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.

time for more chick pics

Ameraucana chick

Cuckoo Marans chick

Turken chick

White Wyandotte

Mystery bird

Group shot

Three musketeers

Turken trio

Ameraucana duo

The chicks are getting big. They love to go under the outside overhang, which we have blocked off so the big birds can't beat them up. It'll be at least another 12 weeks before I can blend the group, by which time the babies will be big enough to hold their own against the grownups.

They like scratch grains in small quantities. They love worms. They'll also eat dandelion greens and bugs once they figure out it.

The big birds have picked up with laying again. I'm getting more eggs than we've had in a few months. I'm thrilled with that. They love dandelion greens, worms, old buttermilk, cottage cheese, bread and all kinds of leftovers. They far prefer the goodies to their regular food, just like they'd rather drink out of a mud puddle than drink clear water from the waterer. Go figger.

I'm kinda tired so this will be short but I wanted to get up the pics of the 6-week-old birds before they were older.

Have a blessed week.

Just....ouch.

I cleaned the smaller covered area of the outside chicken coop Monday afternoon and was in the middle of moving the stump we leave there to sit on so we can watch the birds and I slipped in the mud. I landed hard against the stump with my backside and then landed on my butt and my right arm. I sprained that wrist a while back and just bought a brace; I never went and got it checked. It bugs me off and on. My backside, however, is not happy. I have a sideways bruise about 8 inches long and it's probably 2-3 inches wide except in the middle, where it's bigger.

I believe that I at least bruised my tailbone. It HURTS. If it hurts this much to bruise it when I'm on narcotics, what would it have felt like if I wasn't on them? My youngest daughter did hers a few years back but the bruise she got was about 1/4 or less the size of mine.

Instead of sitting or lying around and fussing, though, knowing already that position and activity level really usually doesn't affect the fact that I'm going to hurt whether or not I like it, I did make myself get up yesterday and do some of the things I usually do. It makes no sense to sit around and then get sore from not moving. That just makes it worse.

I did have to take 1/2 a 7.5/750 Lortab Monday night but haven't had one since. I'm going to need one soon, though. I can feel it.

If I sit in a hard chair on a round pillow (my equivalent of a donut cushion) it helps my butt feel better. However, due to my reaction to this dose of Methadone, my feet swell up like dinner rolls rising on a baking sheet. If I put my feet up, my butt hurts.

Hubby was messing with me Monday night - I've become quite the klutz since I started taking more meds than I eat - and he said, "I can't take you anywhere!" I looked back and said, "Well, it looks like you can't leave me here, either."

I'm going to see my doc when I can get in this week. I don't want to and I'm not sure how it's going to feel driving my stick shift car but I need to see her and I'll be careful and drive like a geezer if I need to. After a couple weeks when I can tolerate the manipulation, I'll go to my chiropractor and have her abuse me a bit because I'm pretty sure I'm out of alignment now.

This also made my shoulders tense and my head hurts. It's not the AFP. This is a headache.

Ah, life is wonderful.

4 weeks old

The chicks are 4 weeks old and growing like weeds.

My mystery chick...we think maybe she's a Partridge Rock or a Welsummer


A Marans chick


One of our 15 Turkens


A White Wyandotte


An Ameraucana - I'm not sure if you can see her green legs or not


This is a little group of girls being girls


The babies are going through almost 4 pounds of food a day now. I'd forgotten how much they eat when they're growing. It takes a lot of energy to get so much bigger than the chicks are at birth as well as changing the fluff they are born with for feathers of many colors. At 4 weeks, they are at least halfway feathered out. Another 2-4 weeks and they'll be done with that.

I cleaned the covered over outside area yesterday, swept what the rake wouldn't get up, and this morning I put down a clean flake of hay. It smells a lot better in there now.

Argh...that reminds me that I need to clean the baby coop area. 36 chicks can make a lot of droppings in a week, and that stinks. I guess maybe later today I'll clean that out and replace the litter so they don't smell up the whole yard.

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I added some plus-sized pettipants to my Etsy store. The headcoverings aren't selling, but I think maybe these will because every plus-sized woman who wears dresses with bare legs in the summer will suffer the consequences of chafing, which is very uncomfortable. Abby has already asked me for some. I'm probably making hers today if I get enough sleep in a while to be safe at the machine.

I need to go see my pain doc today, too, so I have to try to take a nap this morning after hubby leaves. I see her at 10:00 and she's about 35 minutes from here. If I sleep till about 8:30 and leave at 9:00 or so just in case I should be fine. Friday I see my psychiatrist. It feels weird to not be seeing either one of them more than every 2 months.

I should get my morning started. Hubby will be up shortly.

Another night with no sleep....~sigh~

more sewing

I made a new headcovering this morning to match my newest dress.

I didn't have one that looked good with it, at least not in my eyes, so I pulled out this fabric and made it.


