I Haven't Forgotten How to Sew (or Bake) After All

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!

Happy Birthday to Me

Since my birthday this year coincided pretty closely with the birth of our daughter and our big move to New Mexico, we purposefully shoved it aside.   The fact that I'm closing in on 30 had nothing to do with it.  (Fine. I turned 27, but that's getting mighty close if you ask me!) 

Though it is a bit hazy in my mind, I do recall attending a birthday party that my beautiful sister-in-law and I shared (she is exactly one day older than I am!).  I almost didn't go because my body was overtaken with a mastitis that rendered me nearly useless to anybody, including myself, for a couple of days.  Right when I was supposed to finish packing the house.  Great timing, body. 

This particular birthday and it's party was right in the middle of those days.  My 102.8 fever broke right before the party, so I went.  And if I remembered it very well, I would tell you that it was delightful.  I'm sure it was! 

Fastforward several weeks.  My husband said something like, "Well now that we're getting settled in our new home and things aren't as crazy, let's talk about your birthday."  (Remember, we ignored it's existence. Busy busy busy.)  As it turns out, I get to pick out a new set of dishes to replace the dishes I can't believe we've been using all this time.  I purchased them at Walmart while in college.  They're very...green.  The color, not environmentally friendly.  Oh nevermind. 

Of course, I was thrilled with this news, and I plan to take my time picking out the dishes.  This is a serious decision, and  not one that I take lightly. ;-)  Any recommendations?

This birthday conversation reminded me that on my birthday I received some generous gifts.  Some of those gifts were green.  The color.  I planned to pool these gifts together and reward myself for all my hard work unpacking, purging (take two), and birthing a child without any medication.  Just kidding on that last one. ;-) New clothes!!! 

Then I stared deep into our new closet.  My wardrobe is not elaborate or particularly stylish, but after all my gut-wrenching purging (I am a pack rat if you must know, so it is hard work for me) I just couldn't bare to turn around and add to our...stuff.  This decision may or may not have subconsciously been influenced by the fact that I went to Target, tried on six shirts and walked out with a new hat.  Did I mention I gave birth to a child five weeks ago?

I mulled it over in my head during the next few days.  What items do I habitually eye but never dare to wish for?  What do I want that won't add to the general clutter (or laundry) of my home?  Something useful.  Something practical.  Something that I wouldn't randomly ask my husband for.  Something that won't need replaced in a year or two.

Guess what's coming to my house!?

This:

And This:

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEE!!!

Tutorial: Sew Your Own Nursing Cover

If you're like me, you hate spending $30 - $40 on a nicely hemmed piece of fabric that hangs around your neck for nursing coverage in public places, even though those contraptions are handy! And if you're like me, your super sweet sister-in-law already bought you one once upon a time and your also super sweet first child was such a spitter that it was constantly in the wash so you'd really like a nice backup nursing cover. Well, I made a back up over a year ago, and to put it bluntly, it was a sad attempt. Since then, through a bit of trial and error and later making a few nursing covers as gifts, I have nearly perfected my technique at sewing an imitation "Bebe au Lait/Hooter Hiders" brand nursing cover. I love their nursing covers to pieces but the frugal voice in my head says, "Don't buy what you can make!" So make your own version for $10 or less, using these picture heavy instructions.

Materials:

One yard of lightweight fabric, preferably 100% cotton. This time I used a nice quilter's fabric. In the past I have loved working with lightweight corduroy , but I couldn't find any patterns I liked in the corduroy this time. Just be careful that your fabric is not so lightweight that it is slightly see-through or won't drape nicely.


1/2 yard of boning, 1/2" wide. I really like this thinner stuff (vs. the fabric covered boning) because it holds it's shape well, but is still thin enough you can sew through it without breaking your needle. Below is a closeup picture of the boning so you can really see what it looks like:




Two D-rings, size 1"

Step 1:

Lay your fabric out on a flat surface, measure and cut as shown in the photo below.


Step 2:

Cut 10" off of the strap piece, so that you are left with 2 strap pieces, one 10" x 4 1/2" and the other 26" x 4 1/2".

Step 3:

For each piece, fold right sides together so that the width becomes 2 1/4".


