Christmas update

Well, I meant to get to this a long time ago but I've not been up to par for a while.  I've kinda got the blahs and am seriously lacking motivation.

Anyhow, I wanted to share some of the things I made for the grandkids for Christmas.  I didn't get the stuff for the adults made yet, but I'm working on it.  Like I said, I've had the blahs.

Here is the nightgown I made for Alex, my granddaughter in Florida.  She lives with her mom's mom and husband.

full length view of nightgown

detail of ruffling on nightgown

I added the ruffles on my own.  I'd seen a tutorial for it a while back and it seemed simple enough....and it was.  You just take knit fabric, fray check the edges if it's jersey, stitch a gathering stitch down the middle, gather, and sew to the garment along the gathering stitch.  The two outer gathers are the same length regardless of how they look in the photo.  I measured them to make sure.  The gown was moving when I took the pic and the anti-shake thing made the ruffles look a different length.

According to her Grandma, Alex put this gown on and started twirling all over the place.  See, she loves princesses and feminine stuff and pink and flowers.  So....she's in love with her new nightie.  Apparently she likes all the nighties I send her because they're long and loose, unlike the rot you get in most stores that is made from nasty itchy fabric and is too tight to do much in at all.

Chickadee dress, Christmas 2010

Here is the dress I made for her.  It's made of cotton interlock, like the nightgown, with bamboo jersey for the sleeves.  I bound the neckline with foldover elastic instead of facing it - I think it looks better and it ties the sleeves to the dress.  I used my serger to ruffle the sleeve caps on this - I think it makes a nice alternative to a boring hem.

According to Grandma she also loves this dress.  It makes my Oma heart swell to hear that she likes what I make her.  I haven't seen the precious thing since she was 2.  I really need to make myself get on a plane and go see my babies.  It's hard being so far from them.

This year I finally remembered to send Alex and her brother's presents in pillowcases.  I usually do it with the kids up here and I keep forgetting theirs - at least till this year.  Like I said, Alex loves princesses and dresses and pink; so, I figured this was an appropriate fabric for her pillowcase/gift wrap.

Now for Tobie's gifts...Tobie turned 9 this year.  I called him a month or so ago and asked him if he'd rather have homemade gifts like usual or if he'd prefer something from the store.  I know that by the age of 9 some kids don't like homemade stuff and want stuff that looks like everyone else's, and their lives are rough enough without having to tolerate clothing they don't want.  He rather quickly informed me he loves the things I make him and he didn't want stuff from the store, but stuff Oma made.  What a way to soften Oma's heart!

Here is a pic of the pajamas I made him.  The top is interlock knit and the bottoms are made from flannel.  I had some fun with these.  Usually I don't mix fabric types but with a two piece item I can get away with it.

Tobie's jammies 2010

He is thrilled with them.  He says they're nice and warm and comfy.  And, thank goodness, they fit!  It's hard making things for kids who are 1200 miles away when I can't measure them myself and make sure their clothes will fit.  Tobie is wearing almost the same size as last year, which really helped me out since all I had to do was leave the pants a little longer.

I also made him a hoodie from the same pattern as last year, but this year I made it into a long-sleeved garment instead of short sleeved like last year's was.  I think the solid sleeve bottoms came out well and provided a nice contrast to the print.

The only thing is, I made two complete sleeves this time instead of attaching the sleeve bottom to the short sleeves like I've done before.  I really didn't like how that turned out.  The sleeves are enough different that attaching both of them to the shirt body was rather a pain in the butt.  I do the sleeves and then sew the seam from the shirt body to the end of the sleeves, and it caused a bit of a hassle to have the two sleeves there since they don't exactly mesh the way they do if it's one sleeve that looks like two.  Lesson learned....I won't do that again.  He really likes this shirt as well.

Here is Tobie's pillowcase.  I felt it was appropriate considering his age and where they live - half an hour from Tampa Bay.

I love this fabric!

The kids were with their Grandma today (Tobie lives with his mom's dad) and Grandma texted me to let me know they were there.  I let my son know, and he hightailed it over here.  I called the kids and talked for a couple minutes, but Alex kept asking where her Daddy was, so I basically said hi, Merry Christmas, and I love you, and they spent the rest of the time talking to their Dad.  Now Tobie's Grandpa doesn't let Tobie talk to his dad while he's at Grandpa's house, so JR hasn't talked to his son for several months.  I saw his face when he heard his boy (I had the phone on speaker) and he was in tears.  I think the best thing we could have given him this year was letting him talk to his kids.  He really enjoyed it and it lifted his spirit - he was walking lighter when he left here to go home.

