For Sale!

Lately I've had an urge to create. I think it's because I sit here nursing for a good part of the day and I look through all these different craft blogs. I have so many things bookmarked I didn't know where to start. So, I started with a mei tai. For those that don't speak baby-wearing, a mei tai (pronounced "may tie") is an asian baby carrier (see example here), that's really pretty easy to make. So, I wrote down what I needed and went to the discount fabric store (seriously, it's awesome there, and they have EVERYTHING!!). The thing is, when I did my calculations, I planned for 45" wide fabric, and when I got there it was 60" wide. Since it was only $2.99 a yard and I didn't want to recalculate everything, I just bought 2 yards like I had originally planned. I got home, made my mei tai (which took a few days because I could only do a little at a time while Sadie was sleeping or with daddy), but I had a bunch of fabric left over...so I did what any crafty mama would do next, I made a matching diaper bag!

Here's my mei tai.

And here's my matching diaper bag.

About half way through making the mei tai, I realized that Sadie isn't really big enough for a carrier like this yet (the child really should be strong enough to sit up), although I could probably put her in it. But right now she hates the carrier anyway (too hot?). So, why not try to sell it? And with a matching diaper bag to boot? What a perfect baby shower gift, right?

I thought Etsy, but there're a MILLION diaper bags and baby carriers on there, why would someone buy mine? How would they even FIND mine? Brian suggested ebay, but same thing...there're a MILLION different things on there. So, I think I'll start with craigslist. It's free to post on craigslist, and when I searched mei tai, I got ONE hit. But then again, this IS Phoenix, not Eugene, and people don't really wear their babies here. But a matching diaper bag?! Maybe someone would be willing to try.

Well, then I got crazy about it and went back to the discount fabric store for more. I spent an hour picking out the perfect complementary fabrics to go with the denim/twill/heavier fabrics, an again bought 2 yards. This time, though I wasn't sure I wanted to make another baby carrier, especially out the heavy denim I bought (I still might do it, though), so I started with another diaper bag...only I changed the design a little.

Recently I've been going for walks with Sadie in the stroller. I used to be super anti-stroller, but since it's gotten over 100 degrees and my baby all of the sudden hates the carrier, I've come to think of it more as convenient. We've been taking walks in the mornings, and since the grocery store is only about a mile away, we've gone there a couple of times. The problem is, I didn't think I'd be using my stroller a lot, so I didn't pay attention to how much storage space it had...I didn't think it mattered. But when we went to the grocery store, it was sort of a struggle getting everything to fit to bring it back (and seriously, we bought bananas and tortillas and I think a can of spaghetti sauce). I wanted to make the next diaper bag in a way that I could attach it to my stroller, but still use it as a bag if I wanted.

Here's what I came up with.





(isn't Brian a lovely model? haha!) See, I cut the strap and sewed some velcro on the inside of the bag as well as on the strap pieces so they can either loop down and attach to themselves around the stroller arms, or they can attach to each other and create a regular diaper bag strap. So, if you're NOT using the stroller, or if the bag is too heavy and pulls the stroller over.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna keep the stroller bag because it sort of goes with our stroller. But I have lots of fabric to make more. I may try to put this on craigslist too. Brian thinks I'm a genius for making this kind of bag...I'm pretty sure I'm not the first one to think of it!

What do you guys think? How should I go about selling these? Would you be interested in buying one? (I'd totally ship it if you want it! Or make one out of the colors you want!) How much should I charge? I just don't know! All I know is that I don't need this many diaper bags...but I'm not done compulsively making them!