Tribal Bar

Tribal Bar

Thursday, 11 June 2015

How I became a baby wearin' momma and proud owner of a custom Beco

When I had my first daughter, I really had no desire to "wear" my baby and I had no idea what all the fuss was about. We had been gifted a Snuggly, circa 1998 I think. Not only was is ugly but I found it incredibly uncomfortable. I tried it once and never tried it again. I actually felt sorry for all those women I saw with their child strapped to their body. I assumed they all did it by necessity because they must have fussy babies.

Fast forward 3 years. My second daughter has arrived and I now have a ridiculously busy three year old. I'm at the mall with my best friend of 18 years who has her little one in a Manduca (soft structure carrier). She is moving freely and is gently, calmly swaying from side to side while she soothes her daughter to sleep. What am I doing? I'm trying to push my stroller with one hand while chasing after my oldest, trying to grab her with my other hand and drag her across the length of the mall to the elevator. All of a sudden it dawns on me. Life is MUCH easier without a stroller! And so my search for the perfect carrier began...

I remember a friend of mine had a Moby wrap waaaaay back when I had Vi (my oldest), so I picked myself up a stretchy wrap from the lovely Belly Laughs in Kanata. I loved it and found it super comfy. Too bad my Penny (my youngest) totally hated it. I was left feeling pretty discouraged. Holly, my BFF, added me to the Ottawa Babywearers Group on Facebook. I had NO IDEA baby wearing was such a "thing". I mean, it's a culture, a lifestyle, an elite club. And I really had no idea there were soon many options for types, styles and brands of carriers. I dove in, I borrowed an Ergo, Manduca, Beco, and Maya ring sling. In the end, I traded my stretchy wrap for a Maya ring sling and I was given a solid brown Beco Gemini.

Little did I know that joining this community would shape the direction of my new business. Everyday on the OBG Facebook page I would see people posting pictures of their beautiful and colourfully printed carriers. I began to develop Tula envy but was not in the position to spend the hundreds of dollars these gorgeous carriers cost. (If you don't know what a Tula is, google it, they are beautiful!) My crafty senses began to tingle. I took a look at my Beco and came up with a plan.

I knew exactly which fabric I would use to embellish my Beco. I had ordered a super cute tribal arrow fabric for the car seat protectors and I had plenty left over. So, I began by creating a bristol board template for the panel I would sew onto carrier. I layered the fabric to ensure it could withstand the stretching when carrying Penny. The Gemini has a flap the folds down for regular use but is unsnapped and fasten in an upward position to support baby's head when they fall asleep, therefore I needed to cover both the front and the back of the centre panel. I sewed the layers of fabric together first then folded the fabric and ironed it along those seams. I laid the panel over the front and back of the Beco and very carefully and slowly sewed the panel into place. I had to move slowly to make sure the front and back were perfectly lined up while I sewed down each side of the centre panel. My patience paid off. The end result was a beautiful and unique carrier. I am proud to say that no one has one like it!

This is what I started with. The Espresso Beco Gemini. An amazing carrier that I adore but found a bit... boring.

Here is the panel that I created to apply to the centre panel of carrier.

The finished product! Along with matching suck pad! (which will bring me to my next blog post;) Stay tuned!)

Here is my husband modelling the carrier at this  year's Great Glebe Garage sale. The greatest compliment I could have received happened when he overheard a couple women exclaiming over it and wondering where he got it. He should have handed them my card!

If you would like like to have your carrier customized, and are in the Ottawa area, drop me line at craftsbyniknaks@gmail.com or head over to my Facebook page and send me a private message. www.facebook.com/craftsbyniknaks.com

Friday, 15 May 2015

My Daughters dirty feet + New car = Inspiration!


My husband and I recently bought a new car with a nice black interior. REALLY not pre-schooler friendly! We decided we needed to pick up seat back protectors to save our upholstery from our daughter's dirty little feet. I checked out the typical baby box stores and picked up a super generic clear plastic seat back protector. My imagination immediately started to run wild. I would line the protectors with a fun and interesting fabric! When I got home I popped open my laptop and started searching the internet for the perfect print. I found a fabric I loved and ordered enough to do two seat back protectors. 

When the fabric arrived I began dissecting the protectors I purchased at the big box store and harvested them for parts. Below you will see what I ended up with. I was able to customize the protectors and give my little one something pretty to look at. I also made modifications to improve the design.

I had no intention of selling these but when I posted a picture of the finished product on my instagram and Facebook accounts there was a resounding theme to the comments. I should make them for sale! I was worried that people would not want to pay what I felt they were worth. Not everyone can appreciate the value of one's time, especially a stay at home mom of two. I posted to a local SWAP page asking people if they would be willing to pay the $60 I would charge and the answer surprised me. YES! And I received a number of orders from that post alone!

Protect your car's seat backs from your little one's 
dirty shoes and boots. These made to order seat back protectors are weather resistant with a plastic lining on top to make them 
easy to wipe clean. 

$35 each or $60 for a set of 2. Standard shipping rates apply.

Email me at nik.lew@gmail.com to find out what prints I have in stock. I also order fabrics from www.bobbieloufabric.com. Pricing may vary depending on prints chosen from Bobbie Lou Fabrics.