Baby Franklin

This is baby Franklin …

He was an Eid gift for Lulu and she loves him to bits. I was a bit apprehensive about getting a “talking” baby but I have to say well done to ELC this time as he is nice and quiet and mostly he gurgles and giggles with an occasional cry (usually when one of the boys have got to him :-0 ).

Lujayne asked me if I could make her a bed for Franklin like the one I recently purchased for the new baby. I remember seeing a pattern in a back issue of Ottobre (01/2003)so I decided to give it a go. Let me give you two words to describe the sewing experience … NEVER AGAIN! At the best of times I struggle with Ottobre patterns as they assume you have a good grasp of sewing and I always finish my Otto items feeling somewhat deflated because I never seem to really “get it” and most times I need to wing it to finish the item. In the case of the cot the mistakes I made were numerous indeed. We can not buy iron on wadding here so instead I cut some wadding, and fusible interfacing which meant that the cutting process took a lot longer as did the construction. Enough whining though after a full day of “kid-free” sewing I finally finished it at 12.03am. For the life of me I could not work out how to attach the base and then “turn” it so in the end I constructed the base and painstakingly hand sewed it to the body. Inside is also a detachable base / mattress.  I made the hood without the front band and I did not make the cover as lets face it you never see cots and prams with covers on them as it is never that cold here!

The outer is a pink and white houndstooth which is nicely woven and fairly sturdy. The inner is some fabric from my stash. I wanted to give it a little masculine touch even though Lulu is still in her “pink phase”.

And what is a cot without some bedding? This was the easy bit. a minkee blanket and pillow for Franklin, nothing but the best for this little chap

Lulu was over the moon. She loves it and that is all that matters. It reminds me of the sewing my Mum use to do for me and then I would complain … what an ungrateful child, sorry Mum!!!!

Thanks for stopping by …