Here For The Party!

Have you heard of the Ultimate Blog Party? I've checked it out in the past, but quickly got sidetracked, overwhelmed, what-have-you. Since I am trying to grow my readership and be more productive on my blog, I thought I would really give it a go this year! Woo hoo - a party without the mess!

For those of you checking in via the UBP, welcome! I am Jen. I am a 32 year old wife and mother of 3. There may or may not be more children in the future. I have been homeschooling my children for almost 4 years now. I am interested in all things to do with the home, the more natural the better. I am learning to sew, I like to garden and can, baking and cooking are fun, and I really don't mind cleaning, especially if I can use natural products. My baby usually wears home-made cloth diapers, and I am nursing for the first time. I try to be a good steward of what I have been blessed with by re-using things, and I love buying second-hand. I enjoy the thrill of couponing and walking out of the store having spent very little while getting a lot!

Most importantly, I believe God. I don't just believe IN Him. I believe the promises He's given us in His word, and I am striving to trust in Him more every day. Some days are easy. I love being home with my family. Others are harder. My husband has been unemployed since February 1st. However, I know that in all situations, my Savior loves me, has the best plan for me, and will provide all I need and more. I think patience is the hardest part of the equation!

So, thanks for stopping by, and please let me know you were here! I hope you'll come back soon!

More diapers

Little Miss happily wore the tiny newborn diapers I made for her . . . for a couple of weeks. Then they started getting tight on her. If I had made the wings longer, they would have been fine. It was a good thing that they ended up not being water-proof, though. I was able to squeeze a couple more weeks out of them by leaving them undone and just using the covers to hold the diapers on. I'm not finished making the next size up - I have 11 completed, and 2 more that are partially done - not to mention the numerous pieces that are cut out but still unsewn.



On the left you can see one of the newborn diapers I made. On the right, one of the "size 1" diapers I made. I bought a pattern this time - Darling Diapers Unlimited. I technically made the newborn size of that pattern, also, but it obviously runs so much larger than the pattern I drafted! I made them with pale pink PUL on the outer surface, and minky on the inner surface. There is a layer of French terry (from re-purposed baby towels) sandwiched in between. The soaker (the long thing that lays over top) has 3 layers of micro-fiber inside, with minky on top and some re-purposed t-shirt on the back.



If you've never used diapers like this before, then you can see from the picture above that the soaker, even though it looks too big, does in fact fit in the diaper very nicely. I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out, even though I got to the point were I didn't care what they looked like, as long as they were functional. Half of them have a clover green inner, instead of the darker pink. They work the same, though. Hopefully I can get a few more finished soon. Little Miss still hasn't settled into a routine yet, making it difficult to get much done. I'm half-tempted to just keep washing these twice a day and start on the next size, knowing that I should have them all done by the time she grows out of these ones!

First Try at Sewing Diapers

First off, let me start by saying that I have chosen to do cloth diapers with this baby in order to save money, and also because I believe it is better for the baby and the environment. However, learning to sew has led me into a whole new hobby, which has me buying patterns (on sale or second hand), fabrics, and "notions". My scrapbook supplies are getting jealous.

Here is the first round of diapers I've sewn. I made a few of the pink ones and the orange ones - I got those fabrics at Walmart. The other fabrics I got at JoAnn. I made the most of the blue farm animal print and the white duck & frog print, 8 each, I believe. The outer fabrics are all flannel, except the orange, which is cotton knit. The yellow inner is fleece, and the blue inner is stretch terry. I loath sewing with french terry. These diapers have a hidden layer of PUL, but I know that they may end up wicking because of the way that I constructed them, so I have some newborn covers to use if need be.



They are definitely newborn-sized, as you can see from the comparison to a disposable newborn diaper.



The duck & frog is my favorite! I intend to buy more of it, to make other baby items. I have enough scraps to make a bib, some booties, and some cloth balls or blocks.



When I began making these diapers, I was convinced this baby would come early, like Super Girl did. At 7#, Super Girl wore newborn diapers for the first 6 weeks, since she was so scrawny that she swam in size 1. Now that this child has made it to her due date, I'm not sure I will be using these diapers at all! It's a good thing I have already started on the next size up!

New Obsession

Picking up a new hobby while pregnant is dangerous. My brain becomes much more obsessive (I've been dreaming about it), and there are suddenly tons of things I'd love to do "before the baby comes". My latest obsession is sewing. I have wanted to learn to sew for a while, but didn't actually start until a couple of months ago. It all began because I wanted to do cloth diapers with the baby. We can't afford disposables, plus I believe cloth is better for the baby and the environment. The major problem is that there can be a fairly large start-up cost with cloth diapers. My cloth-diapering friends some how convinced me, the sewing dummy, that I could make my own. I have been working on newborn diapers since the end of May. I'm finally finishing them up this week. More on this topic later.

Anyhow, I needed to feel like I was accomplishing something. I needed a completed project. While at JoAnn Fabrics, I came across a bolt of material that was already shirred on the top, and had a fair amount of length underneath that. Super Girl thought it was cute, and asked me to make a shirt for her out of it. Since it was on sale for $1.50 a yard, I thought, "Why not?" I spent at least an hour on Father's Day, "whipping up" this shirt. It took longer than I expected, considering all I had to do was sew it together down one side and make straps. It turned out really well, though - if I do say so myself.