When I was pregnant with A in 2009 I purchased Lotta Jansdotter’s book Simple Sewing For Baby. I am always drawn to Lotta Jansdotter’s work so I would have bought this book anyway however the title really grabbed my attention.

I did not have a straightforward pregnancy with A and there was always the risk that she would be born early (in the end we made it to 36 weeks…whoo hoo!) so I was ordered by my doctor to take it easy. Really easy. I have no idea how I kept the shop open that year. I do know that I worked slowly and carefully and got a lot of help from my sweet husband. When I went into nesting mode I really wanted to sew for A but I knew I couldn’t spend a lot of time sitting at the machine so simple it needed to be. Enter stage left, Simple Sewing For Baby. Perfect! I made about 7 of the 24 projects in the book and they were just what I was looking for at the time. Straightforward, simple, and cute.

I started off with the giraffe rattle and decided that while he needed to be reversible, he would be fine without a face. Ahem. A didn’t mind. In fact she loved that giraffe and they spent a lot of time smooching…OK, so maybe it was more a case of A gnawing on Giraffe-san’s faceless face. I’m sad to say that one day we all went out together and we came home without our precious giraffe. I don’t know what happened to him but I do hope he is safe and happy. He was the first thing I made for my baby girl so he meant a lot to me, silly as that may sound. Giraffe dear, I thank you.