Natural Violet is up and running

I am finally starting Natural Violet again after about a two year break. I think the last time I sold through Natural Violet was at a Holiday Market when I was about 4 months pregnant with the little guy. It has definitely been a long time. I started this blog originally to get myself going again with crafting and hoping that would lead to starting up the business again. It has definitely helped to blog about my crafting adventures and I think it was the boost I needed to get everything going again. I really love crafting and have enjoyed selling through my home business. It is so great to be able to make thing for others and help out my family as well.

The direction of the new Natural Violet is towards baby crafting. I am going to make organic cotton and hemp cloth diapers with inserts and other fun diapering accessories. I am also going to make baby clothing from organic cotton and hemp fabric as well as recycled fabric. I am going continue with the quilt making. I hope to incorporate as much green fabric into my products as possible.

The new website is up for viewing at Natural Violet. It is really basic but covers all the bases. I am going to sell through Etsy for now and hopefully at local craft shows. I am still fine tuning a few patterns and hope to have some items in the Etsy shop soon. For now, I will keep the blog updated with my product making adventures. Lots of diapers and Teeny Pants on the way.

Another cottage loaf

I made a cottage loaf this weekend. I used a third whole wheat and the rest white flour. I recently bought fresh yeast which is a really good deal cost wise if you bake a lot. I found the fresh cake yeast at the Whole Foods bakery. I used 0.75 ounces of fresh yeast instead of the freeze dried package. I mixed it with the liquids and let it sit a bit before I mixed everything else together. The bread turned out great. The only problem with the cake yeast is it is very perishable and needs to be used within a few weeks or less. I have seen a few estimates for shelf life online. It can also be frozen, but I haven't had good results so far. It is probably because I forget about the yeast and it stays in the freezer way too long. Anyway, it produced a really nice bread with and great texture.

Teeny pants - more recycled t-shirt pants

I have gone through a few iterations of the "Teeny pants". That is my new name for the recycled t-shirt pants. I am sure it is not extremely original, but it is cute and fits the pants. So I have made the Teeny pants with both an upward and a downward curving gusset or a smiley and frowny face. Sorry, more cute terms. I have also worked on giving room in the seat portion for movement and diapers. I originally tried making the waistband curved to allow more room, but found it difficult to sew in the the elastic casing with a curved seam. I switched to allowing more curve in the gusset and it works great. The only difficulty is I am not sure if the pattern will work for non-stretch fabric since the gusset portion is a little larger than the bottom back. Well, only one way to find out, so that might be my next project. I also worked on the cuffs and they fold great in the final pattern. I like having cuffs of course since he is growing out of his pants so fast in length it is amazing. So here is my latest and I think final version of the Teeny pants. I have also included pictures of the other pattern styles I have tried during the process.

Red velvet recycled diaper

I have been sewing lots of stuff for the little guy during the many snow days we have had over the past week or so. I found a pair of bright red cotton stretch velvet pants at the local thrift store and I decided to use the fabric to make another recycled diaper. I turned and stitched this diaper instead of using zig zag edge. The pattern is the same as for the recycled t-shirt diaper. The diaper is really plush and fits great. I use Snappis to close it, but it also works without closures if I use a close fitting cover. I used the red cotton velour on the outside and a layer of hemp knit and recycled fleece on the inside. I have to say the cotton stretch velvet makes a really fabulous diaper. I also made a new insert using organic cotton and hemp jersey. The insert is 15" x 13" and is three layers of fabric. I rounded the edges and used a fancy stretch stitch to sew it together. I also sewed down the middle to secure the layers. I fold it in thirds and it fits perfectly in the pocket.

Snow coconut cream

We got a lot more snow this weekend and I love it. It has been a lot of fun and reminds me of being a kid up in snowy western NY. We are supposed to get a few more inches tomorrow which is very exciting. Little guy has really taken to the snow and is having as much fun as his mom in the winter wonderland. We spent a lot of time shoveling yesterday to get the car out and also to build a sledding run in the back. It turned out great and the little guy made his mother proud when he went down it by himself. He laughed the whole way and at the bottom all he said was, "More, more". A friend of mine posted about how she was going to make snow ice cream. I looked up a few recipes on the web and decided to try it out myself. It is basically milk, sugar and lots of snow. I made a vegan version using coconut milk, sugar and vanilla. It turned out really good and tastes like a coconut slushy. Here is the recipe. It is definitely worth making the next time you get a good snow storm.

Coconut snow cream

Place a large bowl out in the yard when it starts snowing to collect fresh snow.

1 can of whole coconut milk
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
A lot of fresh snow

Blend the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla together in a food processor or blender to dissolve the sugar. Add snow until you get to the desired thickness. Whatever is left over can be placed in the freezer.

Reusable baby wipes

Cloth baby wipes are very easy to make. They can be made from any absorbent fabric scraps you have in your stash. They are also really cost effective and simple to clean if you are already using cloth diapers. I throw the baby wipes in pail with the cloth diapers and wash them at the same time. I made a few more recently to add to the pile. These are made from a flannel receiving blanket and a baby hooded towel. I used the flannel on one side and the terry cloth on the other. I cut the wipes about the same size as the ones you buy. They measure about 7 x 8.5 inches. I put the two layers together and finished the edges with a closed zig zag stitch. I fold the wipes in half and stach them in a regular wipe container. I add a simple herbal wipe solution and presto I have my own reusable baby wipes.

Herbal baby wipe solution

2 cups distilled H20
1 teaspoon baby body wash ( I like California Baby or Baby Oh Baby)
1 teaspoon oil (I use almond, apricot kernel or sunflower oil)