Abby's kids got some games from us - a Memory game (for us, in our day, it was like Concentration - a matching game) and Connect Four; Domonic, the younger twin, got a pack of 50 markers; and his older twin brother, Stanley, got a recorder - the kind you play, you know, the instrument.  Domonic wants to be a graphic artist and Stanley wants to be a music teacher, so we tried to encourage them and give them something individualized while staying in our budget.

Their second gifts were a hit from the minute they came out of the wrapping.  I decided this year that instead of pajamas I was making them robes.  I did Patrick's from Minky, and man, that stuff sheds like mad!!  I did Kenny's and the twins' from bamboo velour, which is nice and heavy and warm. 

Brown - Stanley  Red - Domonic  Purple - Kenny  Beige - Patrick

They saw the robes and on they went.  They stayed on the whole time they were here.  I think I tied those things 4 or 5 times each.  I had to teach them that the ties don't have to be tight enough to suffocate you, and that you can untie them to take the robes off - you don't have to pull them over your head.

Oma's Boys

Silly me - I forgot to take a picture of Anna-Belle's pajamas.  JR is supposed to bring them back to me when they're clean so I can take a photo and have it for my collection.  I did, however, get one of the hat she needed and that I made for her.

The flower is my own design :o)

And, here she is in one of the dresses I made for her - the other dress was still clean so we let it be.

"I'm gonna be a model"

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve.  The family was here, my head didn't hurt too badly, and we just had a good time.  Donovan made a ham, and he and Abby made most of the dinner while I slept off a bad case of sewing-induced exhaustion and a minor headache.

I'll write more later with some Christmas Eve pics.  I just wanted to put these up for now before I forgot and got horribly behind.

Blessed New Year to all, and may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

The rest of Tobie's presents & one for Alex

These are Tobie's new Ottobre Skate Jeans.  I had some fun making them.  I made them a bit big because when I altered them I goofed up somewhere, but his grandfather in Florida says he loves them.  It's been ages and ages since I made a pair of boys' pants.  I used pattern #40 from the 4-2006 issue.  I really like them.  I'll be making them again, a little smaller.

 

This is a back view of the pants.  The pockets weren't as hard as I had thought they might be.  I did the stitching on them a bit differently than was recommended, but the point is, I got them done and they look good.  I kinda surprised myself with these jeans.  Now that I've made a model of twill, I'm ready to haul out the denim and make him another pair.

These are his pajamas, made with 'owls on a line' knit fabric and some chocolate suedecloth.  I was going to use bamboo velour, but velour is a bit warm for Florida, so I stuck with the suedecloth instead.  I heard he loves these, too.

Here are his boxer briefs.  Apparently his sister saw them and she wants some like them.  She doesn't like the elastic on the legs of girls' underpants and prefers the look of his.  I guess I'll use the Ottobre magazine's pattern for girls' panties and lengthen the legs a bit by putting this pattern underneath the other one.  To be honest, I'm not all that crazy about tons of elastic either.

I forgot to put this in Alex's entry. It's her Christmas nightgown.  The knit is one I got from a coop I belong to, and the solid purple is actually French terry.  Somehow I grabbed that instead of the bamboo jersey I have.  It came out nice as well, and her grandma said she had to put it on right away.  Part of the hassle of living so far from some of my grandkids is that I can't be there to size them; I guess I need to make her arm openings a bit bigger the next time I use this pattern as well as the dress pattern I made up for her.  The arm opening itself is a bit too tight.

At least the grandparents called and let me know what went well and what needs some work.

Alex has a birthday coming up next month and I already have the pattern picked out for her present.  I can't wait to make it up!

Okay, on with the updating....the next entry will be for Abby's kids.  Silly me, I forgot to take pics of the jammy pants I made for JR, Colleen, Donovan and Abby.  They came out nicely, too, though.

working on Tobie's stuff

It was time for me to make my grandson Tobie some clothes once I got done with Alex's. This first shirt I made a mock layered long sleeve by adding the seam allowance and some room for the hem turn up to the top of the piece that goes from the bottom of the short sleeve to the bottom of the long sleeve, if that makes any sense. I put the pieces right sides together and serged them. I folded up the hem and stitched it in place. Voila - layered-look long sleeves! It was easier than I thought. I like how it looks. I was a bit concerned that since I didn't follow a specific pattern for it I might make it and regret I hadn't gotten out the patterns I have and used one of them.


