I'm a member of the forum community at The Babywearer. One of the forums is a DIY (Do It Yourself) forum. That was the place where I first became interested in making baby carriers and it was there that many of my questions were answered when I was learning what to do. Now, I feel happy that I can "pay it forward" and dispense advise to other mamas wanting to make their own baby carriers. Recently, some of the women on the DIY forum had a carrier exchange, called Carrier Fairy.
It works like this: In order to participate, I had to meet certain requirements (positive feedback, membership time, made and posted about my carriers). Other mamas did the same. We joined a Yahoo Group and filled out a database indicating the type of carrier we would be interested in receiving, the colors we like, a bit about our family. Then I looked through the database and picked out 3 mamas that I would potentially like to make a carrier for, based on how I thought her wants matched with what I would be making. I sent those names to my "Fairy Godmother," who matched everyone up. So, I made a carrier package for someone, and someone was assigned to make one for me.
We had a lot of fun with the process, posting pictures of fabrics we liked on the "fabric inspiration" thread, and we sent sneak peeks in to the fairy godmothers to post on the "carrier fairy teaser" thread. When my fairy sent my package off, I got a notice to be on the lookout for something in my mailbox, and we were so excited when it came. Sierra LOVES to get a package!!
Note the look of concentration as she opens the box.
A present!
What else is in here?
There was a shirt and a onesie for the little one.
And a fleece poncho for the big one (she loves the tassels!).
And a felted wool clutch for me. Awesome!
Let's not forget the piéce de la résistence: the carrier!! This is a reversible pod (podaegi), which totally rocks because I don't have one and I've been wanting to try one out. It's sort of like a mei tai with no bottom straps; the blanket part makes a seat for baby. My carrier fairy used a set of Michael Miller fabrics on one side, and an Amy Butler print on the other, all of which I absolutely adore (thank you, fabric inspiration thread).
Post carrier fairy package carnage:
Now, I am going to tell you what I made for my fairyee. So, if by some chance you are a member of TBW and you found your way over here, shhhhh! If by some even slimmer chance you participated in this round of Carrier Fairy and you do NOT want to know who my fairyee was, well, stop reading here.
My fairyee wrote this in the database "love birds, trees, most owl prints, larger flower prints, would love something with green, orange, blue, purple straps". So I made her a mei tai with deep blue straps and Alexander Henry Natura print, reversing to deep blue with a bird appliqué on the hood.
The carrier has a matching bag.
I made her a little make-up pouch with Amy Schimler's Oh a Whim Owls
And included a drawstring backpack with airplane appliqué for her 21-month-old son. The backpack had a coloring book, crayons, and stickers inside.
Here are the packages all wrapped up and ready to go in the box. Brown paper packages tied up with string ...
I really loved using the info I had to make something I thought my fairyee would enjoy. And she did! It was great to read how much she loved it on the forum after her package arrived. Such a fun game, I can't wait til next time.
You're so talented. Love what you made her!
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