Baby Bottoms

My daughter-in-law is expecting sweet Baby A in just a few short weeks.  She has decided to use cloth diapers, so I have been sewing away - making diaper covers.  Technically, I guess they are called pocket diapers.  Several people have asked me about them, so today I will share what I've been up to lately.  All the baby showers are over, so I won't be ruining any surprises. I've made so many that I found myself literally making them in my sleep!

Some people think she is a glutton for punishment for using cloth diapers.  No, shes not planning on using a diaper service, but will be washing them herself.  I say if she can do it, more power to her.  I used cloth diapers with my first, but got a little more lazy with the second.  Diapering has changed a little over the years.  (I certainly would hope so, since it has been over 30 years since I did it!)

There is quite a movement (no pun intended!) towards cloth diapering.  If you "google" cloth diapers, there is an impressive list of resources.  Babyville is perhaps the most used right now for those of us who are actually sewing them, versus premade ones which you can purchase.  The material that is used is called PUL (actually a very long technical word, but everyone knows it as PUL), and is waterproof.  It's available at most stores that sell fabric.  Be prepared if you are planning on using cloth diapers, that it's not necessarily a cheap alternative to disposable ones.  Supplies can be found on-line that are less expensive and provide a little more variety than those that are found in the stores though.  

Here is a sampler of some of them that I have made:

Not only are they more environmentally friendly than disposables, they sure are a lot cuter!! Here is how they work:

See the pocket at the top?  There are a couple of ways to do this.  A cloth diaper can be folded to fit in the pocket, or something called a soaker can be inserted.  I didn't make any soakers.  I know she has gotten some cloth diapers at her baby showers, so she will be using those.
The covers can be made using either snaps or velcro.  This velcro is specially made stuff for this purpose, along with the fold-over elastic.  (Great marketing!)  I thought that velcro seemed like a better way to go when I considered a wiggly little boy.  Trying to fasten snaps just sounded frustrating! There are several different materials that can be used inside too.  They suggest polyester fabric that is soft, but will let the liquid through and keep the top fabric dry and so baby's bottom stays drier.

Close up view

I have read more about baby diapers in the past few months than I thought I ever would.  I've learned a lot.  I have a tendency to not follow patterns very closely and make them my own.  The book and pattern I bought to make these with is certainly a little worn though.  It seemed pretty daunting at first, but I can sew these pretty fast now.  I have some larger sizes cut out, but I'm on diaper hiatus at least for a few weeks.  I made two different sizes, so there should be a little lag time before he's ready for a larger size. 

Her last baby shower was this week, so I decided to make something besides baby bottoms.  I love having an embroidery machine to play with!

Blessings of:

- Little baby boys on the way!

- Sleeping in late while everyone else has to trudge off to work.

- Safety from storms!

- Celebration of the Resurrection of our Saviour!!

Fabulous Fabric Friends and Finds

"On the Road Again...."  I feel like that's the theme song for my Hubby right now.  I miss him, but he is off this time tending to his parent's needs.  It is a trip that he really needed to make since he was unable to be there for his father's surgery a couple of weeks ago.  His father was able to come home today so he is progressing well.  Tomorrow is his father's birthday.  Hubby is never there for this occasion, and his brother will be spending the day there too.  It will certainly be a special one for both of his parents!

Yesterday was spent with my quilting sisters.  We always laugh a lot when we are together, and it was something we all really needed to do.  We fabric shopped, but we also went to Half-Priced Books and found some......you guessed it....quilting books! Fabric is our lives!  We had a very relaxed lunch, at the frozen tundra...aka Olive Garden too. I've heard rumors that there is an energy crisis here due to the extreme heat but you'd never know it there.  Do freezing toes sell more pasta??  

I didn't have enough of the fabric experience yesterday, so I did a wee bit more shopping today.  Hubby's not home, so I have a little time to get it hidden...oops, I mean folded and put away....before he gets back.  Actually, I wanted to check out a quilt store that I hadn't known about.  After driving passed it a few times during my attempt to make asphalt crop circles, I finally discovered the secret entrance. It's small, but the people are lovely, and the fabric is beautiful.  Too bad that cotton prices have gone up.  I also was able to find the little sewing machine I wanted to get my grand-daughter for Christmas at JoAnns...  and it was on sale!! It was a good day.

