Scout knows some new words. She now says: Pee-pee, home, and cereal. I also think she tries to say potty, but I'm not sure.

The cereal one really blew me away because it seems like a hard one to say, but she does a good job. It comes out sounding like "See-weo". She also knows how to sign for it. It's a commonly used word around here, because she likes to snack on cheerios. I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't know to call oatmeal or corn flakes cereal...as far as she knows, cheerios are the only things called "cereal", but I guess that's okay for now.

***

I've been sewing a lot more lately. My plan is to start up an Etsy store and keep it stocked with stuff like purses and aprons and other odds and ends. I'm also splitting a booth with a friend at a local craft fair in October.

Here is one of my creations in progress:



He's not quite finished yet and I'm not very pleased with my wobbly stitching around the arms, but I think he's going to become part of a child's back-pack or small book tote anyway. He can be my test subject to see how my stuff holds up to wear and tear and washes up, since I don't think he's perfect enough to sell.

I have a brain chock full of ideas for things to put in my shop. I only hope I can come up with the time to do it. I feel a little guilty for working on things during the day and letting Scout wander around the house aimlessly while playing by herself sometimes, but I do try to take breaks often to sit and play and interact with her. Plus, with the time I spend nursing her, feeding her lunch and breakfast, and taking walks around the neighborhood, I suppose she's not TOO awfully neglected.

I've always been a late-nite seamstress, but I've been trying to go to bed at the same time DH does (for a change) because it's nice to be able to spend that time together and then I can get up early to cook breakfast and have some quiet moments before Scout gets up. So for now, I have to find bits of time throughout the day to do my sewing....and that ain't no easy feat, let me tell ya.

Labels: firsts, scout talking, sewing, sign language, wahm business

I need my own sewing room.
There is seriously no place in this house for me to sew. I did have my sewing stuff set up in our bedroom, but that's not a very practical place for it, since the only time I have to sew is late at night and I don't want to keep DH up. The family room won't work - DH uses it for music equipment and computer stuff - I don't want to junk it up even more. We use the dining room as my office/Scout's play area, so that won't work either. The kitchen table is the only place I've found that *sort of* works, but it sucks too because if I am working on a project that takes more than one evening to complete, we have no place to eat our meals and all my sewing stuff clutters up the entire kitchen. I'm not sure what the solution is. The garage? I don't know. I guess that's a possibility, but I'm not sure I'm willing to sweat my rear off in a hot, dark, dirty box that smells like motor oil and trash cans all in the name of craftiness.

Labels: general complaining, sewing

My sweet grandma sent Scout some money for Valentine's Day and I spent it on a spring dress and a pair of shoes from T@rget for her.





I just love shopping for a little girl!! I don't get to do it very often because our budget is so tight and we have been blessed with hand-me-downs and family that buys lots of nice stuff for Scout. But every now and then, it's nice to be able to pick something out for her myself.

I REALLY REALLY want to start making dresses for Scout out of fun and unusual prints, but I just haven't had the money to buy fabric and sewing supplies. I guess I could've spent Scout's Valentine money on fabric and notions to sew something myself. It's a sad fact, but fabric is so dang expensive - It was probably cheaper for me to buy a dress off the rack along with the shoes than it would've been to buy a pattern, cute fabric, and zippers/buttons/elastic or whatever. Maybe I'll dig around in my fabric pile and see if there's anything cute enough to make a simple little dress for Scout.

Labels: clothes, sewing

We're leaving tomorrow to fly North for Christmas. I'm so excited for my family to meet Scout! Even though my mom and grandma were here when she was born, it'll be like they are meeting her all over again because she is (obviously) so different now. My dad and stepmom, who have never met her, will be picking us up from the airport. That will definitely be a photo-worthy moment!

I stayed up ALL NIGHT working on a diaper bag for my niece, who is really into baby dolls right now. I should've been working on it a little at a time, but (surprise, surprise) I waited until the last minute. Here's a pic of the applique on the front of the bag. I'll take a pic of the completed bag as soon as it's done (waiting for Scout to nap so I can turn it right side out and stitch up a little 4 inch section).



I'm not even close to being done packing yet. Yikes!

**ETA**
The finished diaper bag:


I'm pretty happy w/ how it turned out. I'm going to fill it with accessories for my niece's doll babies. I hope she likes it!

Labels: family, holidays, sewing, travels

A few years ago, I made myself some cloth pads and liked using them much more than disposable maxi-pads. But at the time, we were living in a 40 foot camper trailer out in the woods with no running water, so I just couldn't care for them like I should've. (I actually I COULD have, but I was too lazy and they were a lot of work without having a washing machine and only having a very small amount of water at my disposal.)

Anyway, I've always wanted to go back to cloth pads, but have just never gotten around to making any more until now. I've only made 2 so far, but I think they turned out pretty nice.




