Clara’s first birthday last Saturday felt like a natural conclusion to 52 weeks of fabric-filled photo fun (click here to view them larger).
But we’re not stopping entirely. Before we explain what’s next, here’s a look back at the past photo-packed year.
We’re as surprised as anyone that we kept our weekly ritual for fifty-two consecutive weeks. Today is the first Friday in a year that we didn’t break out the camera, a yard of bargain fabric, and a white-onesied Clara only to add the week number in Photoshop later. It’s a little bittersweet, but paging through the pictures of our growing girl quickly lifts our spirits. Even more surprising and flattering was hearing from many of you who started your own versions of the project with fabric and Photoshop. The highlight: our little project was featured in a book about photographing kids — Mamarazzi by Stacy Wasmuth — which thrilled us and, of course, sent the grandparents into fits of pride (“our grandbaby is famous!”).
The project also produced a few sentimental keepsakes around here: bound photo books we ordered for ourselves and the grandparents (we’ll share more when they arrive), the photo display at Clara’s party,
…and the things Sherry sewed from leftover fabric — like the birthday banner and the quilt:
For anyone thinking about starting a similar project, here’s a link back to our original “making of” post that explains how we took and edited the pictures. One tip we learned the hard way: your baby won’t stay a motionless little blob forever.
In the early weeks many readers told us they couldn’t wait to see how we’d handle a moving baby. At first we wondered what the fuss was about — getting Clara to move was our biggest challenge early on. But once rolling, crawling, and pulling-up skills appeared, she had far less patience for our setup. Those final sessions could be subtitled “how many parents and props does it take to keep a baby from crawling off a daybed while the photographer frantically waves and sings?” The answer: a lot.
We found that giving her something to hold — like the carrot in week #49 — helped keep her a bit steadier. In hindsight, using a small object consistently from the start would have given a clearer sense of scale. The onesie was our only recurring item, but it wasn’t always the best reference: when we changed from a snug 0-3 month to a loose 6-month onesie at week 14, she even looked smaller for a moment.
To avoid that inconsistency we ended up keeping her in the same 6-month onesie for much of the project (it stretched and she was comfortable). Ironically, Clara is tall enough that some 18–24 month pants are short on her, yet that onesie stretched to fit throughout the year.
There are a few things we might have done differently — someone suggested starting with a 12-month onesie to watch her progressively fill it out — but no regrets. We’ll treat those lessons as adjustments for year two. So without further ado, here’s how we’ll approach the next chapter.
We were excited to use fabric we designed on Spoonflower for this new shot. Here are the main changes you might notice:
- Her onesie says “months.” Week-to-week changes became subtler as she grew, so switching to monthly markers makes more sense for year two and keeps the project manageable.
- She’s sitting. Instead of trying to keep her on her back, we’re embracing her desire to be upright. This gives us freedom to capture sitting, crawling, standing, or walking photos as she develops.
- She’s wearing a skirt. We’ll be more relaxed about wardrobe this year. As long as there’s a white area on top to Photoshop the month onto, it works. We enjoyed occasional special outfits in year one — a Halloween costume and a Santa hat — and we plan to keep mixing things up.
- She’s on two yards of fabric. One yard isn’t wide enough for a sitting setup. With only 12 monthly photos planned, that’s about 24 yards total for the year — roughly half what we used for 52 weeks. We usually buy fabric on clearance or with coupons from places like Hancock or JoAnn, and sometimes we use duvets, towels, or shower curtains from around the house to keep costs down.
That’s the new plan. We’ll continue the project in a simpler, sustainable form while letting the first year remain a complete, finished set. We don’t want to dilute what we started by forcing weekly photos beyond what works for our family. If sitting photos prove easier, maybe baby #2 will get the same treatment from the start, or we’ll dream up a whole new concept.
And yes, that’s green painter’s tape holding the fabric in place — would you expect anything less from us?
Psst—We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.