Recycled pink velour fitted newborn diapers

I'm making progress on the diaper stash for our little girl. I just finished making newborn fitted diapers. The pattern is the same as for the one size ai2 diaper. Instead of pul fabric I used recycled cotton velour from a pair of thrift store pants for outside fabric. It is lined with bamboo/organic cotton velour. The snap in soaker pad is lined also with the bamboo/organic cotton velour. It has two layers of hemp fleece that I recycled from older diapers from J. It also has two layer of bamboo/hemp jersey. These diapers require a waterproof cover which I plan to make in a few weeks. I decided to make a combination of ai2 diapers along with fitted diapers that require a cover. I like both styles and find it is nice to have a combination. I have nine ai2 diapers cutout using the pul from older covers from J. I plan to finish those up soon and move on to the one size small diapers. I bought bright red and purple velour pants at the thrift store for the diaper outer fabric so lots of fun colors.

Happy Halloween!

I am a little late in posting our Halloween costumes. We had a great time trick or treating at the UVA lawn and also passing out goodies at our house. This year we went with the family star wars theme. I made J a jedi costume from a few extra cotton curtains we had in the linen closet. The pattern is based on a karate outfit. I improvised the belt by looking online at jedi costumes. He really liked the costume and wore it to preschool on Halloween. I reused my Princess Leia costume from two year ago. I had a few wardrobe malfunctions. I couldn't find my knitted hair buns and the belt that just fit me the week before no longer fit. I added ties to the belt and improvised on the hair buns. I cut long tubes of black knit fabric and stuffed those with bamboo fill. I attached the buns to the headband since I couldn't figure out a way to attach them to my hair as I did with the knitted buns. All it all it turned good and was comfy to wear on my 26 week preggo body. For C I also reused the cape from wizard costume I made two years ago. I made a similar belt for him to wear of the cape so it was easy to get together. It was a lot of fun dressing up as a family again.

Lavender and geranium lotion bar

I am not sure why I haven't made lotion bars before.  I used a wonderful belly lotion bar that came in a stick when I was pregnant with the little guy. I loved using it so much that I went through two bars in the last part. The bars are a bit expensive though so once he was born I gave them up. Recently, I looked for a body butter recipe and came across lotion bars. I made one a month ago and now I am hooked. They are really simple to make, work great and are cost effective compared to buying one in the store. The recipe is simple. It is a combination of liquid and solid oils along with a wax and essential oils. Most recipes I have seen call for equal parts of the oils and wax. I use candelilla wax which is a vegan substitute for beeswax. It is harder than beeswax so I only use half as much candelilla wax in the recipe. The last bar I made I used vegetable emulsifying wax and it worked great also. Here is recipe for my latest lotion bar. See my lemon cleanser post for places to buy supplies. I have also found supplies on esty.com.

Lavender and geranium lotion bar

2 Tbl wheat germ oil
2 Tbl safflower oil
2 Tbl cocoa butter
2 Tbl shea butter
2 Tbl candelilla wax
15 drops lavender oil
5 drops geranium oil

Add all of the ingredients except the essential oils to a double boiler and heat until everything is melted. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a bit. Add the essential oils and pour into a mold. I used a plastic container but you can use any soap mold. Once it hardens you can pop it out of the mold and use. Enjoy!

Newborn snap one size ai2 diaper with tutorial

Update: See my latest post on making a one size AI2 diaper.

I started making newborn diapers for our little girl on the way. I have pul covers that I used for J that are a bit worn, but work great for making ai2 newborn diapers. I really like ai2 diapers since are quick drying and very easy to use. I lined the diaper with bamboo/organic cotton velour and made the snap in soaker with bamboo/hemp jersey. The pattern I used is the Darling Diapers Free Newborn Fitted Pattern. I added a snap rise adjustment to allow additional sizing flexibility. Below is a tutorial on how I made the diaper.

 1. Print out the diaper pattern. I added a few adjustments to the newborn diaper pattern as shown in the picture including a double row of snaps to shorten the rise and make the diaper one size. I moved in the wing snaps to allow for the seam allowance. I also marked the snap placement for the snap in soaker. Cut one out of pul fabric and mark the snap placement. Mark the location for the elastic. Cut one out of bamboo/organic cotton velour for the lining and mark snap placement for the snap in soaker. The small circles of fabric are for snap reinforcement. The snap in soaker is a modified version of the one included with the pattern. Cut one out bamboo/organic cotton velour and 4-6 layers of bamboo/hemp jersey. Mark the snap placement on the back of the last layer of bamboo/hemp jersey for the soaker.