I made the plaid one using Adahy's 11" Cloth Pad Pattern. From top to bottom, the layers are: flannel, microfiber towel, flannel, flannel, PUL waterproof fabric, and flannel. I know that sounds bulky, but it's surprisingly trim. I still need to add a snap or button to the wings.

I made the bowling print pad with a pattern from Diapersewing.com. It is a "pocket" pad. There is an opening on the back to slide the absorbant pad into (or washcloth, or microfiber towel, or whatever you want to stuff inside). I included a layer of PUL fabric on the backside of this pad as well. It is turned and topstitched because I tried serging it, and could not get it to look right around the inner curves. The stitching goes off the edge of the fabric and looks sloppy. My mom told me that I might want to try a thinner stitch width, so next time maybe I can make it work.

It's kind of funny that these feminine products turned out looking so masculine....like I made the pads for a lumberjack and a fat bald guy named stan. Hey, it's the only flannel I had :)

I SHOULD be working on the mini diaper bag that I am making for my baby-doll-obsessed 7-year-old niece. I'm going to fill it with bibs and baby hats, and sippy cups and other accessories for her dolls. I have less than a week to get that done before our trip North. I'd better get a move on it. Maybe I should focus on that project instead of shoving popcorn in my mouth while watching episode after episode of the first 3 seasons of Grey's Anatomy every night after Scout goes to bed.

Labels: cloth pads, sewing

Lookie what I got today!



My MIL bought it for me. She knows I've been wanting a new serger to replace my old crappy broken one for a long time. She made sure it has all the features I need and then ordered it the day before yesterday. Sure, many people think that Wal-Mart is evil, but dang they're fast with their online orders! I am really grateful. It was so sweet of my MIL to do that for me!

I haven't sat down to piddle with it yet. I've been organizing my sewing space and taking inventory of my fabric so I can figure out what my first project should be. The machine comes pre-threaded, but got all wonky and tangled during shipment. That's just as well, because I need to learn how to thread it on my own anyway.

Something else I received in the mail the other day:



It's a Bummi's Super Whisper Wrap diaper cover in the Flower print. I have a couple used plain white BSWW's that fit Scout really well, so I just couldn't resist this cute print. Scout seems happy about it. (don't ask me what she's wearing)



I am starting to get over my fear of Scout feeding herself. Since we started giving her solids at 6 months, we've been spoon-feeding purees and putting pieces of fruit in her mesh feeders. I do believe that there are a lot of benefits to letting babies feed themselves and wanted to go that route with Scout...but I just have not been able to get over the fear of choking. I know that proponents of baby-led feeding say that infants are much more likely to choke on purees than pieces of food that they bring to their own mouths and bite off (because "the action used to suck food off a spoon tends to take the food straight to the back of the mouth, causing the baby to gag"), but I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around that.

I recently steamed a butternut squash and gave Scout some chunks that she could easily fist and bring to her mouth. She probably only managed to get one or two bites in her mouth, but had fun playing in it and examining the texture. Tonight, DH and I watched as she brought chunk after chunk of squash up to her mouth to lick and take tiny bites. It was cute. She would poke the pieces on the table with her index finger, enjoying the squishiness. A few times, she got some big pieces in her mouth that made me a little nervous, but she spit them right out. We video taped part of it. Maybe I'll post that later.

Labels: cloth diapering, family, firsts, food, pics of scout, sewing, tough parenting decisions

I am turning most of Scout's onesies into tee shirts. She has a long torso and has outgrown them by length (even some of the 9 month ones!), but the shoulders and tummy still fit great. I am not good at sewing knits, so they all have a ruffly looking hem. After playing with the stitch length and tension and whatnot, I decided not to fight it and pretend that I meant for them to have a decorative "lettuce edge". Good thing I don't have a boy, or all of his tee shirts would have ruffles. I did buy some onesie extenders a while back, but I just don't like the way they look if I don't put pants on over the onesie. When paired with a big fluffy cloth diaper, it reminds me of a thong. Thongs are never cute. Especially on a baby.

Labels: clothes, sewing

I've been wanting to start sewing diapers again and I found a great pattern to get me back into the swing of things: Rita's Rump Pockets is a totally free pattern for a one-size fitted pocket diaper. It has no fasteners and is not waterproof, which can either be good or bad things, depending on what you prefer. I actually like that it has no fasteners. Velcro gets on my nerves for some reason (maybe because it always ends up looking dingy and lint-covered) and snaps that are diaper-worthy are only possible to put on with a fancy expensive snap press (which I don't have....yet) Being able to pin it with just one diaper pin in the front makes changes fast and the fit is totally customizable. For smaller babies, flip the wings/back edge of diaper down to make the rise shorter. I often have Scout in a coverless fitted diaper around the house to allow her skin to breathe, so I don't mind diapers that do not have a waterproof barrier. It doesn't have any sort of absorbant layers attached to it, either. (Okay, so it's more like a "shell" than a diaper) You can stuff the pocket with whatever you desire....an infant prefold, a microfiber towel, a dish cloth, a couple of dirty socks...

