Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Gift for a Special Little Girl


My friend Katie had her second child just over a year ago. The lovely Quinn was born with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) and she had to endure a huge operation as a tiny tiny baby. We were all terrified she wouldn't survive. If you want to read more about her story, you can here.

Katie and I met through a local babywearing group and became fast friends. Our oldest children are the same age and we also shared a love of wrapping our kids. So when Quinn's birthday approached I knew I needed to make her something special.

As with many strange sub-cultures, wrappers are a funny bunch. We sit on our computers discussing the pros and cons of long lengths of purposely woven fabrics. We weigh, measure, and argue about which blend of natural fibres is "cushier", "more supportive", "floofier". And there are limited edition runs of some wraps and if they are deemed to be good, they can sell for over $500. My main wrap has appreciated in value to well over $300 in the few years I've owned it.

The owl stuffie above is made from a piece of a Didymos wrap - a Green Colourgrown Indio, to be precise. It's organic (of course) but the really neat thing is that the darker green threads aren't dyed - it's cotton that is naturally a greeny colour! This makes for honestly the softest fabric I have ever felt. Much softer than most silks because it's thicker and floofy (yes, floofy).

I hand felted the eyes and beak from some roving and used a piece of the roving for the ear tufts. I hope Quinn loves cudding it.

2 comments:

  1. Quinn does, indeed, love cuddling "Hooty", which he has been so aptly named. He's always in the mix of play things, and generates a prompt and emphatic "heeeeeeeeeee!" along with a big toothy grin. We just love him.

    I know what it means to chop up a wrap. Thank you, sincerely.

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  2. So glad she likes it! I loved making it for her (and have a half made one for Emmett!)

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