Esty shop is finally up and running

I finally have the Natural Violet Etsy shop up and running. I have flower pins made from recycled t-shirts. I also have fun hemp/organic cotton bibs and burp cloth sets along with a few baby teeny pants. I am working on the recycled wrist bags and should have listing for those in a few days. I am also knitting neck warmers/cowls from recycled yarn and plan to sew a few neck warmers from recycled sweaters. I should have the store fully stocked by the end of week so please take a peek. Please also excuse my lack luster photos. I need to work on my photo taking skills. I figured if I wait until I have good photo skills then I will likely never list anything. Hopefully the photos are descriptive enough and please feel free to contact me with any questions. Happy holiday shopping!

Homemade playdough. Violet too!

The little guy and I made playdough today. It was really easy to make and a lot of fun. I found the recipe online at playdoughrecipe.com. I asked him which color dye he would like to use for the dough and he wanted purple. I used regular food coloring and added 10 drops of neon blue and 20 drops of neon purple to the water. It turned out a really nice violet color. Little pumpkin decided to add a face to the dough. Very fun!

Fold over clutches from recycled pants

I just made a few of the fold over clutch purses using a really cute pattern from keykalou. The pattern is easy to follow and comes in three sizes. The bags are made from recycled pants and cotton prints. I made the medium and small size. I added a d ring to the medium size and plan to add a strap to turn it into a wristlet. The pattern is available for use by home crafters which is really sweet. Fun to be back to sewing again. Speaking of sewing, I finally caved and bought a new sewing machine. I bought a Juki 98qe quilting machine. I am so excited. I will post a review as soon as it gets here. I can't wait to start quilting again. Fun!

Make your own undies

I finally made underwear for myself. I am a bit picky when it comes to underwear and decided to make some for myself since I can't seem to find comfortable ones in the stores. Plus it is really inexpensive to make your own undies and you can make them in fun colors. I got the idea from amy a la mode. She has a copy your own undies tutorial on her blog. I used recycled t-shirts and a pair of comfy undies for my pattern. The edging is fold over elastic though I would really like to try using stretch lace for future pairs. I made the yellow undies first and didn't pull the top foe very tight so it is a bit loose. I adjusted the foe on the second purple pair and they fit great. I love the photo of Jonas and Ginger on the yellow undies. The photo quality is poor, however, it really is a wonder that I get any photos taken since I typically have someone stepping on my crafty stuff right about the time I am ready to take the photo. I do miss our old hardwood floors. They provided such a nice back drop to all the photos. Actually what I really need is a photography class.

Freezer paper stencils

I am playing catch up on blog posting. I have a few fun projects and never got around to posting. I have been busy with house stuff over the past six months. We painted and fixed just about everything in our little house to put it on the market. We decided it was time to get a bigger place. We want more storage and another bedroom. I would like more room for crafting of course. After we painted and fixed up the whole house, we packed up everything that wasn't essential and staged the house. It was really nice to live in a clutter free house for a while, but a big challenge to keep it that way with a two year old and three cats running around. We sold the house in about two months and are now living in a rental townhouse. We are still looking for a new house, but hope to find something in the next few months or so. Now that all the house stuff has settled a bit, I hope to do more crafting. First I need to catch up on posting.

I have wanted to try freezer paper stencils for a while. There are so many cute examples online from all the crafty folks. I bought a few packs of cotton t-shirts for Jonas and dyed a couple with aqua Procion dyes. I found free stencils online at www.spraypaintstencils.com. I used freezer paper and regular fabric paint to put a dolphin on a t-shirt. It turned out really cute and I have made a few more t-shirts since then that I will add as soon as I take photos. He calls it a narwhal which is really funny. He has the Eric Carle alphabet flash cards and has learned the names of all sorts of interesting animals. I like the way the dolphin looks like it has a eye. Not sure how that happened with the paint, but it is a fun addition.

New training pants pattern

I purchased the Baby Steps EC Pants pattern from Little Comet Tails and made a few pairs for the little guy to use as waterproof trainers. The trainer pattern fits really well and is very trim under the little guys clothing. I made the training pants in the picture out of the pul fabric available at JoAnn Fabrics. I got the fabric on sale which was really nice. The colors are vibrant and the fabric feels like a good weight. However, it has not held up so well to repeated washing and drying. In particular the lime green fabric is now starting to pucker and the lamination is coming off the fabric. The fabric still works well even with the separation, but aesthetically it is not so pleasing. I think I will stick with buying the pul online at diaper fabric shops. I lined the diaper with a polka dot flannel fabric. The liner is made with six layers of bamboo and hemp jersey that is topped with a layer of flannel.