I made it in the "D" shape that makes it more full and that way it doesn't have the wings that some of the shorter ones do.

I added ties to the bottom front so I could keep it on my head since I don't do well with elastic. It makes me itch or it squeezes my head, or both.



In a burst of creativity, I added a "brim" made of cotton quilt batting and another piece of fabric underneath and once it was all in one piece, I did some simple stippling on the brim to make sure the batting doesn't slide around.



I took off my glasses for this pic because the glare that shows up on pictures bothers me. You'll have to excuse the bags under my eyes. It's a mixture of lack of sleep and allergies.

I like how this covering looks. Maybe I'll make a few more in different colors.

I'm noticing how the longer I wear the headcoverings, the less I care about what other people think or say when they see I'm wearing one. I tend to get a bit more courtesy from most people, like doors held open and "excuse me" from people who cross in front of me and stuff, but I'm not asking for it. It's just happening. I don't know...maybe they think I'm a nun or something.

* * * * * * * * * *

Today I took Becky and her kids to the mall for a while. We walked around, then stopped and had pretzels as usual. I bought her kids each a new outfit at Penney's. I got a couple cute new cards to send someone when the urge strikes. I found more than a few things I would like to buy, but I am trying to be a bit more frugal with our money so I didn't do it. It wasn't all that easy because back when I was working I pretty much spent what I wanted, when I wanted. However, our family finances come first, and it's a bit tight lately because hubby didn't have overtime for almost a month so we're still catching up. Oh yes, and then there were the truck tires, and the 1/2 cow and the butchering fees, and the chicks, and more chick food, and the stuff for the garden, and gas for the mowers...

Now we have a bearing gone on one rider mower, and hubby thinks the pulley needs to be repaired as well. On the other older one, we have a problem with it liking to eat belts, and they are almost $30 each. Fortunately the first yard mowing of the year is almost totally done and hubby says the rest can be done with the push mower so we can wait till my disability comes in to fix whichever rider mower is cheaper to fix for now. The older one needs a newer, smaller deck, and that's going to be around $1500 with labor and all. It also needs new blades.

I am thankful God provides for us and watches over us and makes sure we are not overwhelmed as long as we remember that He sees and knows all we are going through and He is there with us - all we need to do is call on Him.

I pray peace and blessings on all of you, and have a good week.

staying busy

We've been doing a lot of yard work lately. Spring is always busy. We have a lot to rake; the first full mowing needs to be done; plants need to be pruned or removed; the garden needs to be started; it's interesting.

The dappled willows in the front did badly last spring and summer. We lost two of the three plants we had. We also lost a couple rose bushes and a peach tree.
I took clippings from the remaining dappled willow, put them in rooting compound, and we'll see if they take.

We have new daffodils I planted last fall.

We just put in new hollyhocks- I got the roots at ChinaMart and planted them in the other half of the hollyhock bed.

We got a new rose bush.

I found a bulb for a blue bearded iris and planted it for hubby. He loves irises more than I do. I hope it does well.

We also have the Rose of Sharon we planted last fall. We got that at the farmer's market for $5, I think.

I have tomato seedlings and broccoli plants growing now. I planted the cucumber seeds two days ago. I have lettuce going but it never does very well for me. I'm not sure why. Maybe I don't thin it soon enough. I also planted some chives.

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The chicks are growing like crazy. Man, can they eat! We went through 50 pounds of starter/grower in under 3 weeks. I know they're growing, but there is a huge difference in feed between 19 chicks and 36. Oh yes...and the poo issue. I have never seen so much poo at once.

They're feathering out now and look really cute. I can't wait till they get big enough to let out in the porch area so they can get fresh air and sunshine, but that will be another 3-4 weeks at least. They have to be fully feathered first.

We need to get a bigger feeder. I'm using two of the red plastic ones and they clean them out in less than 24 hours. I'll do that in a couple weeks when my disability comes in. In the meantime, I'll feed them twice a day. It won't kill me.

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Finally, after a lot of work, I have my bra pattern almost right. I made yet another one, changing the pattern again and using a different technique to apply the interfacing, and the resulting bra was *this close* to what I wanted to see. One more slash and tape session with the cups and I should have it just where I want it.

Here are a couple pics of the bra itself. One is on the hanger, and the other is on me so you can see that there is no fat hanging over the top of the side pieces, which is a major plus for this pattern. It's comfy and supportive, and it fits.


Here it is on the hanger.


Here it is on me.

I like how the black looks with the gray. I was going to do it all gray but really had trouble finding lace the right width and specifications that matched or at least looked decent so I decided black was going to be fine.

Once the pattern is settled, I have some really pretty fabric to make a few with. It gets frustrating that not only can I rarely find bras that fit, but that most of them are ugly and either white, nude or black. Plus sized women want nice bras in nice colors, too. Off-size plus sized women want them as well.

And this is where I've been and what I've been doing since I posted last.