Step 4:

For both strap pieces, sew along the outer edge, leaving about a 1/4" seam, but for the longer (26") strap, sew a diagonal line from the seam to the end for the last 8" or so. This is to make the end of the strap taper.



Step 5:

Trim off excess fabric. Then turn right side out, and press.


Step 6:

Top stitch along the edges of the pressed straps. It allows the the straps to continue to lay nicely even after many washes, and I think top stitching looks professional. For the straps, I do my top stitch about 1/4" in. You can sew yours closer to the edge if you'd like. It's really a preference thing. (Note, with the exception of the tapered end of the long strap, I leave my ends "unfinished." This is optional. You may like to finish your edges.) Set aside.

Step 7:

Take the "body" piece of fabric. Choose which side is top and which is the bottom based on your fabric pattern. The finished nursing cover will be a rectangular shape, wider than it is tall. Got that? The 36" side is the width, the 30" side is the length. This is so that the nursing cover will be wide enough to wrap around you and baby without anything peeking out the sides. ;-) (My measurements are little more generous than the Bebe au Lait covers for that very reason.)

Step 8:

For the top and bottom, "Roll" your hems in toward the "wrong" side of the fabric and press. I do this by folding the hem in about 3/4" of an inch, ironing it in place, folding it a second time, and ironing. This will give you a beautiful, crisp looking hem so even the backside of the cover will look nice. We will roll and press the side hems later after we have stitched the top and bottom hems. ***Important Note: Do not make your hem any smaller than 3/4" for the TOP of the nursing covers because you will need it to be wide enough to slide the boning into place later on.


Step 9:

Take a lighter and melt the corners of your boning on both sides. The reason for this is, depending on the type and weight of fabric you choose, the pointed corners of the boning could eventually wear through the fabric after excessive washes if we don't round them out. Don't light yours on fire like I did to mine. ;-) (See that charred edge? It won't hurt anything.)


Step 10:

Take your boning and center it on top of the pressed hem so that you can mark the hem where the boning starts and stops. These markings will be where we sew in the straps.

Step 11:

Stitch along the rolled, pressed hem on the inside edge, as close to the edge as you can. Remember, you need to make sure there will be room to slide the boning in, so if you don't feel comfortable sewing right on the edge, you will want to make your hem a little wider than 3/4". You can "eye it" too buy looking at your hem and the width of your boning. As you can probably tell, I like to "eye it" and I don't like to use pins unless absolutely necessary. Lazy, eh? ;-)


Step 12:

When you get close to your first marking from Step 10, slide an unfinished end of the short (10") strap underneath the unsewn hem. Make sure it doesn't shift, if you hate to use pins like I do. Or just pin it. :-D


Step 13:

Continue to sew along the inside edge of the hem as you did before, and sew right over the top of your strap. You're securing the strap into place. This is what it will look like after you have sewn over it. Yes, the strap is pointing toward the bottom of the nursing cover.


Step 14:

Repeat steps 12 and 13 for the long (26") strap and finish stitching all along the hem until you reach the end.

Step 15:

Go back to the beginning of the hem you just stitched and position your needle so that you can sew along the outside edge of the same hem. Again, sew as close to the edge as you can. This time, when you come to the sewn-on strap, flip the strap forward, and sew over the top of both the strap and the hem. This will put the straps in the correct position for use! We're getting close. :-)


Step 16:

Remember how I didn't finish the ends of my straps? Well here I decided I wanted to finish the exposed end of the short strap. I just folded in the corners, and then the end and stitched over the top of it. (Sorry the pic of that is really blurry.)


This is what the front side of that finished end looks like now (before I trimmed up my threads):


Step 17:

Slip the D-rings onto the middle of short trap.


Then fold the newly finished edge of the strap down to the backside of the nursing cover so that the edge lines up with the bottom of your hem. Stitch it into place, sewing over your stitches from before.

Step 18:

Sew the D-rings into place so they don't slide around the strap. Do this by sewing in a straight line about a half inch below the rings.


Step 19:

Now slide the boning into your top hem until it is positioned in the middle of the two straps.


