First bit of scran....rusk + milk

The Wonderful homemade Wrap.

A while ago when Charlie was a baby, we were at my brother's house in Indonesia and saw that the baby carrier they used was simply a triangle of cloth with two wooden rings; this to me was amazing. We on-the-other-hand had the big clunky western version that cost about £40 and was half as good.

As an avid tinkerer, I have decided that with wee Jimmy I would this time create my own version.


The pink one above was my prototype made from a fairly big cover, fashioned into a sling type carrier. I then cut and stitched one to replicate this sling design from my sisters old curtains (which if she had it her way, would have gone in the bin). After making my first version I then checked the 'net' for 'traditional baby carriers' and found out about 'baby wraps'. My God it was a revelation! So after cursing myself for not checking the web first, I set to work on mark2

My second version was the other curtain cut into 3 equal sized strips and sewn together to create a 10ft x 10inch cloth length. With this I can attach James securely to my chest, belly, hip, and both high and low on my back by simply wrapping him in various styles native people have been using for as long as we have been wrapping ourselves in animal skins...
Thankfully some people have not forgotten this basic ancestral knowledge. It is just absolutely amazing, and it has inspired me try and discover all the other ancestral knowledge that we in the West, have long since forgotten. I suspect that there is so much more to learn; knowledge, skills, techniques and wisdom that was once so inherent to us as human beings but has been lost in our blind pursuit of 'progress'.

So take my advice, forget buying something that is so simple to make, is more versatile and performs much better.

2nd Craigmillar Festival 2011

First Craigmillar Festival of 2011