Sunday 28 August 2011

Weeks of frustration for one tiny gift...

Morning ladies.  I'm up bright and early this Sunday morning.  Well, it's 11:20 so fairly early for a bank holiday weekend and the start of two weeks off work!  I also got confirmation of my trip, I'll only be going to China, not Japan, but it's still good news.  I leave in 3 weeks time and I'll be there for 3 weeks.  I'll be taking my work laptop with me so hopefully I'll still be around, though I don't know if I'll have anything to post about. 

Oh, I mentioned last week I was going to see The Inbetweeners Movie - if any of you were thinking of seeing it, go!  It's so funny.

So, what's this frustration I'm talking about?  Well, one of my friends had a little baby boy back in March, I see him every Thursday in the cafe near work as she's a work colleague on maternity leave and comes back to meet me and another friend.  He's teething at the minute and a bit cranky so needs his dummy but often spits it out (dummy is the UK word for pacifier and a much better one I think - I can't imagine a toddler saying the word "pacifier"!).  If it goes on the floor, it's game over.  I thought that one of these dummy clips I've seen around would be the ideal thing for him.  He's too young to stuff it back in his mouth himself, but it'll stop it going on the floor. 

I went to Hobbycraft for some crocodile clips but they don't sell them.  I search the web, I found them in only one place on ebay and bought some.  3 bloody weeks they took to turn up.


I made one of the blue ones with animals on it first and realised they were so quick and easy I'd whip up a few.  One of the peachy coloured ones went wrong, the interfacing got snagged when I turned it and when I tried to pull it into place it tore.


I didn't use a tutorial for this, I made it up myself but didn't take photographs as there are about a billion tutorials out there already.  I used little loops of ribbon or cord for the dummy end - these will be looped through the dummy handle, then themselves to secure it.



A tab of co-ordinating ribbon on the other end holds the clip in place.  I thought I'd give baby Max a couple and put the rest in my shop.  Unless anyone wants one?

Speaking of sending things to bloggy friends (a tenuous link I know!), I got two wonderful parcels this week.  First up a swap with Jacey (Jacey, I can't find the link to your blog!) in Texas.  We met in the comments section of someone else's blog and I sent her some English chocolate in exchange for some American sweets.  She sent me a family bag of Twizzlers - my favourites, and some cola bottles.  Both packs are decimated so I can't show you a picture!

The second parcel was from the lovely Susan who blogs at Canadian Abroad.  If you haven't met Susan, go over and see her.  She blogs every day and is a prolific sewist.  She'd asked if anyone wanted some fabrics she'd bought early on in her sewing journey and considered to be ugly!  I thought they were beautiful and snapped them right up!  What do you think:



Thanks so much Susan!  Now I just have to work out what to send you in return...   It might be after my trip to China so please don't think I've forgotten you.  Nor you Allie, just got the buttons to sew on and your seat belt cosies will be with you.  I apologise for the delay, I blame the stealing of my mojo which recently occured. 

Speaking of my mojo (wow, I could write Dave's Tedious Links - a small Radio One reference for you Brits there), I think it's back.  I've been cross stitching up a storm, working on my giant granny and this afternoon, after I've spent some quality time with the rabbit's poo, I'll be sewing up these:



More fold away shopping bags, cut from a "vintage" sheet I found in a charity shop. I'm loathe to say it's vintage as I have no idea how old it is!  It's just someone's cast off, but at £2.50 for a flat double sheet and 2 matching pillow cases I couldn't pass it up!  One of these will be a birthday present and the other 3 will be Christmas presents - Allie, I will be joining in this month!

Is it wrong to make someone a birthday present/Christmas present from a thrifted sheet?  Especially as the finished bag will have only cost me pence to make?





16 comments:

Bree said...

That's cute that it's called a dummy there! I know a lot of people here in the states call them Binkie or Nook (Nuk is a brand name of them), but I've started just calling ours a paci. Quicker & easier than "pacifier" for sure, but I've never been crazy about the other names for it, so it works for me!

