It's a HOOT! Mei Tai

 With last week being International Babywearing Week, I was reminded that I've never shared the mei tai that my mom made while she was visiting me in anticipation of Lydia's birth. I am very lucky to have such a talented seamstress as a mother! I credit her with the crafty talent that my sisters and I all share.  

As soon as we found out that we were expecting a girl I spent hours and hours dreaming up cute outfits and the perfect nursery decor.  While shopping with a couple of my sisters I fell in love with the It's a HOOT! collection by MoMo for Moda Fabrics. Even though I didn't have any pattern's to go by at the time, I picked out a few print's in the amounts I guessed that I would need.  More is always better when fiber shopping, right? Needless to say I had plenty left over for other projects after the bedding was complete.  Ha! to this day I *still* have fabric left over from that collection.  

Robert and I had waited a long time to be blessed with our first child, so I had already had lots of time to research and think about the way I would someday mother and raise my children.  The idea of carrying my precious baby close to my heart has always resonated with me and the vision I have of parenting. Whilst researching all the options available I came across a very thorough tutorial for a hood to headrest mei tai.

As we waited for Lydia's arrival our time was spent either sewing or visiting the different fabric stores around town for more supplies.  She certainly took her sweet time deciding to come into the world, so we had plenty of time to squeeze in one more project.  I did help a little but my mom did most of the sewing since I was still gaining confidence in my sewing abilities at the time.  The instructions in the tutorial are so detailed that it came together beautifully.  

I have mostly used it for front carries with young babies and the headrest is so handy for that. Recently I've discovered that I love it even more for back carries.  The construction is so sturdy that it even holds Lydia all these years later!  With each new baby that we welcome into our family, the memories in this carrier build and it becomes that much dearer to me.  I'm already dreaming of snuggling our new baby boy in it!