This is camouflage Ooga Booga fabric with a forest green rib knit for the bands on the sleeves, which I just added because I wanted to, and for the neck band. It's actually the same pattern as the shirt in the first picture, I believe. It just shows you the different things you can do with a pattern just by changing the way you cut the fabric and assemble it; you can get many different looks from one pattern if you're creative enough. I like trying different things, anyhow. I dread boredom or stick-in-the-mud-ness. It would drive me crazy to always do something the same way all the time.


I made this shirt from a Burda pattern. Now I've not used Burda patterns before because a lot of them don't include seam allowances and I thought it was going to be a pain in the pants. However, it was part of a $1.99 sale at Hancock's, I think, so I got this one to try for Tobie. I have to say it went together remarkably well. I will have to use this pattern again and again. I'll probably make him another shirt for Christmas, maybe with long sleeves, and possibly all one color. The other option is to use a color-block style with different solids for each pattern piece - front, back, each sleeve, and either the whole hood or each half of the hood.


Here's a back view of the hoodie. I really like this shirt. I love geckos and other lizard-type critters. The one thing I think might have helped a bit was if I had bothered to go get my coverstitch machine from the quilt shop that does repairs. I've been under the weather this week, though, and didn't want to expose a bunch of people to whatever it is I have. I actually cancelled 3 appointments this week - one with the pain doc, one with the surgeon, and a sick appointment with our primary doc. That's okay because honey already had an appointment with the primary doc for Monday so they rescheduled me for an hour after his and we'll just go in together. We're going to get the machine after we go to the doc since it's in the same general direction, anyhow...nothing is close to home. It's all a nice hike. Most of the time I like it that way. The only time it's trouble is when there's an urgent medical problem.

Hubby saw this shirt finished up this morning when he got up and he really likes it. He says my stuff is like the kind of stuff you can buy at a store. I don't know. I keep trying to do better and better. I've never been one to settle for mediocrity, except maybe when it comes to dusting and keeping the piles of magazines and patterns and sale ads under control. I used to be a lot more anal about it but now it's like it doesn't matter so much any more.

I think this hood will probably fit better than any of the Big4 patterns I've used. I made a jacket from one last year and I declare, that hood is 4 or 5 inches too tall for my head! It's also so wide from front to back that I can't even tie it if I want to see my fact. I'd like to get busy this week, remove that hood, and cut it down to where it will fit like it's supposed to. Plus sized people don't have humongous heads, for crying out loud.

So, now I need to make Tobie his pants or long shorts - no, I still haven't decided which - and then some boxer briefs. Once those are done I can either send them off or, God willing, fly down to Tampa and take them to the kids myself. It's been 5 years since we have seen each other. That's a long, long time.

I need to go. I'm getting really tired. Maybe I can even sleep in the bed tonight! Usually I'm asleep for an hour, than awake for one or two, and it goes on like that all night. It's been this way for a few years now; it's getting old.

SWAP...sewing with a plan/purpose

I have been busy the last several days making some clothes for my grandchildren in Florida. I do a lot of sewing for the kids up here, and I felt like it was a good time to do some special things for Alex and Tobie. This is the first outfit I made for Alex. The top is made from Ooga Booga fabric and the pants are made from rib knit. I really like this look. I hope she does, too. I added the rose because, as usual, I messed up the V on the inset. I never can get those things right! However, I think the flower looks good on the top.

This outfit is made from Laurel Burch cat fabric and some midweight black broadcloth. I tied the two pieces together by making the upper ruffle on the top out of the black fabric and adding the cat appliques on the pants legs. It has been a while since I did an applique; fortunately, I remembered how to do it. I did have to clean the iron because one of the back pieces of the double fusible interfacing came off and it got the iron all gooey. I haven't done that in a while. The interfacing was old, though, and it tends to separate much easier when it gets older for some reason. The iron looks nice and clean now. I need to clean it more often; it would make things easier in the long run.

This dress is really kinda neat, though the directions for gathering the top part weren't very clear. There is elastic on the bottom gathered part; I thought when I bought it that it might be shirred, but instead it's just elastic inside a casing. The top gathered part is gathered and stitched. The directions merely say to pull it up to fit. I'm not sure I like that. It would have been a lot nicer to tell how wide to leave it. The lines also don't go quite far enough out on one side and the gathering ended up a little uneven. Of course, most people who look at it won't see those flaws...sewists are most critical of their own work.