Make sure you have the boning turned properly when you insert it so that it bows outward from the body as shown below:


Step 20:

Once the boning is in place, sew right over the top of it, the full width of the boning on each end. This will prevent the boning from slipping or twisting inside the hem over time. This step is especially important if your hem is more roomy than my 3/4" hem.


Step 21:

Sew the bottom hem of the nursing cover just as you did the top. However, for the bottom hem (and the sides hems) you only need to sew as indicated in Step 11 - no need for sewing both sides of the them unless you just want to. I think it looks nice on the top hem with the boning in it and all.

Step 22:

Roll and press your seams to make hems for both sides. Sew hems as before.

Step 23:

Thread the long strap through the D-rings on the short strap and pull tight.

Step 24:

Try it on to make sure it's adjusted comfortably for you.

Step 25:

Nurse that baby in public!

Notice the different ways the nursing cover can be worn in the below photos. Some people prefer to wear it "apron style" with the boning opening up the top so you can peek at your babe, and the sides sort of tucked under your arms:


Some prefer to wear it "shawl style" with one shoulder exposed and the boning pulled flat against you. This option is part of why I made my pattern as wide as I did. With my Bebe au Lait cover, I can't comfortably wear it this way - it would fall off my shoulders. Look at how well this one drapes around my shoulers in these pictures though:



And please excuse my mediocre "point and shoot" photography for this turtorial, especially the awful self portraits. I was being quiet serious earlier in this post when I said that sometimes I'm a lazy crafter. How else can I get these things accomplished during one daily naptime!? :-)

Let me know if you try it!

Too Many Cloth Diaper Pics, Not Enough Diapers :-)

Here are some pictures of the latest additions to the cloth diaper stash! Check out my lovely snaps. :-) After some pattern tweaking, I really think I'm happy with these diapers. The other ones I made are good, but these make them seem horrible in comparison.

In other news, Bella walked about 15 feet across the livingroom today sort of absent-mindedly while playing with a toy in her hands. The other day I said to someone, "She can walk, she just hasn't proved it to herself yet so she's afraid to let go." Well I think that going from a few steps, to across the room in one day pretty much proves me right there. Needless to say, Clay and I are THRILLED at what a big girl she has become! Sometimes we just look at her in amazement that she...just...IS. Anyway, video of Bella walking to come soon. ~Amelia

Inside of diapers. This is Alova Suedecloth inner.


A good look at the sham-style pocket openings.


Snaps snap snaps! I love 'em. The top row is for closing the diaper, and the three vertical rows are for adjusting the size of the diaper (it's a "one-size")


Both diapers here are on their largest setting.


Pink is on large, green is on medium. Bella wears the medium size at 19 lbs. or so.



Pink is still on large, green is on small. Notice how the tabs can cross for additional adjustability.


This closeup on the tab (also made with the suedecloth) shows the lightly patterned fabric. It is so soft and this fabric is said to look brand new after dozens and dozens of washings.


Closeup of inner. See my pocket?


Modeling! ha ha. I just realized her pants are in the picture on the floor. Oops.


Nice coverage, great fit.



This has nothing to do with the diaper. Just wanted to make you smile. :-)



Showing off the diaper from a different angle.

The Problem of the Cranky Hour SOLVED!

Roughly the same time each day, while I am quickly trying to prepare dinner, Bella has chosen to be grumpy. The only thing that I can do to solve this is to hold her. That's what she seems to want. Awhile back, she took a daily third nap during that 4:30/5:00 hour but she has outgrown that nap but not the crankiness. Tired of the whining, and unable to successfully cook with one hand, I made a mei tai style baby carrier which is Bella's (and my) new favorite thing! Oddly - being that she is 11 months old - she prefers to face in toward Mommy rather than out to see the world. If I turn her out, she spends much of the time trying to twist her body around. When she is facing me, she plays with my face and occassionally lays her head on my chest in a snuggle moment (something she very rarely does!). So in this way the girls make dinner together for Daddy together. And my nerves (and heart) feel better between 4:30 and 5:30. Oh, AND I spent less than $15 to make this versus the $40 - $100+ it would cost to buy one. And one more thing, my flower "panel" is interchangeable! I can make different panels to coordinate with outfits, seasons, moods. So much fun.