me off in another direction entirely from the one I started from. And I think that is why I love sewing so much, because fabrics are so gloriously, lusciously beautiful that they cry out to be mixed u

p and paired off into new and ever more lovely partnerships.
Sometimes I begin my working week, with a clear idea of what I want to do, but inevitably in the process I will make something and then think, oh, what if I make such and such to go with that and then another thing and on it goes till I find that all my structured plans have been superseded by this imaginative meandering.

Sunday project

Sunday project, a photo by little_moshi on Flickr.

Inspired by Cornwall and all things seaside, I decided to sort through my jars of shells and set some aside to make a shell mirror. These ones are the tiny ones that I won't be using, but they looked so pretty on my battered old tin tray.

Anyway, I think it turned out really well for a first attempt if I can find some more suitable frames I think I will make some more at some point. 

Sunday Shop Update..

Me and the elves are working towards two updates on Sunday 23rd September, One at 10am and one at 10pm, so hopefully this will be helpful for people in different timezones. That's UK time remember.

Off to Cornwall

Hello there lovely peeps. Me and one of the elves are off to Cornwall for a few days break tomorrow, so no shop update this weekend. But I have just finished off  all the post, so if you have any orders pending they are now on their way to you. Next weekend though I propose to do something a little different. I am going to make duplicates off most of the new outfits I am working on, I have been making multiples for a while, but I propose doing two updates at different times with the same outfits in each roughly, so that you have better opportunity to catch something. I know that different time zones etc make it hard to get to right for everyone, so hopefully this will help a little. I'll let you know the times towards the end of the week.