The panties and cami in this picture were made with patterns in the Ottobre 4/04 issue. It took me 3 tries to get the piping on the panties right. Next time I will baste it in place before using the serger to sew the pieces together. I like the look of this pattern. Alex doesn't like her panties covering her tummy so this is a perfect design for her. It's also neat that this cami can double as a tank top.

This set was made from a Kwik Sew pattern that is now out of print. I don't know quite why they took their panties for girls and briefs for boys out of circulation. They could be making a lot of money if people could buy them somewhere besides Etsy, Ebay or other auction sites. I know the sewing group I moderate looks for these patterns and grabs them up as soon as they show up in a listing.

The cami in this set has lace across the top of it. I sewed it into place with two side by side lines of zigzag stitching and then used my embroidery scissors to trim the fabric that was underneath it, cutting close to the sewing. It was my second try at the lace, though I've done it before. Somehow I got the lace on the first top out of alignment and the point of the V ended up pointing to the left of the top instead of straight down. I must admit, though, that it looks nice and dressy. I really enjoyed making these sets.

This outfit was made for my youngest grand-daughter Anna Belle Rose. She's a precious little thing with a beautiful smile and she has her Oma wrapped right around her little finger. It's so good that she's close and I see her often; it helps ease the pain of having 3 grandchildren living on the property next to ours that I can't visit or call or talk to. I keep praying Becky will let go of the hate and bitterness she is holding on to so tightly, but at this point praying is all I can do. Anyhow, this is also made from an Ottobre pattern set. I made it a little on the large side but she will be able to wear it all winter long with no problem. Mom and Dad can even put socks and a onesie under it and it won't be too tight on her. It has plenty of room for her cloth diapers, too.




These are panties I made with the scraps from Alex's outfits. They are designated for a charity donation. Once I get Tobie's things done, I will add the extra boys' briefs I make to the girls' panties and send them to the lady I know who gives them to the spouse abuse shelter in her town. Our little area has way enough clothes for the moms and kids who need to find refuge in the shelter here. Not every shelter is so blessed. Not only that, but people often forget that clothing includes panties. Jeans and shirts and shorts and skirts and dresses are well and good, but you need undies, too....at least I do!


I have two of Tobie's shirts cut out. I need to cut out one more and then I'm going to make him a pair of jams, or board type big long shorts, but not the kind that he can house....I think that looks nasty and it makes the young men look like they don't have any respect for their own bodies. I'm also going to try to make him a pair of pants. It might be a bit tough because he's in that pre-adolescent pudgy stage and he's 1200 miles away so fitting is non-existent, but I'm gonna give it a good try. If nothing else, I'll make him some sweat-style pants out of a lighter fabric since it doesn't get all that cold in Florida.


Okay. I need to go do some dishes and eat and then get to sewing. I just wanted to put this in writing before I forgot.

Having fun

I belong to a Yahoo group called CoveredCaboose. They deal mostly with wool and bamboo fabrics for diaper making; they also sell some really neat knits and other fabrics. In addition, the group Mom has a pattern line called Ditto Daddy. I bought one of the patterns last week and made Little Miss A, my up-and-coming granddaughter, some new onesies. These are made specifically for babies who are cloth diapered. The name, fittingly, is Ditto Daddy Cloth Bum Onesies.

If you look, the snaps for the crotch aren't in the middle of the bottom. Now that place is hard enough to snap on babies wearing paper and plastic and petroleum diapers. There's a fullness to a diaper that doesn't lend itself to being squashed in the most abundant part. Oh no; these onesies snap up on the tummy, over the big mushy soft fluffy cloth diapers keeping the baby comfy and feeling all fuzzy. I have a snap press, like several other cloth diaper making people, and it makes applying the poly resin snaps much easier, not to mention a whole lot more fun because of the color variations and possiblities.

The tummy snap area, as well as the crotch one, is reinforced with my special blend of little pieces of fabric that allow stability while keeping the snaps from being pulled away from and possibly out of the fabric with repeated usage, which anyone who has ever diapered a baby knows their clothing gets a lot of.
So anyhow...I think this is my favorite pattern. I'm glad I bought it. The pattern itself is a little odd-looking at first but it explains itself fabulously well once you get going.
I will be using it again.

