Bespoke Bliss

So, having found my 'perfect' bootie pattern (I've found an even better one in the past week, but more of that another day!), it was time to design a babashuh gift and find a charity partner - I have always believed in giving back and throughout my working life supported a range of charities and social enterprises which 'spoke' to me and my circumstances at different ages and stages.

I began with a bit of market research, making a gift for my friend's new granddaughter Orla - and grandma and new Mum loved it!  I don't think it is my best work but it encouraged me to keep going!

My next brainwave was to research Scotland's favourite baby boy and girl names, which in 2016 were Jack and Sophie, so I made these as bespoke 'samples' of the most popular names.

Jack has been 'top of the pops' for nine years on the bounce, Sophie for three - who knew she would be overtaken by Olivia this year!

I can't now remember how I came across Bliss, maybe I just 'asked Uncle Google' for a list of baby charities but I found it and, maybe more importantly, that there was a Bliss Scotland, based in Glasgow (I am in Edinburgh).  For those that don't know, Bliss is the charity for babies born premature or sick.  Here is the website if you would like to find out more: http://www.bliss.org.uk/.  Now, I have several friends who had premature babies and in fact my husband Douglas was born premature way back in 1959, so his survival, weighing, as my mother-in-law was fond of saying, 'about as much as two bags of sugar' (roughly 4 lbs in 'old money') was something of a miracle. 

Bliss seemed to me to be the ideal charity partner for babashuh. I contacted the Scottish rep and offered to fundraise through donating £1 in every £10 spent with babashuh to the charity and knitting for premature babies in my local neonatal unit.  The lovely lady I spoke to then asked me if I had considered becoming a Bliss Community Ambassador, which I hadn't as I had no direct experience of having a premature baby - quite the opposite in fact since mine was two weeks late and a substantial 8 pounder.  I was assured that this was no barrier so I filled in the form, contacted two referees and was appointed in time for World Prematurity Day on November 17 last year!  This is our stand in the Main Concourse of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on World Prematurity Day.

My biggest design breakthrough was a bespoke gift idea for my niece's baby - I designed a frame including his name, date and time of birth - here it is in his room!

Claire loved it so much, she commissioned one for a friend when she had her baby boy a few months later.  I had a winning formula!!

My mind was fizzing with ideas - I'll tell you about some of them and how they worked out next time!