Doing a little to help Japan...

UPDATED: Dear friends, thank you for all your support for our Japan fund-raising!  We have closed accounts for this project, and will be emailing purchasers a copy of the receipt for the donation made soon.  If you are still interested in purchasing a nursing cover, please view the available designs here. :)  Thank you!

Hello!  Am just taking a short break from blogging about our trip to make a little announcement...  I think some of you are aware that I've been sewing and selling nursing covers as a lil sideline, and I've been loving the thought that each cover I sell may help make the life of a nursing mother easier.  However, I've hardly mentioned them in my posts, since this blog has been primarily a journal about our life with Junior J, and not a shop blog.  But this round, thought I'll just let everyone know that we just wanted to raise some funds for Japan, so we'll be donating SGD$5 to the Singapore Red Cross to support relief efforts in Japan for every Just for Babes cover you buy.  We've been praying hard for the country, and just wanted to do a little more (and I've realized the seriousness of the situation after receiving an email from a Japanese friend just yesterday).

If you're interested, you can read about the details of the nursing covers here.  All fabrics are soft cotton and lightweight, which is perfect for feeding baby in our hot weather!  Usually we do not sew more than 4 pieces per design, so you can be sure yours would be a "limited edition" piece! :)  Local postage is available at $1 per cover.  Please drop me an email at john(dot)jus(at)gmail.com with the design that you are interested in purchasing (they are great as gifts for expectant friends too).  If you don't need a nursing cover, do help me spread the word around by blogging or emailing your friends who might be interested!  :)  I will email purchasers a copy of the receipt once the donation has been made.  Thanks so very much!

Monday Made: Just for Babes

Ooops, ok, its a little late for a Monday Made post, but its been busy the past few days.  Also, our dSLR was sent for repair since the lens was spoilt, and I didn't want to post without pictures... We collected the camera yesterday, so its back to snapping and blogging again!

Spent the past few days sewing some of the nursing covers that some friends have ordered from me as gifts:

All the covers completed, and nicely folded, and guarded by Junior J's elephant!

I've decided to name my "shop" (but I'm not going full-blast into business yet, until my studies are done!) "Just for Babes"... "Just", as derived from my name, and "Babes" referring to both babies and their mums (who are babes too, in a different way!).  So if you ever need a nursing cover (for now, its just going to be nursing covers), and don't like the current designs in the market (and don't want to pay so much too!), do drop me a note!

Monday Made: Setting up shop?

A dear DG mate from Japan went home recently to visit her family, and got me two beautiful swathes of Japanese fabrics (Thanks gal!). After fingering the fabrics and trying to decide among the multitude of ideas that were swimming around in my head, I finally set-up my new sewing machine and starting sewing this as a gift for one of my friends who's expecting a boy in February:

Call them nursing covers, booby bibs or hooter hiders... no matter what the name, I really think they are a life-saver for any breastfeeding mother who isn't comfortable in being exposed when breastfeeding in public.  I've used mine in church so that I could sit in and listen to the sermon, when travelling (especially in places where there are no nursing rooms like in Malaysia and China) and in parks and the zoo!  Ever since I got one, I've ditched trying to use a shawl (which gets hot since it drapes around your neck), and we no longer have to wait desperately outside an occupied nursing room while consoling a crying, hungry baby.

The sewing took me a few hours, since I've not sewn for years, and had to figure out how to make the cover.  I managed to make one that works the same way as the one I have, with D-rings that make the strap adjustable, and a structured top that allows you to peek at baby while nursing (and that gives baby some air too!).... Yay! :)  I thought I'd sew one instead of getting one as a gift, since the nice ones are really expensive (USD $35!), while the local brands don't have nice designs.

Right now... I've gotten an order from the friend (whom I gave the cover to) for another of her pregnant colleagues, and a perfect stranger spoke to hubby today at the supermarket about ordering one... So I'm seriously thinking of setting up shop and selling these, especially since I recently ordered a whole pile of fabrics (like those gorgeous Amy Butler designs).  Hmmmm...