Gratitude for:

- Laughter

- Finding some pots for plants for $1.00...Yippee

- Healing and Homecomings
- Fabric and other Sewing finds

Sew Excited

To start off, I must apologize for not including my blessings in yesterday's post.  That's how it starts I think.  We forget to give thanks one day, and then another, and another.  It is so easy to slip away.  I am determined to live a life of gratitude though, and will not let one day's mishap slip into a lack of gratitude.  It isn't that I'm not grateful, I am sooooo blessed.  It's more a lack of taking the time to actually think back over my day and write it down.

I have been sewing pretty much since I can remember.  It is something that I have always been grateful for.  My mother taught me how to sew as soon as she thought I was ready.  Yesterday one of my daughter-in-laws asked me if I would teach her to sew.  Her mother sews also, but hasn't in a long while.  Her mother did buy her a machine this past weekend though!  Thus the request!  My other daughter-in-law has my old machine, but I have not started the sewing lessons with her yet either.  She works full time and is very active in their youth program at church.  There just simply has not been time.  I have been thinking for quite some time now that it is almost time to start teaching my grand-daughter too.  I have been secretly looking at child's machines and have considered getting her one for Christmas.  Now I'm thinking that I will definitely be doing just that!  I'm so excited that my girls want to sew!  It will be an adventure that we can all share together.  What fun!!

Gratitude for
- God's grace - He forgives my lack of thankfulness!
- I figured out why my phone wasn't charging.....operator error.....a "duh" moment!
- New sewing generations

Red, White, and Blue Purse

This is the purse I made for the Red, White, and Blue purse challenge on the Bags to Brag About yahoo group I belong to.  It's pretty modest compared to most of the purses the others make, but I like it!  I saw a photo of a purse that had a peek-a-boo hole in it.  I thought that maybe I would be able to do it too, and this was the perfect opportunity to try.  Unless you know it's there though, it's kind of hard to pick up in the pictures.

I have some applique star machine embroidery designs that were freebies, and came in graduated sizes.  You can go to the website here and join her yahoo group if you're interested. I chose two different sizes.  The applique on the body of the purse is slightly larger than the hole on the top flap.  That way, I have a little "fudge" room.  Not only does that help me because the one on the flap doesn't have to be in perfect alignment, but it also helps when there is actual stuff in the purse.

I simply appliqued the star on the body of the purse as I would normally do before I had the purse completely together.  (I did have to wait until I was almost ready to put the lining in to sew it on so that I could decide where to place it.)  After the purse was totally put together I was able to determine where the hole in the flap should go.  I printed a template of the smaller star off using just normal paper.  Then, I cut out the star and used a pin and a fabric marker to show me where to sew the other applique design.  If you are going to try this, remember to use the same color thread in your bobbin, because you are going to see it!  I embroidered the first two steps of the design through all thicknesses, and then instead of adding the applique fabric, I simply cut away all the layers of fabric inside the shape, being careful not to cut so close to the lines that there wasn't fabric to finish with the satin stitch. With a star shape this wasn't too difficult, because it's hard to get into all those points anyway!  When I had the hole cut out, I simply finished embroidering the design, and voila!

I love the look, but I did learn some things for future purses:
1. The purse really should be larger to accommodate the hole.
2. It would be better if the purse was wider.
3. In this particular pattern the zipper is at the top of the flap, so putting a hole in the flap greatly limited the opening of the purse.

Since this purse is rather small, my plan is to use it for shopping trips when I really don't want to haul a big heavy purse around.  In some ways, I like the fact that the opening is small because that means it's more secure too.  Certainly nothing is going to fall out!!  As an after thought, I also decided to put a pocket on the flap.  The pocket is pretty small, but still big enough for keys or lip gloss.  I used velcro across the entire top of the pocket because I remembered that while I'm carrying it the pocket will be upside down!! Next time I will plan better, and I will be able to put a larger pocket on.  Oh well.....at least I did learn a few things in the process!

Even better.....the people who posted their projects on the group got their names put in a random drawing for prizes and I WON!!  I couldn't get anyone to tell me what I had won, but the mailman brought me a book yesterday - Hip Handbags by Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader.  It's pretty interesting because it has some artsy techniques and also some interestingly shaped purses in it.  I think I'll skip the one made out of chicken wire though!  And for the record......No......I'm not going back to see if I can get some blue leather and red sheep wool!

Gratitude for:
-Good surprises in the mail
-Carryout Chinese food
-Good books that make me laugh, make me think, and teach me new things