Now this dress is made from a Simplicity 50's retro pattern. It is also for Little Miss A, hopefully on her homecoming day (per Oma tradition). Before anyone thinks it - yes, I did put the snaps bottom side out. I happen to adore those little butt-ruffles and want to see all of them. The flat front is not as interesting as the ruffles, and little girls in ruffled diaper covers look absolutely adorable. The bonnet went together in a snap. I was really surprised at how easy it was to make. Actually, the whole pattern was pretty easy.


Here's a pic of the back of the dress and the whole lilac part of the diaper cover, which, by the way, is lined with Kona Snow fabric as is the bonnet, and the cover contains a hiddlen layer of PUL in case of leakage. Nothing like baby surprises on your Sunday best.

I also reinforced the snaps for the diaper cover with a layer of thick fabric so that they are stabilized and stronger. I don't want to take any chances.
I can't wait to see how son and his girlfriend like this outfit. They love the onesies. Nobody else will ever have one just like this one because it is made by an individual for an individual. No mass-produced BigBox dress-in-a-bag thing for my granddaughter. I try as much as I can not to support the proponents of a legal form or persecution almost to the point of slave labor all so that Americans can indulge their greediness and apathy for the people on the other side of their poor-quality cheaply abundant cookie-cutter possessions.


And enough of that.


The chickens have about had IT with the rain. They want spring and warm, not this weird weather we're getitng with cool and damp, warmer and damp, cool and damp, warmer and damp. We all get kinda cranky around those months when it's not winter any more but it's not spring either. I need to get my garden in, need to prune and rake as much as I can, and I need to paint the awful nasty stained inside of the chicken coop. I learned a lot this past year about what chickens can do with poop while they are sleeping. It ends up in the **strangest** places!!! Hubby is working more on the chicken coop. He finally got me another door at the other end of the run so I don't bonk myself in the head so much. I like this door. If it were a bit taller it would be nice, but you're not going to hear me complain.

Well, it's time to get going again. God's blessings on your and yours. Peace to you.

Christmas night

We do our Christmas on Christmas Eve. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, crescent rolls, stuffing, cherry and pumpkin pie. We forgot the green veggie. The turkey took 3 hours more than I thought it would to cook. I won't follow the directions on the package ever again. Instead, I'll put it in the oven and let it cook all day like I used to.

Abby and Donovan are getting a divorce. It's not been a fun few weeks. The economy is tough and Abby, who has been a stay at home mom, is trying to find employment so she can pay rent and the like. Being the holidays complicates it because so many places are only open a couple days a week for two weeks, and nobody is calling back right now. Someone she used to work with gave her a lead and we're praying it pans out. Between us, the family members on this side, we'll take care of the boys when she has them and it won't cost her anything. At issue is custody - who has them when, who drives how far and such - as well as dividing up the possessions. It's horrid to have this happen after 6 years of marriage, especially since it involves the same two "friends" that were involved on Donovan's side last time. Now Abby's feeling like she made a mistake to let him come back 4 years ago. However, hindsight is far more clear than seeing through the trees of the present, and I've spent a lot of time reminding her that none of us can see the future. I am praying this doesn't crush her spirit. She has such a sweet spirit...She's going back to school to be a teacher. She was going to do healthcare because it's supposedly faster but I reminded her that her whole life, all I've heard is that she wanted to be a teacher and that I thought that her love of kids would be better served that way and she decided to stick with her original choice. She's going to go to community college for the basics and then transfer to a larger school. It will save money and she can take lots of the classes online.

JR threw a rod in his truck. He kept telling them something wasn't right. I guess he knew what he was talking about. He is officially laid off till after the first of the year, at least. He can't get hold of unemployment, again because of the holidays, when he calls like they told him to do - but the website says if you don't file in a timely manner you can lose benefits. He needs money too...bills have to be paid.

I made way too many things I didn't take pictures of. I made pajamas, t-shirts, a maternity top, sweat pants, underwear, a couple girl's purses, and a nightgown. I am selling one of the girls' purses in my Etsy store. I cut out too many pieces so I decided I might as well just make and sell the extra if anyone will buy it. I guess it's time to take the stockings out of the store for now as well. I keep trying to sell things but nobody seems to want to buy them. It's frustrating.

