Drive By

I'm going to keep things short today. It is a beautiful sun-shiny day, the temperature has a nice crisp feeling, all my kiddos are home and healthy, and my Dear Husband is a grump! How is that for irony? (in his defense, his holiday is being spent replacing an alternator for the second week in a row!) I also have to finish an order that is going all the way to Romania! I'm just astounded that I have a customer on the other side of the world. The www is certainly an awesome tool.

Yesterday I mentioned that I would show you how to use wool in your diapers as an extra-super-duper soaker, without having to knit, crochet or buy expensive wool interlock (though it IS a really yummy fabric). You want to start with a heavily felted 100% wool sweater. It doesn't matter what kind of wool, it just needs to not be "superwash" (meaning you can wash it in the regular laundry without expecting it to fit a dolly). My newest sweater is in the dryer as we speak so for the purpose of this, I used an "oops" pair of woolies that are already felted to the point of no more stretch.

Then you want to sketch out your pattern. Be creative, and don't worry about symmetry, it's getting peed on, it doesn't really have to be pretty.

Now take your cutting tools (I couldn't function without my rotary cutter, but scissors work fine), and cut out your pattern pieces.

Now you should have some super felted wool soakers to use as a booster for your diapers! You can choose to lanolize them so they don't have to be washed unless they are "dirty" and only wash them when you do your regular wool laundry routine, or you can leave them un-lanolized and just throw them into the diaper pail to be washed with your diapers. You can sew them together, serge them, or leave them as is. Because they are heavily felted, there is no need to "finish" the edges because they wont fray!!!

Ta-Da!

Bonus: Remember a long time ago? Like yesterday? I showed you my super awesome scrappy wool dryer balls? (lol say THAT fast 10 times) Just so happens I have a picture of the pattern piece I used to sew my ball. I cut 6-8 of them to make the ball, depending on the size, though I found that having more pieces didn't really affect the finished size of the balls (see yesterdays post). The pieces are 4.5" long and 1.5" across. HAVE FUN!

Sorry for the Hiatus

Well, we have been a bit busy here. We went on a little weekend getaway for DH's work, took a side trip to the coast, the boys aren't sleeping (which makes mommy TIRED) well, the girls are about to start school in another week, and I got my Etsy shop set up!

Actually, I got the shop set up right before we left, then set it to vacation mode. When we got back, I turned my vacay mode off and by the next morning I had my first sale! Insert happy dance, giant smiley face, etc here; it wasn't a big ticket item, but it was super exciting to see somebody else wanting something that I had made.

Anyways, I am almost back to a project a day. Some days it takes a bit longer, depending on what I'm working on, but I have been totally focused on getting some gifts finished and adding stuff to my store.

If you want to see what I have been up to, come visit me at www.dustiebottoms.etsy.com !

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.