Ahhh, another day, another project

Yesterday was a busy busy day. I decided to try and get some unfinished business taken care of. And when that was done, I wanted to tackle the apron, chef hat and pot holder for my youngest daughters Christmas gift.

The unfinished projects were easy-peasy. Finishing Touches on a custom wrap, a dress, trying to master the snap pliers (I think I *might* have it down but had to remove three sets!!! from a super cute bitty fluff diaper first), and then I could have "fun" with the Christmas projects. First, let me give you some insight into Dustie's brain: I don't do patterns. And when I do use patterns, I mess them up, or scrap them after a bit and "wing it". Sooooo, this chef hat, it looks really simple. Four pattern pieces, pretty straightforward. Until I get to the piecing it together part and realize they are calling for another piece! One that isn't inculed in the free pattern! GAH, what do I do? I scrap following the pattern, make my own piece and go from there. (Did I mention that I basted for the first time yesterday?! Now, THAT was a trial in patience) Once I decided that I didn't need to follow the directions from the pattern, things went very smoothly, aside from me cursing the idea of basting. Basting is not easy. My little "P" foot doesn't actually meet the foot plate of my machine, the machine doesn't just let you whip those basted stitches out either. It is press the foot pedal down, let it up, press it down, pause, press it down again, ahhh, too soon, let it up again, and so on and so forth. Very frustrating. Then having to manually feed the material in a even way is new to me. But the finished product is fantastic and I know a little girl that will LOVE it.

For her apron, again no pattern. Well, I used part of the pattern I drafted to make her 4th of July shirt, extended it, finished the edges with double fold bias tape, sewed on some pockets, made my ties and viola! DONE! Ohh, wait, I also made her the matching pot holder and had to fudge double fold bias tape for that one too. But it all turned out lovely and I believe come December, she is going to love it all.

(The chefs hat was a free downloadable pattern from "You Can Make This", and like I said, I just did my own thing for the apron and pot holder.)

Sweet Summertime

I have two friends that are both due to have little girls in the next month or so. I am so happy for them, and excited to have a good (rational) excuse to sew up some super girly cuteness. They are both recieving wraps of course, but a little extra bonus too. A summertime staple for little girls, the Pillowcase Dress with matching bloomers. I love making these, but they make me yearn for a little princess to play dress up with again. Ahhh, someday, maybe. lol

First Monster Lovey Complete

My first Moster Lovey turned out pretty good. Not perfect, and I used scrappy fleece, but it was a huge hit for the lil' man. Kilian latched onto it and held it for well over an hour. He pushed it around on the floor for a bit, then he gnawed on it for another little bit, and then when he had had enough of independant play and wanted to be held, he still held on tight while he took his evening bottle. I would say that this lovey was well recieved and they should be a big hit with all my little's this Christmas.

Slideshow Stumper?

I am sooo terribly computer impaired. What should take a matter of minutes to do ends up consuming a huge portion of my day. My kids are napping and I should be sleeping while they are (cause Lord knows, they aren't letting me get any sleep at night lately!), but Noooo, I am determined to get this wonderful slideshow of my kiddos and projects posted.

These are two of my most recent projects. Bamboo/cotton jersey wraps with cotton panels added for extra support (and to pretty them up!). The red one has a cell phone pocket and the turquoise one is hand dyed by me. I love these things and will be featuring them on my Etsy shop as soon as it is up and running. They are so wonderful for bonding with our little ones, giving Mom (or Dad) a free hand and most importantly to me, they are the most comfortable way to keep your baby close. Wraps evenly distribute the weight of your baby/toddler across both shoulders and hips eliminating the strain on your back. You can carry your baby in a cradle position for newborns, nurse discretely, facing out, or facing in, on your back. They are one size fits most due to the materials used to make them, and will easily last your baby from their first day home until they are toddlers too tired to walk. I LOVE babywearing!!

A Project a Day

I have lots of big plans for my growing by the day stash of fabric. I plan on making Christmas this year instead of buying it. My kids have too much as it is, and those store bought items seem to be quickly forgotten. I have a total of 9 kids to give gifts to this year, and three of those kids (mine) have birthdays during the two weeks surrounding Chistmas. Needless to say, the holidays are a tough but fun time of year for us.

I have to make:

1 makeup case

1 tote

1 childs apron

1 pot holder

1 childs chef hat

5 eye spy pouches

3 chalk mats

3 art totes

3 chalk/crayon rolls

3 super hero capes

3 soft blocks

3 monster loveys

1 pencil roll

As you can see, my sewing "plate" is full. Added to that, I am in the process of starting an Etsy store selling my cloth diapers, wraps, and childrens clothing. Busy, busy. Thank goodness this isn't a "job" to me but a passion and escape. I'm going to try to post each project as it progresses, or at least as it is completed.

This weekends wrap, bamboo/cotton jersey, hand dyed. Decorative cotton panel for extra support and to make it extra pretty.

Here is todays wrap, bamboo/cotton jersey. Has a decorative cotton panel and cell phone pocket for added support and functionality.

How it all began..

I never thought I would ever be labeled "crunchy" by anyone. Then I decided to stay at home with my oldest son. Well, actually it was decided for me by several doctors. I suffered from severe PPD and going back to a high stress job just wasn't in my (or my patients) best interest. Unfortunately that made a negative impact on our finances. So I tossed around the idea of cloth diapering for a while. And then tossed it around some more. And then discarded it as too much work, and too great of an initial investment.

Fast forward 18 months to the birth of our second son and the loss of even my babysitting income, the inability to breastfeed him for an extended time and we really needed to cut out something, somewhere. Then factor in two babies in diapers, the two bags of trash a day, needing an extra city refuse can, and the overall stench of disposables and we (mainly I, DH defers diaper duty as often as possible, sneaky man) were ready to take the plunge.

So off I went into blog, forum and shopping cart bliss, researching everything there is to know. I spent weeks glued to my computer. Where I quickly discovered that with my diaper budget (about $100 a month) I would only be able to buy about 5 quality diapers each month. WTH?? Hmmm, I thought cd'ing was supposed to save you money? Ummm, yes and no. You see, cloth diapering is in vogue now and it isn't the flats, pins and rubber pants of yonder years. These can be as chic as you want them, or those prefolds and birdseye flats that make most people shudder are still around. I stuck with my budget, bought the diaper service quality prefolds and vowed to find a way to get the good "fluff" without breaking the bank or swayiing from my original goal to save money.

And somewhere along the internet highway I found my calling, to be the crunchy/hip, cd'ing, babywearing, babyfood making momma I was meant to be.