Hooded Car Seat Blanket

I read many books, websites, mums ideas on forums while I was pregnant with Little M. One of the best books I have read so far about babies and also toddlers is written by Dr.Harvey Karp. (The Happiest Baby on the Block, The Happies Toddler on the Block) Dr. Karp says that babies are born 3 months early, they need 4th trimester. Some babies can adopt the world quickly, some don`t and that causes colic. He came with a solution of 5 S system (swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking) to help colic symptoms. 

Some people think swaddling baby is an old fashioned thing to do. But I believe it the opposite way. I swaddled Little M for a while and then we used the sleeping sack knitted by mum. My Granny knitted the same one for us, my mum used it for 4 kids :) And she made the same design for me to use and remember Granny. Little M could move her hands freely in the sleeping sack but didn`t wake herself up. She was used to being swaddled and she couldn`t fall asleep very easily when we didn`t swaddle her, with the sleeping sack it was a step for her to sleep without swaddling but still being cozy.

The little baby sister will join us on summer time and it is predicted to be a hot summer in the UK. I thought I should try something different. I had seen some car seat swaddle blankets and liked them. We didn`t have a car when Little M was born so I couldn`t make this project for her. Now I had a chance to try it :)

As usual, I did my research on pinterest. There are too many tutorials, most of them used Running with Scissors`s tutorial. I also liked the hood idea of Imperfect Homemaking. As I was planning to start sewing, I realized I didnt have enough fabric. At that time I also needed to make some sheets for Little M`s new bed. Then I decided to use my fabric stash from mum which I have been keeping for 5 years :) I made patchwork bed sheets. When it was time for the blanket my sewing machine decided not to sew properly. :/ There is something wrong with the tension, I tried everything I know, googled about it but nothing helped. :( At that time we moved to a new house and I was busy with packing,cleaning and unpacking.. I tried a few times to sew the blanket but I was not lucky. A friend in London told me to send the sewing machine to her so she could check it as she is professional. My husband went to London last week for work and he took the machine with him. The next day, my friend sent me photos of the machine working :) 

I haven`t made the blanket yet as my machine is still in London at my friends house, I wanted to share the project with you. As soon as I make it, I will share mine.

Meet my assistant : Minuet! :)

According to Wikipedia minuet means  a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. But for me, it means my new assistant :) 

When I opened my shop on etsy, I had no clue about how to take photos in my house. Downstairs doesn`t get most of sunshine because of the huge tree in front of the house, upstairs is perfect in the morning to get sunlight but it isn`t big enough to shoot photos from a distance. 

I took photos upstairs but they were not good enough to show my items. I thought I needed help, an assistant. I told my husband about it and decided to check if we could find a mannequin at car boot sale or charity shop. 

One day he came with her! He found my assistant hiding in the attic of our community centre. She looked so alone and BLACK! Black wasn`t my first option to shoot photos for my shop. But I was happy, at least I had her. I choose one of my shirts and let her wear it. I tried shooting photos with her but didn`t like the results. Because I needed some space to shoot from a distance to show the items properly and I had to hide the arms of the shirt tied at her back. It was disaster. Then, I left her alone until I decided to make some change on her. She waited and waited for the inspiration of the change. At that time I realized how to set my camera and shoot photos downstairs at certain times of the day, my photos were better than before but I still needed help, the mannequin. 

I was planning to paint her in white but wasn`t sure which paint I should use. Spray paint or random white paint? I was a bit lazy about checking the paints when I went to the city centre. Aftera while, I found a better idea on pinterest : decoupage! This is another reason why I love pinterest :)   

Sewing patterns were used for the first project I saw. I didn`t want to cut my patterns to cover the mannequin and I wanted her to be in white with some little patterns. I thought about newspapers but it wouldn`t be as white as I wanted as there is too much writing on it. Then I saw Melodie! That is it! This was the look I wanted. I was also very lucky to find a music book at car boot sale for 25 pence! I had everything ready to change the mannequin`s life as well as my shop.

Last weekend I took her out of the place she was hiding, and cut the pages of the music book randomly and brushed PVA glue and covered, covered, covered. I didn`t know using brush would be that relaxing. When I finished, I was really proud and happy and so she was. I named her Minuet, it was one of the titles in the book.

During the week I retook photos of my items and I am really happy with the result. Minuet is my best assistant ever! (In fact she is the one and only:) )