I got the flu (minus stomach stuff - thank God) on Valentine's Day. Until that unfortunate event, I had planned to make these even-tastier-than-they-look red velvet cupcakes. I had posted on Facebook that I had eaten the most scrumptious Starbuck's red velvet cupcake one day and that - three days later - I couldn't get it off my mind. An old acquaintance quickly offered to send me her most requested recipe of all time, and it was decided. I would make red velvet cupcakes for all my sweet valentines this year. And now we're back to the first sentence of this paragraph...
Two weeks later, after the last of the our family of four had finally recovered from our disabling disease, I decided the time had come to compromise our immune systems by suddenly introducing lots of refined sugar to our diets surprise my beloved family with the sweet treats that they had missed when I was sick.
They were much better (and much less expensive) than Starbuck's. And now there are only two left, so I volunteered our entire family of addicts to give up sugar for Lent next week. I routinely volunteer my family to give up sugar with me a couple times a year (and we often like to participate in giving things up for Lent b/c we enjoy the discipline even though we are neither Jewish nor Catholic)...but really? It is going to be hard to stop thinking of these.
The other thing I made last week is...
...a skinny, naked baby! OR that cute bird print diaper cover. I think the last time I sewed a diaper was last winter, so I was worried about being out of practice. Nope! Like riding a bike.
I used my homemade pattern which is a knock-off of the Flip Diaper by Cotton Babies (my favorite diaper in the whole world if you're wondering). The reason I wanted to make this diaper cover is 1. Cute bird fabric has been sitting in my laundry/craft room for months, begging to cover a sweet baby bottom. 2. One night while lying awake in bed (typical Amelia), I suddenly thought of a way to make stretch tabs which was the one thing I hadn't been able to mimic in my previous knock-offs: FOE, which stands for fold over elastic. Genius. Then I waited two months before I tried it. :-) Anyway, I adore the way it turned out. The stretch of the tabs gives it a better fit I think. The fact that I have two tabs on each side, allows for a different setting for the waist and the legs. My skinny baby needs it tighter around the waist than the legs, and this allows me to do that.
Look at those tabs stretch! Now to see how they hold up after some use and abuse. :-)
Well that's it. I haven't been too crafty at home lately (compared to my past). It seems that doing the crafts for MOPS gets it out of my system a little bit. I hope to get back to crafting a little bit more, but we will see. The warmer temperatures and sunshine outside are beckoning to me, so I may have missed my "holed up for winter" chance. Time will tell!
6 comments:
I love the cover, and the fold over elastic tabs are ingenious. I have skinny waisted babies, too. Did you just use an old Flip diaper for a pattern? Is the fabric PUL?
Thank you! Yes and yes! I occasionally purchase PUL from this co-op: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PULPurchasePower/, but I have purchased retail (solid colors) from verybaby.com as well. (The fabric from the co-op takes a month or two to arrive since the order is placed before the fabric is sent to the "lamintors")
Do you use cloth?
I'm wanting to start making cloth diapers for the new baby!
I am so impressed! I would love to sew some more diapers (I love the FLIPs too, I think you were the one who recommended them to me) but I don't think my sewing skills are quite there yet. Is it much cheaper to make yourself? Do you make your own inserts? I might just have to try this!
Thank you so much for the info! I love print PUL, and locally can never find anything but solids. I use cloth mostly full-time with my daughter (except for at night) and it's going fantastically. Haven't ever used a Flip diaper. Mostly just BumG's, Dream Eze's and thristees fitteds with covers. Again, thanks for the link!
@Sarah, I don't make my own inserts. I just used prefolds! (CHEAP). Making your own diapers can cost 1/3 - 1/2 of the cost of the store-bought ones. It just sort of depends what method you choose. For example, to do the snaps, you have to buy a die set and either a snap press or use a drill press. Those come from a specialty store online. (thesnapstore.com is one that I like) So...that definitely raises your per diaper cost significantly unless you make a ton of them. :-)
Honestly, I think the only real reason to make your own is if you must have cute fabric or you just plain like to sew things. In other words, you just want to. :-) It's enough work and takes enough time, that I personally don't think $ alone is the main reason to do it.
If you want a list of my resources, email me and I'll dig it up for you. arosethompson at yahoo dot com
Post a Comment