Your leashes are definitely cute!

Libby said...

Your blog always makes me laugh! You got some really pretty fabric from Susan! Score!

Love the pacifier clips! My Cade always called his "paci" or "his Brick" some people over here call them Binky's! I love that they are called Dummy's because I have indeed acted like a Dummy when Cade would misplace his in the middle of the night. I would be crawling around on all four's blindly searching for that paci!
Libby

Anonymous said...

The clips turned out great! I'm glad you persevere ;-).
When dd was a baby we used to call the pacifier:
paci. Other moms call it: binky, baba, etc. (where I am from, we call it bobo... which interestingly is practically the same as dummy).
You have a nice set of fabrics to play with... they are pretty!
Have a great and safe trip to China!!!

Nancy Lee said...

It is brilliant to make gifts from a thrifted sheet. You go girl!
Over here, lots of people call pacifiers "soucies" a nod to the French word for "worry". Pretty elegant term for something a kid gums to death! Nice job on the tethers, btw! The trip to China sounds so interesting -- so take lots of pictures when you've got some downtime.
Glad to hear the mojo has returned. :-)

Marilyn said...

Its called a dummy here in Australia also. Love your dummy clips. They will be very handy for Max.
I like your parcel from Susan also. Very soft looking colours.

Allie said...

Oh girl you just crack me up. China! I'm glad you're taking a laptop, please don't forget the camera!

Cute dummy clips, we call them binkies here. I could have used hundreds when the boys were small. John would drop his, then get his brother's right out of his mouth and take it.

I can't believe Susan thought that fabric was ugly, lol - I know you'll put them to good use! They're lovely! I think your market bags are awesome, and from a thrifted sheet? Brilliant. I don't see ANYTHING wrong with it. There's so much emphasis on re-using and re-cycling, I think folks will love them. And sheets just feel good to hold! I'm glad you'll be joining in this month, girl!

Hands Sew Full said...

I am in Northern Ontario Canada and when I was tiny my Mamma called them "soothers". Our city has a high population of Italian folks and they call them "choochies" what ever the name I think you holders are adorable! As for the thrifted fabric for gifts...I think the fabric source is irrelevant as the most important aspect to me is your time and effort that went into the gift that you made! I think it is appreciated for that.

faith76 said...

Hello,
Just discovered your blog. I like those little dummy clips you have made - they were a god send when my little miss was a babby x

Leah x

Fiona said...

Great dummy clips... and lots to read today.. and smile about... be fun to go to China... looking forward to reading about it....
Hugz

Joysze said...

Nice pacifier saver idea, Wendy! :D

Of course there's nothing wrong about making someone a gift from a thrifty find. The gift is in the time and love you've spent on it. :)

Ooooh, enjoy China!!!! Take some pics of food for me.... I'm so jealous!!

Anonymous said...

china sounds awesome...my daughter is in chinese immersion school. She goes half day in English and half in Chinese.

Sandra :) said...

CHINA! That's so exciting - think of the wonderful sites you'll see - I can't wait to see photos!

When my guys were little we called it a choo-choo, which I think is an Italian version. Someone I know used to call it a sookie. Whatever it's called, your tethers are adorable - I have that hardware too but I haven't gotten around to making any yet - they're on the To Do list!

amy dame said...

i had no idea that there were so many names for pacifiers! we've always called them soothers (i'm in canada as well) and blankets were binkies. i love the little differences between countries!

regardless, the savers you made are so clever!

and i'm jealous of the sheet you're using for the shopping bags, i love finding striped ones to add to my quilt stash!

Kathleen said...

HI! I'm visiting from Night Owl Crafting. I just had to see what a 'dummy clip' was! :) Great idea. I enjoyed reading your post and will be reading back posts later today.
blessings,
AlwaysSewLove

Anonymous said...

These turned out so cute! What a great idea!

mammafairy said...

The other North of England name for these appears to be 'dodies', no I don't know why either...