moses basket makeover

My first son slept in this moses basket five years ago, when we lived in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  After that, it was lent to a friend, and then a friend-of-a-friend, and then again, until it had made the rounds, serving as sleeping quarters for a number of babies.  When I got pregnant again last year, it made its way back to me, having kept its original padding  and (unsurprisingly) lost its handles along the way.

It was perfectly nice, just a little too be-ribboned for my taste, so I decided to make it over. I made a new bumper pad out of oatmeal-colored organic flannel by tracing the old one, added ties made from twill tape, and padded it with a single layer of cotton batting instead of the puffy polyester that was in the original.  I also made a matching "sheet" - actually more like a fitted pillowcase -- to fit the pad.  I added some cotton webbing straps, threaded through and sewn *very* securely.

I quilted it with a simple Orla-Kiely-inspired leaf pattern.  (The blanket is Umaro by Jared Flood, knit in Cascade Eco+).

He slept, napped, and hung out in it for the first six weeks, after which we transferred him to his bassinet.

Hard to believe he's already outgrown it.  All that work!  Maybe another baby will yet reap the benefits - but not mine.