Pumpkin sugar scrub

I just started using powdered fruit extracts in the my body care products and I am really excited. I bought a variety from DIY Cosmetics and I really love the results. I bought pumpkin, mango, pineapple, custard apple and papaya. I became interested in the fruit extracts because I wanted an easy way to make facials and also get the fruit enzyme benefits. I did originally try fresh papaya and pineapple as a facial, but I found I didn't do it very often just because it is a bit labor intensive and I don't usually have fresh papaya on hand. I figured there is an easier way and some place must have dried papaya for body care products. I was very happy to find them online. Yesterday I tried the pumpkin sugar scrub recipe on DIY Cosmetics website and it is a real treat for the skin. Very fun and it gives me a lot of ideas for future concoctions.

Pocket fitted t-shirt diaper

Pretty sad I know, but I haven't posted anything new since the holidays. I do have a pretty good excuse. We are trying to sell our 860 square foot house and it needs some tlc. Mainly cosmetic including a lot of painting which in general I really like to do. However at this point I am really glad it is almost done. I still need to paint the laundry room and touch up a few spots. After that is my least favorite task which is cleaning. The house is a big old mess and needs some serious cleaning. In between all the house fixing up I have managed to sew a few fun items including trying out a few new diaper patterns. He wears training pants for the most part but still wears diapers at night time so I still have an excuse to make more fun diapers.

This diaper was made with a t-shirt of course and lined with two layers of hemp jersey dyed with Procion dyes in avocado. I really like pocket diapers since they dry so quickly. However, I make so many different types of diapers that it gets a bit confusing as to what insert goes with what diaper. So I am experimenting with making pocket diapers that have an attached insert that can be stuffed in a pocket. The pattern I used for this diaper is the free BaaBaaBaby diaper cover pattern. I made the large size. I did tinker with the pattern a tiny bit and added to the front wings to make it a bit larger in the waist. It fits really awesome and since I put elastic throughout the entire top he can actually pull this diaper off like training pants. It does not come with an insert pattern since it is a cover, so I borrowed the insert from the Trimsies diaper pattern which is another really great side snapping pattern. I made a cute pocket Trimsie with a lay in soaker that I will have to write about soon. I plan to wash the diaper with the next load and see how quickly it dries. I am not sure if you can see it, but there is a tiny little hole in the front of the diaper. I didn't notice the hole on the shirt when I cut it out and of course it is right up front. I will have to think of way to cover it up. I might try an applique or more than likely I will forget about it which is the likely scenario these days.






So I did fix the tiny hole with a heart applique. It turned out pretty cute.

Happy Holidays!

T-shirt training pants

We have had a major break through with potty training over the past week. The little guy now tells me when he needs to go pee while he is wearing his training pants. Yay! He has been going to the potty really well when he runs around the house bare bottom but not so much when I put training pants on him. I decided to try the non-waterproof training pants exclusively for a few days and see how it goes. The first day the training pants were wet pretty much every time, but by the second day we had a few dry ones in between. Now his training pants are staying pretty dry. He is also telling me when we are out and he needs to go potty though I still have him in a diaper.

To celebrate how well he is doing, I am making more pull on training pants in a variety of fun colors. I make the trainers out of recycled t-shirts with a bit a lycra stretch. I line them with hemp and organic cotton fleece. The insert is sewn in and made of three or four layers of hemp fleece. The pattern I am using is sort of a cross between boxers and briefs. It is cut longer in the legs and has a snugger fit than some of the other patterns. I really like the fit since he can bend down and there are no gaps in in the legs. The pattern is the Alva Training pants from Fitzpatterns and it is only $2 for the pdf file so a great deal. I added the contour insert and liner to my pants to make them absorbent. I know I write this all the time, but I hope to post a tutorial on how I make the pants. They are really super cute and fun to sew.

Toddler jammies from t-shirts

I made a pair of pajamas for the little guy out of two turtleneck shirts I found at the thrift store. The fabric is cotton with a little lycra for stretch. I used the sleeves to make the pants and then cut out the shirt from the main body. I used extra large shirts, but found I couldn't quite get the entire long sleeve shirt and pants cut from one. I like the color contrast though and I have enough material left over to make more training pants. I actually made this set a few months ago and it is already getting small. I am glad I sew clothes for him since he grows out of everything so fast.