Here are a couple pics:





I think it turned out pretty decent, considering that it was my first time following this particular pattern. The inner and outer are both flannel. I would love to get some minky, microfleece, or cotton velour for the inner next time....maybe even some bamboo. I'd also like to try my luck at using some old t-shirts for outers...although, I'm sort of nervous about using a knit because working with t-shirt knits tends to piss me off a little.

I don't really stuff my diapers with dirty socks, by the way. They are almost always clean.

Labels: cloth diapering, sewing

Even though I was reluctant yesterday to put one of the all-in-one cloth diapers I'm saving for my own baby on the little boy I babysit, I ended up doing it anyway. We had plenty of disposables, so it wasn't out of necessity, but I was just really curious to see how they hold up in real life. In theory, they should work fine, but I'm not that confident in my ability to make absorbant leak-proof diapers yet. I purchased the pattern from Darling Diapers, and I have read great reviews about their patterns, so I shouldn't have had any doubts.

I put the diaper on him at about 2:00 or 2:30 yesterday afternoon and changed him back into his disposables @ about 4:00 before his daddy came and picked him up. I was relieved (and actually a little surprised) that it didn't leak at all. He even laid on his side while taking a nap for a while, and there were no signs of leakage. He didn't poop, so there's where the test ended. Maybe I'll put one on him during his early nap next time so there's more opportunity for poopiness.

The next test was with the dryer. I was afraid that it would take forever to dry since it was one of the true all-in-ones w/ the absorbant soaker layer sewn inside. I washed it with a regular load of laundry with just a tiny bit of detergent, since too much detergent can cause build-up on the fibers and affect its ability to absorb properly. If it would've been poopy, I would've washed it by itself or with some towels after running it through the rinse/soak cold water cycle once, since I don't have other dirty diapers to wash with it. It took 2 dryer cycles to get completely dry, which isn't too bad, I guess. I'm glad I made most of the diapers w/ a separate lay-in soaker layer. Also, you are never supposed to use dryer sheets or fabric softener with cloth diapers for the same reason you don't want to use too much detergent: filmy insoluable residue can make them repel liquid instead of absorbing. They will also begin to hold odors if there is a lot of build-up. Nobody wants a clean diaper to smell like pee and crap!

As you can see from the photo, the diaper was just BARELY big enough for his cute little chunky bum. He weighs about 30 lbs and I think this size small diaper is meant for 10-25 pounders. I made sure the elastic around his thighs wasn't too tight and fastened the velcro on the largest possible setting. It's good to know that in a pinch, I could use the size small on a chubby 30 lb baby.

Labels: babysitting, cloth diapering, sewing

As soon as DH and I decided that we would try to have a baby soon, I knew that I would cloth diaper our baby. I'm not sure why it was such an obvious choice. None of our family members or friends use cloth diapers on their chidren. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment and love the idea of scraping green pasty poop off into the toilet. My mom did use a cloth diaper service for a short period of time when I was a baby. The service provided all the old fashioned prefold diapers. Ya know, the kind that you pin and cover with a pair of rubber pants? Today, I think most people call prefold diapers "burp cloths". The service came once a week to collect the dirties and drop off clean ones.

I've done qite a bit of research on cloth diapering techniques and have found that there are as many ways to cloth diaper as there are to make swiss steak.(what the crap does that mean?)

I think I want to try all types of cloth diapers on my baby. I started sewing my own all-in-one diapers. These are the diapers I can imagine using if we are out and about and I need to make changing a diaper quick and easy. At home, I will probably use the old-timey prefolds w/ wool covers. Here are some dipes I've made so far:





Actually the dipes I made should be classified as "all-in-two" because the absorbant layer is a separate piece instead of being sewn in. They will dry a lot quicker this way. I ordered the waterproof PUL fabric from the Sew Shoppe. There are NO fabric stores around here that carry it. I have checked. Over and over. When I ask the sales clerks about it they look at me as if to say "You dear sweet girl, you have no idea what you're talking about. Do you even own a sewing machine?", and then they direct me to some plasticky outdoor tablecloth fabric or even wierder, bathing suit fabric. Uuughh.

I recently received $105 of birthday money from some of my family. Guess what I spent it on.....Yep. CLOTH DIAPERS. I bought 3 Disana wool covers and 3 Growing Greens one-size hemp diapers from Tiny Bird Organics. I can't wait to get them, even though I don't have a baby butt to put them on yet.

Labels: baby gear, cloth diapering, sewing