for baby boy Z

on the eve of November’s full moon, i finished this little cotton flannel vintage baby jacket for baby Z.  found it in a heap of fabrics at a swap meet a while ago. i imagine some mother or grandmother in the late 50’s stitched the kittens and blanket stitched the edges for a special little baby who today must be about my age. it is so very sweet. someone had kept it all these years until it landed in that heap of cloth.  it was white but i took it for the indigo vat for ¢25, washed and overdyed it in the natural vat and set it aside.

when baby boy Z was born i got it out to send to him but in the this and that of things it was shuffled a couple of times until it appeared on the table with a silk velvet moon sitting on it. somehow the moon made its way there. i realized that this is was it was waiting for so i stitched it on with some silk thread. the silks iridescence catches the light- like a light catcher to shine the way.  a new silk bow was also needed.
i remember this story fondly- perhaps my favorite childhood poem by Eugene Field:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea —
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish —
Never afeard are we”;
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam —
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
‘Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea —
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one’s trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

for baby boy Z

stitching detail