The dryer quit. It's going to cost at least $300 to replace. I got a crack in the windshield of my car when a little pebble from the sand/chemical truck ricocheted and hit the windshield. That will be another $300 to replace. Then there is the issue of the tires on my car. They are going to need to replaced within the next couple of months.

Still, all in all, God has been good to us. We're all still alive. The kids are healthy. We have roofs over our heads. We have food in our tummies. We have each other. It will work out for the best just like He promises us in His Word.
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."(Romans 8:28)

He is faithful and good. We are blessed.

almost done

I got 28 of the diapers done before I ran out of foldover elastic. I also got the 8 soakers finished. I took them to Abby and she started using them right away. She really likes them and it makes me happy that she's using them instead of wasting them. I put a lot of time into those diapers.

Today the rest of the elastic showed up - I ordered more after I ran out. Now I can do the other 8 diapers and get them to Abby. Patrick will have 3 dozen diapers then and all he will need is some liners for when he's a bit older and wets more when he goes, and he'll need some larger soakers (covers) as he grows because the ones I made are quite fitted.

Abby's birthday is Thursday. I got her an outfit that I think she'll like, on clearance at WalMart, which gives me a perfect excuse to get her more things. I'm making her a pair of pettipants to go under her summer dresses to help with the chafing issue, and I found some fabric to make a really cute top from. I'm hoping to have that done by Friday when they come for dinner. We're grilling hot dogs and burgers, I think.

I moved the chickens around today. The young ones, being much more in number, are now in the larger portion of the coop. The 13 older birds are in the smaller part. This is only for about 3 weeks. Once the babies are 16 weeks old I can start feeding everyone layer feed and then they can be mixed together. It will be a little chaotic at first as the pecking order is established, but it will work out. By September I should have about 42 girls laying eggs for me, and 5 roosters who will, hopefully, get along so I don't have to cull anyone. I'm praying they just get along. They're all pretty birds and I don't want to butcher anyone right now.

I need to make banana bread in the morning, finish up the diapers, make the pettipants, and maybe get started on the top. Once her stuff is all done I am going to get started on the quilts for the twins since they turn 5 on August 3 and they get another quilt at 5. C's birthday is the 13th and I'm not quite sure what to give her. I do have some blocks from a round robin I could put together and machine quilt for her if I have time and am feeling up to it. Otherwise, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

I'm going to try to sleep tonight. I pray I can lie down next to hubby in bed and fall asleep. I'm tired of sleeping in the chair.

When the diapers are done and I take them to Abby's house I'll get pics of them and the covers and of Patrick wearing them. He's cute as a button in them. They also lessen diaper rash and are much cheaper to use. I think they're great. I'm making some as soon as I have some time and sending them to an organization that gives them to low-income moms who want to cloth diaper their babies but can't afford it. I think that's a great thing to do. I sure wouldn't want to wear plastic underwear!

sewing diapers

I'm in the midst of making 3 dozen cloth diapers and 6-8 soakers (covers) for my youngest grandson. The price and general feel of disposables is nasty and since they are on a horribly tight budget I offered to buy the fabric and make them for Abby so she can put the baby in them, saving about $16 a week that they can use on other things they need.

I have one dozen done. The others are waiting for my eyes to stop hurting so I can finish putting them together.

I found a free diaper pattern I tweaked, as usual, while retaining the original shape. Instead of stuffing them with liners each time, I just sewed 6 rectangular pieces of flannel together with a zigzag stitch and sewed them inside the diapers. That way it's all together already and there's nothing for her to lose.

These diapers use pins, not snaps or velcro or aplix. The nicest thing about that is that they can be used from birth through potty training. Most of the newer cloth diapers come in sizes, which means you buy new ones each time the baby outgrows the ones you already have.
When I diapered my kids, I used the same diapers all the way through, so I was glad to find this pattern.

The person who made the pattern also has in the instructions to sew the front and back of the diaper together and then turn it right side out, after which you add elastic to the legs. Not for me. I use FOE (foldover elastic) to bind the edges of the whole diaper and stretch it pretty much as far as it will go on the leg area. This saves time and also puts a nice edging on the diapers.

The soakers will be made of fleece with an extra piece of fleece and a piece of microfiber fabric sewn in "the wet spot" to help limit soak-through episodes. These particular soakers have bands at the leg openings and waist instead of elastic, which I like for a couple reasons. First, they are a bit more trim. Second, since most of my family inherited at least a piece of my intolerance for latex or rubber products, the use of elastic can be irritating. That's why, when I found this pattern, I downloaded it to use for the soakers. I downloaded all the sizes so I can make bigger ones as he grows.

