Wrap Conversion Halfbuckle - Hoppediz Panama

I have just noticed that I still haven't shown the halfbuckle wrap conversion, I made last year for my husband. I talked about it here.

I made it from a Hoppediz Panama wrap that I had bought on ebay.

The text on the headrest: shush, I'm sleeping!

Height and width of the panel can be adjusted.

Headrest is detachable (and I could make another, more suitable for myself, since this one says 'baby wearing dad')

The straps are upholstered on top (2cm foam) and can be spread further down.

Action pics - beautiful wraps ;)

Just to spam some more pictures, here are some action pics of my Didymos tussah silk fish caribe / ecru:

And nothing at all selfmade here, but I'm still so happy with those Natibaby silk swallows:

Tussah Fish Salvia are dead...

...long live Tussah Fish Caribe / Ecru

I had my doubts about messing around once more with my Didymos Tussah Silk Fish, but since I had found some promising food colour and it was a project I could do with the kids, I just plunged into it - almost literally...

Still wet...

Dried fish...

They are quite flashy, especially after the elegant, sophisticated, mild Salvia look, but I quite like them, definitely very summery :)

Toddler Meitai

Since I'm currently working on a meitai for my husband, I'd like to look back on previous meitais I made for our older daughter.

The last one was my Wooow Meitai, unfortunately we didn't use it so often, since she preferred to walk at that time.

The other side for a more discreet  design

The shoulder straps are padded so the weight is more comfortable...

Newborn Meitai

For our nephew, who was about 5 weeks premature, we wanted to give a good baby carrier like an Ergo, Bondolino, Mysol, Manduca or Didytai. Ergo we both know and my sister-in-law liked it, too, so we wanted to go for it. However, for newborns let alone prematures an Ergo is not exactly perfect. The legs would be pulled apart too wide (it should not be more than 90 degrees) and the panel too high and too wide not giving enough support to baby's delicate spine. Carrying with a quality baywrap like Didymos, Natibaby, Girasol, Hoppediz or Kokadi would certainly be the best solution, but my sister-in-law found that too unpractical for her. So I decided to sew a newborn meitai from a Didymos Silber Wellen wrap.

The panel can be adjusted

The headrest supports the baby's head especially when he is asleep

This specific one can be worn inside out so there is a bit of variety in the design. The inside is made from a Didymos Ellipsen black/ ecru

Tussah Silk Fish Salvia

Okay, today I would like to present something that has to do with fabrics but did not involve any needles from my side. Still it was quite an exciting project.

Being into baby wearing and beautiful wraps I bought a tussay silk wrap, Didymos Tussah Fische, some time ago. While the golden / bronze tussah fish are charming as they are, I still felt it was not really my colour, so I decided to dye the silk part of the fabric with blue food colour. I was a bit at loss as to how much I would need, so I got 20 ml of pure E 131. When I dyed it in a plastic tub it turned out to be a bit too weak, so I added 3 easter egg colour tablets. The result looked good in the tub, I just made a mistake in rinsing it immediately after before I put it in the oven to fix the colours. In the end the desired petrol/ blue did not show but instead a faint blueish green. Reminds me of pictures of Didymos Jim Salvia, so here are my Salvia Fish:

With a Medium sized blue sling ring so that I can tie my  favourite wrap job 

recycled babywearing coat - diy tragemantel

This coat, about 20 years old, a present from my grandmother (but not hers, I don't want to overdo it here ;) ) has saved me in the wintermonths of my two pregnancies: Baggy and cosy. Non-pregnant, however, 'baggy' is not exactly what you would want for your coat, hanging shouldercaps (here just above the elbow) make it even more baggy and cumbersome to lift your arms.

 On the other hand I have always wanted a babywearing coat for cold winter days. Something that can be worn with but also without baby on the back. So here I went, courageously cutting my way through the coat. First I adapted the shoulders,cutting away lots of material, which in the end was missing lengthwise at the sleeves. The lining had to be adjusted and mended, which was at least as cumbersome as adapting the outer shell of the coat. I used checkered cooked wool for the inserted piece and also for the cuffs:

There are two horizontal zippers from each side to the middle and one vertical. the other vertical zipper of the same brand and length is sewn between two layers of cooked wool of the insert piece. I just found out that it also fits to my fleece jacket, so if ever I want to wear my little one belly to belly and I need a jacket, I have this option, too!

  The insert piece is somewhat egg-shaped. I applied elastic cords horizontally and around the head-support bit (it's not really meant to be supportive for a sleeping baby, but at least it is a good protection against the wind.

Horizontally I added a flap to have some more protection against cold and wind while wearing and to cover the horizontal zippers when I wear the coat without my baby and without the insert.
Actually I had wanted to pimp the coat a bit more with this berry coloured cooked wool - lovely material! - but then other projects came up... But I guess this is the reason, why I didn't post this earlier ;)

I still need to take some pics of the coat without the insert, hopefully soon... 

babywearing when it gets cold

It's freezing cold now in Belgium and it has snowed last night, so we had a beautiful , magic, white winter day today.

When it gets cold, there is always the question, what to do with your baby, how to transport her best, what she should wear so that she is warm enough. wearing your baby has the huge advantage that you have her close to you and can warm her with your own body warmth. This effect, however, is reduced the more layers of clothing there are between you and your baby. On top of that it is a real hassle to tie over a thick winter jacket. The solution is a jacket for two!

Now, for this one I used a very thick fleece jacket, cut a rectangular upside-down U into the back and 'filled' the sides with a V of polkadotted fleece. The top also got a stripe of fleece and an elastic to tighten it around baby's neck.

I made this 2,5 years ago and it's still great for late autumn, early spring. Today, unfortunately, it would have been too cold...