A wrap for Wrigglewriggle- my first baby make

So, yikes, it's been a while team. Sorry about that, although I guess I do have a good reason; Ramona is 8 weeks old and a whopping 6kgs. She is completely amazing. She is smiling and gurgling, and still sleeping lots which is delicious for us.

I wear her everyday, every where, in a beautiful ring sling my friend made me. I love having her so close and believe the benefits for both of us are massive. However to keep the weight distributed evenly I wanted to mix it up with another one. I have been to a couple of Slingmeets, seen and tried loads of carriers -as well as meeting fab parents too- and decided that a stretchy wrap was most comfty with a tiny tike. And, easy to make too!

I cycled along today to Peckham's famous fabric shop and purchased two metres of thick tee shirt material. (It was the first time I had been without Ramona, but she had a lovely half hour with Dad!)

This afternoon I cut it lengthwase so I had 4 metres, about 75cm wide. I sewed three lines (extra strong) to join end to end. Where the seam showed I sewed some bright salmon lace, meaning the other side was smooth and plain so Tim doesn't have to have the lucious lace revealed when he wears her.

It feels so good on, really supportive. I love the look and it is easy to put on.

All for £12 and half an hour, my first very practical baby make! Hoping to tackle a Mei Tai carry next.

More exciting things coming soon...

PS I look, um, yellow, in this pic. I haven't fake tanned, and i'm not anemic. It's just a weird un.

Gosh look what else I made...

(with a little help from my loving husband and the Creator of the Universe, obv.)

Ramona Lily
8lb 11
Monday 15th November, 9pm

Impending motherhood...

So, birth pool is in the lounge (well, originally it turned up at my work and sat in the middle of my open plan office, all massive and logo'd up for three days that I was away = mortifying) 43 hand me down baby grows are washed and I had my last day at work yesterday. At 38 weeks this little bun is pretty much just getting a good crust on. I am still loving pregnancy, it is all pros and no cons- i.e still able to ride my bike but get the joy of people's double takes, hehe.

I am having a luxurious day reading the paper, listening to my lovely new Brooke Fraser album, watching the odd delicious youtube video while Tim gets on with painting the halls. In the last week we have had all our halls plastered, hoping to paint and get Carpet Derek in before this baby checks out.

I just saw this image and love it - thanks Juliet.

Tomorrow we have our first Make in our lounge. Make is a monthly craft afternoon, tomorrow we are crafting up social justice patches for the Craftivist Collective's social justice quilt. Exciting!

Update on the whare and the pepe

After putting in the hard word on the house we are trying to buy the vendor's lawyer assures us that exchange should happen this week, with completion next week. Our ultimatum of 31st July will "definitely be met".... or so he says! This should be cause for celebration but I think after so many promises we still feel hesitant about getting out hopes up.

Meanwhile the bump is steadily growing - 5 months old now- and wriggling around no end. We are trying to remember that the baby is already a little person so are attempting to sing and interact with my tumultuous tummy, which provides me and Tim with mucho laughter.

A friend lent me an amazing book about Hypnobirthing. It sounds, well, yes, let's face it, odd/Paul Mckenna-ish. But it is much more logical than the title might suggest. It is filled with beautiful birthing stories, the history of obstetrics and natural child birth, as well as loads of tips about preparing for birth. I have read loads so far this pregnancy but this is my top book so far, I devoured it in one day.

Oooh, how I love, love, love being pregnant and am so looking forward to birthing this little soul.

Progress on Chez AitkenRead et le bebe

Just a quick update as I feel things have moved even since last week on both our little house and the bump...

So, the entanglement of bureaucracy that has held up our purchase of our Camberwell house seems to be nearing the end. Last night we popped over and met the vendor there, a lovely woman, who seemed confident that all would be finalised within weeks. We even have draft contracts! We are getting very excited once again, although when I saw the garden I got palpitations. I had in mind that we would move in and lay out our seedlings but in the three months since we put the offer in it has turned into the Little Shop of Horrors! It's a jungle out there and definitely not ready for an instant BBQ.

Also, here is the latest bump picture, yes, there is actually a bump there! Can you see it?! I had many formal complaints at the last two pictures being so unbumpus. I have felt Wrigglewriggle (named by my three year old nephew) moving around and even Tim felt it the other morning. Yikes! Very exciting. Here is Wrigglewriggle: 17 weeks today! (Or so they say!)


Well, it is Friday, I am off to enjoy some beautiful evening sun. Have a delicious weekend!

Quilting marvellous

Hopped along to the V and A after work on Friday for the Quilt exhibition that I have been planning to visit for a while. It was incredible! Who would have thought 200 quilts could be so ridiculously inspiring? (Plus it was their late night extravaganza so we got to play giant scrabble in the courtyard= much glee.)

There were some totally beautiful quilts from the 1700's that used stunning, bright fabrics of cherry blossoms and birds, quilts that would have been totally on brand with the look I am currently rolling with in our bedroom!

There were also some blinking ugly ones as well, but hey, they were made by injured men during the Boar war so you can't expect sweetness and light I suppose.

There were two recently crafted quilts that I think may have moved me enough to begin my first quilt-

"At the End of the Day" by Natasha Kerr - it is the main image used for the exhibition's publicity and then Caren Garfen's "How many times do I have to repeat myself", who used screen printed patches (see pic below and lots more on her website), were just the absolute shizzle.
I was almost at the point of starting a quilt when my friends Amanda and Malcolm (the most creative couple in the world?) whipped out their own little project to show me, a huge abstract quilt made of felt, silk and beads that was based on one of Malcolm's own photos of the rusty edge of the side of a boat. I was motivated then...but I think I was also a little overwhelmed. It took them six months of night and day labour. Eek.

I think I might begin with a midget quilt, enough to just pop at the end of the baby's cot, just to cover those toes. Reckon I might be able to get one of those done in the 5 months left to go...?
It can be like a love quilt.

When Tim and I first met I started knitting him a love scarf, everytime I knitted a bit I wrote in a little notebook and did a picture of the scarf-o-meter. Then a few months down the track when it was finished I gave him the scarf and the book. It was more funny than soppy, honest. But he did know that I loved him a lot!

At the moment the entry in the baby's book would say something like this "I am just beginning your love quilt. Hopefully it will take my mind off the fact that my back is killing me because you, my precious rascal, are lying on a nerve!"

Better dash as we decided to bake shortbread but I have sort of left Tim to it a bit. Wish me luck with this patchwork shenanigans...

Crafting babies and homes: a bit about me and what I hope the new blog to be...

I love creating stuff, I'm not too picky about what, although at the moment I am big into making collages. Oh, and babies. I'm 14 weeks this week, it is our first and we are hand clappingly happy about it. It is pretty cool making something without really doing anything. At the moment I believe I am working on a hearing system to make those ears functionable.

We are half way through moving into a little Victorian terrace in Camberwell, South London. Once in, we (that's my husband, Tim, and house mate, Shelley) we will be obliterating the worst-of-the-eighties- decor and unleashing our dreams of a recycled, beautiful, best-of-all-era's design theme. We are just waiting on all those boring bits like land registry checks and all that.

This crafting blog will hopefully document the foetus to new-born, no house to delicious home stage in our lives...