I'm not using PUL for the soaker, either. PUL is a polyurethane laminate over fabric that makes it pretty much waterproof. It's all the rage in hand-crafted baby diaper covers these days. However, since polyurethane is a byproduct of petroleum refining and that is associated with the latex issue, I'm not using it. I'm hoping the soaker with the extra wet spot protection will do the trick.

Yes, she'll have to change him a little more often. No, they're not as convenient as disposables, and she will have to carry a bag to put the wet diapers in and such. However, they are MUCH cheaper than disposables and better for the baby, not to mention the environment. He will like the feel better. It has to be hot lying in plastic and paper and petroleum beads every day. Cloth which will breathe and let his skin do the same will be much better.

I also found a group that provides hand-crafted diapers for low income moms and after I finish these diapers I am hoping to feel up to making at least a few dozen and donating them to this organization. When I post the pics of the diapers I'll include the link to it. I believe they also accept cloth menstrual pads so I can make some of them too. Mine are great. It's much better than paper and plastic (again?) and feels softer on the skin. I don't get a rash from the flannel ones, either.

I guess that's enough for today. Have a blessed weekend.

wet month

We've been keeping track with the rain gauge. If my counting is right, we had around 16 inches of rain in May. We were 12 inches up for the year by last week. I believe the drought in this area is now officially over.

This morning I got my courage up and went in the chick area outside - the roofed one - armed with the shovel, rake, and broom, and proceeded to rake, sweep, scrape poop, and shovel stuff up. Once I had it at least 75% cleaner, I added some fresh hay and spread it a bit so that it will absorb some of the poop and some of the remaining dampness and then in a few days I can do it again and we'll have a clean outside area for the babies.

I can't do anything for the hens right now outside-wise. The dirt is either dirt or it's mud. They do have much more room inside, though, so they can go in there if they get hot or need a dry place to hang out. We do need to put some perches in there, though, so they have a place to sit that's not on the ground. Maybe I can come up with something.

I've been sewing a lot. I made a new dress, some headcoverings, a jumper, a blouse and a nightie for me as well as a jumper for Becky and a top and shorts for Abby. It's good to feel up to sewing. This week I need to start on June's birthday presents. Kenny will be 3 on the 15th and Tobie will be 7 on the 21st and they both need quilts...Kenny's will be a quillow and Tobie is getting a denim/flannel rag quilt since he outgrew the one I made him when he was younger. He asked for it specifically so that's what I'll make him.

I did call Tech Support and they helped me rig up this computer the right way so that the mouse isn't acting all whacky and the internet doesn't keep shutting down all the time. I'm most of the way adjusted to it now. In fact, the regular computer feels weird. Today I went to Walmart and got some stuff and picked up a dinner lap tray thing they had there to put the laptop on. I didn't know you're not supposed to put it on your lap or it can overheat. Now I'm not using a kid's tray...the one I had been using had given me a bruise from where the folded up leg piece rubbed against my knee.

I'm so blessed...yes I am...God is good.

Abby and the kids came over yesterday. Here she is playing with Patrick while the boys are taking a nap. He's getting so big!

These are my boys. They had to have a picture taken because Patrick did and if he does, they do. They're getting so big!

This is my Patrick boy. He's a hoot. He was smiling at me because the flash kept going off at him. He's such a cutie!

This is how Jimmy's new quillow looks when it's all folded up. It folds up lengthwise into thirds and then from top to bottom to top in thirds as well and it tucks into the little pillow space and voilà! A quillow!

This is the quillow opened up. It's about 45 or so inches wide and about 60 inches long. It's just the right side for a toddler!

I'm having a horrid time typing today. It must have to do with the 2 hours of sleep I got last night and my need for more. I've had to retype this several times as well as needing to re-upload the photos a few times and I also rearranged them more than once. I do some not-so-smart things when I'm tired. Between that and the meds I can be a real mess.

By this time next week we'll have baby chicks! I'm so excited. I hope the ground and coop will be dry by then. It's so soggy out there I'm afraid I'm going to slip and fall every time I go into the lounge area or walk back to the closed in yard.

I think I'll go take a nap. Maybe I'll be thinking more clearly after that. Right now I can barely type. Thank goodness for spellcheck and the backspace key!