Moses Basket for "Little Baby No Name"

For 30 years this little Moses basket sat in my attic, wrapped in sheets and plastic bags - all but forgotten - until last week~~~


My Mother found this little basket at a flea market near their winter home in Florida. She lovingly hand made a little mattress, blanket, and decorative edging all around the basket that we used for my son when he was first born.




Sadly, my parents are now gone and when I brought this little basket out to the light of day last week, I also brought out a flood of precious memories.


My mother had decorated this basket with a gingham fabric that was printed with bunny rabbits in reds and blues. Just perfect for a little newborn boy. Just seeing it again after so many years, made my heart stop.
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There was no way that I could preserve all of the fabric decorations, so I ever so gently removed my mothers careful stitches one at a time so that I could make this little basket brand new and fit for a little Princess. I know my Mother would have loved and approved of this little creation, but it broke my heart to have to undo some of her stitches.
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Even though I removed the outside fabric, I saved the mattress as it was originally covered by my mother. I just simply wrapped the mattress in this little pink blanket, tucking it in along the sides - it can easily be removed for washing. I also have saved the original blanket that she made - just in case. (Don't you think that it would be sweet to take a picture of our grand baby laying on the matress and covered by the blanket that was once used by her Daddy?)



The outside of the basket is decorated using two crochet lace pillow shams that once belonged to my paternal grandmother. This bedspread and pillowcase set was one of the treasures that became mine when she past away last year. (I am planning to use the bedspread as a table covering at the baby shower---).
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The pillow shams were then tacked to the basket from both the inside and out. I like the way that they are lined with the muslim cloth, it seems to make the lace design look prettier. They are also rather heavy and seem to hang nicely along the basket.

The top and sides of the basket are decorated with pink ribbon roses, pink satin yo yo hearts, crochet green leaves, some green ribbon from my stash, and a beautiful flower that is complemented by some exquisite ribbon embroidery.

Each piece is individually sewn on by hand and it took me one very long day to complete this project. This is not the kind of project that you can do in your lap - so I had to stand and lean over the basket to do all the sewing. (Ouch for my back!)

This last little heart is not actually attached to the basket, but rather hangs freely from the little green ribbon. (I was feeling a little whimsical I guess--).

The beautiful green ribbon was left over from my last year's Christmas gifts that were wrapped by my friend, Mary. (She knows that I save everything!) I was thrilled to have an opportunity to use this pretty ribbon in such a delicate and dainty way. There is also a little tiny piece of this beautiful ribbon in the top of the beaded hat that I knitted for "Little Baby No Name". (Go back to the top of that posting and see if you can see the ribbon!)

The lace design on the pillow shams was just perfect for me to weave the ribbon through along the edge of the basket. These little bouquets of ribbon roses look so pretty around the bottom of the basket and also at the sides, near the handles.

Decorating this little basket was indeed a labor of love. Following the stitches created by my Mother, with my own little hand made stitches, gave me a feeling that I can not describe - except to say that it filled my heart with some tender feelings that I know have not been there in a very long while. (I miss her so--).

("Can you see this Mom? I hope you like it---")

vicki