It’s that time of year when I share something my mum, Jenny made because 7th February was her birthday.

I started the Sum of their Stories craft blog as a way to share some of the enthusiasm for making things that I inherited from my mum and both my grandmas. They were all very talented makers and all taught me craft techniques and skills when I was younger so each year, on what would have been their birthday, I share something they made or inspired.

Do you remember the doll Baby Alive? Was that an international thing? I’ve no idea. Here in the UK in the mid 1970s Baby Alive was a BIG deal and one Christmas I was lucky enough to be given one. You could mix up little sachets of what looked like wallpaper paste and spoon it in to your Baby Alive doll and then it went down a squidgy tube inside her and she filled her nappy! Lots of fun - until you forgot the nappy and then it just went all over your bed (apparently!!!)

The thing I remember most about my gifts that Christmas was the knitted set of doll clothes that my mum had made for my new Baby Alive. Mum had repurposed a large flat box, lined it with teal coloured wrapping paper and then tacked the knitted clothes so they were displayed beautifully in the base and lid of the box when I opened it. I was probably about 6 or 7 but I remember clear as anything how the clothes looked when I lifted the lid. I’m saying a large box, it probably wasn’t even that big but I was small so it felt big and very special.

She confessed later that she had stayed up past midnight to finish the set in time for Christmas morning.

I don’t have Baby Alive anymore, she is long gone. However when my brother had a clear out last year he brought round a bag with some of my old dolls clothes and these two items from that original set were in the bag; the cape and the leggings. I gave them a gentle wash and they came up ok. My Baby Alive had also had the jumper, gloves and I’m sure there were some little booties too once upon a time.

I had a search though the old knitting patterns that I had inherited from mum and found the one for these doll clothes.

So today I’m remembering my mum, Jenny. She put so much effort into making this doll clothes set for me and I really did love them. My Baby Alive was kept cosy and warm for many years in them.

Julie

If you want to read any other that other tributes to my mum and grandmas that I’ve shared over the years you can find them here: Why Sum of their Stories