Mei tai baby carrier!

Phoebe is now almost eight months old.  Breastfeeding has ceased, in fact milk in general is consumed far less and she favours the huge variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish that she is munching her way through.  Like her sister this little girl loves her food.  Unlike her sister though Phoebe is now a whopping 21lbs!  (Lillia was only 18lbs at 1-year-old.) 

Quite a few lovely people told me about the "mei tai" baby sling when Phoebe was still tiny (ok, she has never been tiny...but smaller than she is now anyway) but it has taken me until now to get around to making one.  One of the school mums gave me some information and links and I scooted about on the interweb for a bit and eventually made my very own mei tai!

(me faffing about getting it sorted..)

I make a lot of stuff, as you know, but seldom have I felt this excited by something I've sewn myself for two main reasons.  Firstly whilst following the tutorial I learnt that you can rip fabric to create one long accurate piece.  I never knew this! Endless fun! (I am now thinking of all the long things I could possibly make in order to rip long pieces of fabric - draught excluders, curtains, snakes...) Secondly, even though it is essentially a square and three long bits sewn together it holds my 21lb baby as though she is a teddy bear stuffed with feathers...and she loves it...

(me looking like a human being at last!)

I used a combination of this tutorial and this one and made some bits up.  I used two bits of fabric for the body panel - I sewed them together right sides together leaving the two openings for the straps un-sewed.  I then turned it out and pressed the seams, then I inserted my straps into the holes with about three inches inside, pinned them and then sewed a sturdy x-box to secure them. 

This way I had a good sturdy reversible sling and it was very simple.  I used a heavy canvas type fabric from Ikea, I bought two metres and used the full length for all the straps, which fits me (and hubby) perfectly.

Although she likes the front carry she especially loves the back carry...

Hubby requested that I make the sling in a "manly" fabric so he can use it too.  I think I chose quite well, just look at Mr Snipsnaphappy, manly man! Grrr...girls...lager...football...

Wish I'd made one earlier now!  And Phoebe wasn't the only one who wanted a go...

It can even hold a 5-year-old without batting a mei tai eyelid.  Impressive.

So, as you may have picked up I am VERY pleased with the mei tai and hubby and I are looking forward to putting it to good use on holiday as we trudge around the glorious Kent countryside. (A big thanks to the two girls who shared their mei tai making wisdom in their tutorials!)

xx

Holiday pressies

When we were little our summer holidays involved either an eight-hour train journey to Scotland to visit our grandparents, or we travelled the two-day car-trip down into France to go camping.  To keep us entertained...and more importantly quiet...my mum used to give us a little bag of things to keep us occupied.  It was because of this that I got into modelling with Fimo clay actually which I still love to do now and it even makes me some money :)

Well we are off on holiday in three weeks (our first holiday in two years, not that I am ridculously excited or anything) so I have collected together a few items for Lillia to keep her entertained on the journey and whilst we are there (we are holidaying in the UK so lets face it it will rain).  So of course I HAD to make a bag for all the goodies to go into...

The fabric was given to me and has been awaiting the right project until now.  I was going to make my usual double handled carry bag, but then I thought a shoulder bag with a velcro closing flap would be quite cool so...voila!

And inside there are goodies waiting to be played with, plus some edible goodies too...

I am very much looking forward to using the pom-pom maker...it may just cure my fear of pom-poms :)

I'll give this to Lillia on the morning we go on holiday, she will be very excited, I can't wait :)

And while we're talking about goodies I have a little goody of my own...

I have been hearing so much about the new UK craft mag Mollie Makes that I signed up for the 3 issues for a fiver offer to see what it's like. I haven't read it yet (I'm saving it, you know how it is) but I shall let you know what it's like. It came with a little free craft project so I am already impressed...

Just one more week of school then the fun can begin!

:)

Summer mornings

We spent the weekend just gone in Norfolk with Mr Snipsnaphappy's mum and family.  The weather was sunny and hot and there were lots of open spaces to run about in or, in my case, sit and drink tea in.  Lillia was happy to sit ocassionally but not often :)

I am addicted to photographing flowers, it's so hard to resist!

Speaking of addictions...Talking Tom Cat 2 is out! She just loves that trumping dog...

I am not a summer person as you know, but sometimes I can really appreciate the benefits of sunshine and summer.

Is it just me or does a hot, still, sunny day make everything sound different in the same way that snow does?

Lovely sunny days :) 

(But I am really enjoying the rain the last couple of days!)

Hunting out a bargain

I don't very often write here about my love of bargain shoppng and my inability to let anything (Anything) go to waste, but I think perhaps people might be interested in these times of financial hardships and all that.

I don't have a coffee table in my house (no room for that!), but I do have a footstool and, of course, arm-rests on the chair and sofa, and there's always the floor.  This is all well and good but it is rather tricky to balance one's cup of tea or glass of wine on something that is quite squidgey (footstool and arm-rests) or rather uneven (110-year-old wooden floor).  The solution came to me in a local charity shop...

For the rather lofty charity shop price of £4 I now have a rather ladylike platform for my beverages!

And one never spills one's wine these days, that would never do :)