Weekend Project

aka: Look, ma! I sewed something!

Some really adorable bloggers post really great pictures of their renovation or craft projects, because they’re awesome and inspiring.

This is not that.

This is more bragging on our awesome friends, but still.

I sewed something!

Some really sweet friends gave us this high-chair last weekend:

She texted, asking if I wanted it for the baby, and I didn’t even have to think about it. Pretty sure I had one of these when I was little. I love it.

She loves it too, which I really appreciate. She said it was hard to let it go, but her third is just too big and it’s not getting used.

That makes me love it even more.

My little Meatball, though, likes to dive out of chairs, so we made a quick trip to our local craft store and spent less than $5 on two yards of nylon strap and two silver ring things.

The best part was probably me, pushing a sleeping baby back and forth in a stroller … and back and forth … and back and forth … as I stood in front of the small display of fasteners in the sewing section.

And back and forth … and back and forth …

Initially, I thought I’d loop one strap around the back two support posts and just sew it there, then bring it around to the front to bring up between his legs.

Wait a minute … how are you going to sew it there? By hand? With what industrial strength needle, and what extra half-hour?

I can get that clip and fasten it in a loop around the back two support posts. Or I can wrap it around like a slip-knot, but that would be extra strap for no good reason. The plastic buckles are all black. Why are there no white ones?

Back and forth … back and forth …

I can do the two metal loops, like a cheap belt, but is that going to be strong enough? Will he be able to pull out of it? Or the spring-latch thing and a loop. The square loop will pull sideways and twist the strap, but the curved ones won’t. I could do a spring-latch thing in the front and the back. But it needs to be adjustable, and that won’t be adjustable.

Back and forth … back and forth …

If any one was watching me, they may have wondered if we were both sleeping. I probably stood there for 20 minutes imagining options, trying to work through each one step-by-step in my head.

I’m not very crafty.

But it worked in the end. And much easier than I thought. One strip with a loop at each end – front and back. One long strip with a folded hem at one end (the wrong way, of course, because I thought about folding both hems the same way – and was proud of myself for thinking about it – on the first piece, but not on the second), and two metal rectangle-loops at the other. Cheap-belt-style. Adjustable. Easy, and no, he can’t pull out of it.

We love it.