Ooh, baby baby

I am what you might call "maternally challenged." The thought of being pregnant fills me with terror and reminds me of that scene when the Alien bursts out of John Hurt's stomach. It's just not my thing. But obviously there are many people out there for whom the thought of reproduction doesn't start them hyperventilating and so it is for a couple of my dear friends who are soon to be parents for the first time.

No, it isn't Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

One of the few things I've noticed about new mothers is that they seem to have huge bags in which to carry the million and one things that might be required during an outing with their new bundle of joy. A quick chat with the mum-to-be's mum confirmed this to be the case and that such a bag had not yet been acquired. Hurrah! An excuse to make a new bag.

Given that I'm not exactly the expert on all things baby it seemed like a good idea to find a pattern drafted by someone who knows what a new mother needs to carry around. Most of what I know about babies comes from watching "Grey's Monotony," so not much.

I asked the lovely Marianne at Picperfic to suggest a pattern. Marianne makes beautiful jewel toned bags, often using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, so if bold is your thing, do check out her shop. Oh, what the heck, check it out anyway.

She suggested the "Time for a Change" baby bag designed by the fabulous pattern drafter, Erin at Dog Under My Desk. With a wee one of her own, Erin was well placed to design the perfect bag. I mean, who knew - breast feeding makes you really thirsty? Obvious now I've thought about it, but it would not have occurred to me to add the pockets for water bottles.

The bag has lots of lovely details, carefully outlined in Erin's extensive text and photo instructions. An outside zip pocket for keys, purse and phone keeps the essentials handy for the mum without having to carry a hand bag.

Look at the two lines of top stitching on the bottle pockets. Doesn't that make it look expensive. And how neat is that zip sitting up against the shoulder strap tabs. It was a new zipper technique for me and one I'll definitely be using again.

This was probably the most complex bag I've ever made, but Erin's easy to follow, step by step instructions and ample photographs led smoothly through the construction. It was actually quite relaxing making something that I knew had been designed, trialled and used by Erin and her team of pattern testers. And I'm thrilled to tell you that the mum-to-be and her husband loved the bag!

As kids we're often told not to brag about our achievements, but I have to admit to being just a tiny bit proud of this bag.

Do you have a favourite pattern designer? Give them a plug in the comments.

With friends like these...

Don't you love it when your friends just "get" you?

I am lucky enough to have a couple of friends who run a haberdashers. Sometimes when the reps come round with the new season's lines they leave a catalog. The latest one contained these scrumptious prints from Sevenberry. My two lovely friends saved these sample pieces for me because they just knew how much it would float my boat to have them.

Aren't they fab.

The gals and the fabrics. Unfortunately I've only been able to track down one UK supplier who had the maths print in the cream. I may have to look further afield, or better still create something myself and save the carbon air-miles.

I really like the maths print on the darker backgrounds. Reminds me of the "old days" when schools had black boards rather than computerised white boards. Of course, in those days teachers were known to throw the board rubber across the room. I suspect classrooms are a little safer now as teachers are much less likely to throw a laptop.

The chemistry fabric has an interesting array of compounds. The easiest to identify is serotonin (C10H12N2O) the one below the Ga (Gallium) symbol. I haven't worked out the rest yet. I did do an internet search for the carbon-nitrogen ringed compound (in the middle of the N, S and Nh) because it looked interesting and I had no idea what it was, but the only thing I came up with was some high-energy compound stuff that was a tad too advanced for my sketchy recall of A-level chemistry. Hopefully I haven't been googling something I shouldn't...

Of course, now there is the excitement of working out what to make with these little treasures. Should they be patched together into a larger piece of fabric, or should each one have a starring role as a motif on a plain background? Hmm. Maybe they could be random patches on something plain. Ooh! The options. Whatever these precious pieces of fabric turn into, I just know they're going to be fab. Almost as fab as my lovely friends, who saw these prints and thought of me and the things that interest me. It's great to have people around who just get you. Seek out your tribe and find the people who can share your interests; the people who make you feel like "you" and not like you should be something, or someone different.

So, if you have already found your tribe, what print would your friends choose for you? Leave me a comment.