The old and the new

Since my daughter has now received my package of baby stuff that I sent, I thought I would show you the old things and the new ones. The old things are over 26 years old and some are around 35 years.

Some of you older mothers out there may remember these. Little flannel nighties. These are what the hospital used to wrap the little ones in and you could buy them at the store. Since we didn't know if it was a girl or a boy, I sent all the ones I had. A couple of them had yellowed so I soaked them in Oxy and then washed them. They came out pretty good.

Some sweaters that my mom knit over the years. They are in various sizes.

These are from my Finnish pen pal and are about 34 years old. The one on the right is a cotton knit and the striped one is a stretch terry cloth. Many years ago (in the 1960s) I had a pen pal from Finland and we corresponded for years - even when we got married and then had small children. Life took over and we lost contact. Recently, with the help of my blogging friend Ulla, we linked up again via the internet.

 Here's another little terry cloth outfit from Finland. Little Luc doesn't fit the hat yet but I'm glad to hear that his daddy likes the sweater/shirt. He calls it his 'Hugh Hefner' sweater. For those of you who don't know, Hugh Hefner is the owner and founder of Playboy magazine. It still boggles my mind that we here in North America do not have these colours in baby outfits. Things are still in pale colours - not the vibrant ones that the European babies are clothed in. It's one of the reasons I have sewn since I was a child - to give me my choice of fabrics and colours. Little Luc will be the recipient of a lot of new things sewn by me since I still have patterns from way back when my brood was small and my sewing room is stocked with all kinds of fabrics.

This is a set my mom knit. I don't remember when or for which child.

A christening gown that I crocheted and that all of my children used. I knew I kept it to hand down but I couldn't find it or the bunting bag below. It was when my husband and I were cleaning up a closet shelf that he found a box and when he lifted the lid, he said there were some baby clothes. I had just been looking again in the cedar chest for these items and I was so very glad that they showed up. As a matter of fact all of these items were in the box.

 

I made this when Luc's mom was born. I don't remember having a pattern for it. I just decided to wing it. It is fully lined with flannel. I washed it since it had been in a box for years and I do believe the off white is wool. Luckily, I only use cold water to wash everything.

 These are the first items that I actually sewed on my serger. I have had the serger for a couple of years now but never learned how to thread it. OK, I didn't take the time to learn how to thread it. Anyway, my daughter Maili came over and we watched the video that came with the machine and she successfully threaded it for me. It was so much fun to use. I want to make many more receiving blankets - but I will be putting them away for the future since Luc apparently has enough for now.

Since I had not knitted for years, I went looking for easy patterns. This is what I found as a kit.

My youngest daughter Ayla helped me pick out the colour. It was a joy to make and gave me the confidence to do more knitting. Those little pom poms are stuffed with batting. Oddly enough, just yesterday I came across some knitted vests that I have in the cedar chest and I am pretty sure I made them. One has two geese on it and the other has a dinosaur. I know my mom would not have made them. I guess I was a better knitter than I thought. Knitting just takes me so long to do. Sewing is much faster.