2. Attach the snaps to the pul outer fabric using the scrap pul circles for reinforcement. Attach the snaps to the liner fabric and also to 3 or 4 layers of the bamboo/hemp jersey fabric for the soaker. Cut two 6 inch pieces of 1/4 inch elastic for the legs and one 5 inch piece of elastic for the back.

3. Sew the pul outer fabric and the bamboo velour inner fabric together with wrong side facing outwards. Leave a small gap at the top of the diaper to turn. Sew on the ends only of the elastic to the markings on the legs and back.

4. Turn the diaper right side out. Stitch around the entire diaper closing the open edge and making sure to not catch the leg and back elastic. Stitch a half inch casing for the leg and back elastic making sure to not catch the elastic in the sewing. This will form a cute ruffle edge for the leg and back elastic.

5. Add the wing snaps and umbilical cord snap to the outside of the diaper. Sandwich all the layers together for the soaker and use a decorative stitch to sew it together. I used a 3 step zig zag. Diaper is all done!

Here is the inside of the diaper with the snap in soaker.

Here is the diaper on the regular setting without the umbilical cord snap.

Here is the diaper on the smallest setting with the umbilical cord snap.

Very tiny and pretty cute!

Day 4 and 5 of KCWC

For days 4 and 5 of Kids Clothes Challenge Week I made another pair of long johns using the same pattern as for the star jammies from Ottobre design Winter 6/2010. The top is the Villi Viikinki pattern and the bottom is the Pitka Jussi pattern. I used an extra large recycled t-shirt to make both top and bottom. I made the size 110 with no seam allowance and it fits great. I also made fold over cuffs for the top also so it will last him a bit longer. That rounds out my week of sewing for the little guy.

Day 3 of KCWC

For day 3 of Kids Clothes Week Challenge I finished the capes I started on Monday. I also made matching arm bands. The cape pattern is the Super Hero Cape pattern from Georgia Leigh. I came up with the arm band pattern using a t-shirt from J. For closures I used plastic resin snaps for the capes and touch tape for the arm bands. The capes were made with quilting weight cotton fabric. I used heat and bond lite for the applique and a small zig zag stitch to hold everything together. J gave cape and arm bands the thumbs up and wore it this afternoon to pick up our CSA share.

Day 1 and 2 of KCWC

I am participating in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge where you spend at least one hour per day sewing something fun for your little one. Yesterday I worked on new capes for J and his cousin M. I used the Super Hero Cape pattern from Georgia Leigh. We are going to visit my sister and her family this weekend so figured it would be fun to dress up as a super hero. Today I worked on boxer briefs for J. I made them out of recycled t-shirts and used the pattern from the Ottobre design Winter 6/2010. the design is very similar to the long johns I made for him except the briefs have an additional gusset. They fit wonderfully and he says they are super comfortable so definitely a great pattern.

A star is what you are jammies

I am having a lot of fun making clothes for the little guy. He really needs jammies for the winter and I love the patterns for the top and long johns in Ottobre design Winter 6/2010. I have had the pattern book for a while and excited to finally make good use of all the fun designs. The top is the Villi Viikinki pattern and the bottom is the Pitka Jussi pattern. I used an extra large recycled thermal shirt to make both top and bottom. The applique is a simple star pattern which he thinks is really fun since at the end of the gallop book has a star. I made the size 110 with no seam allowance and it fits great. The next pair I am going to make fold over cuffs for the top also so it will last him a bit longer.

Construction applique tees for the little guy

Little guy started back to preschool and I am busy sewing fun clothes for him. He really seems to enjoy all the things I am making for him now which is a lot of fun. I asked him last night what he would like to have appliqued on his t-shirt. At first he said a wall. How about a dog I said? Or a stove he said. How about a spider I said? Or an iron he said? Talking to him is a lot of fun now. He really comes up with the funniest things. This morning he wanted construction vehicles and I told him I can do that. I bought the t-shirts and used scraps of left over t-shirts for the appliques. I used heat and bond to attach the appliques. I also stitched around the designs. Pretty simple project and he really likes the tees.

Baby girl on the way!

So the exciting news in our family is that baby number two is on the way and doing well. I am due January 31, 2013. I am currently 19 weeks and we just found out last week that we are having a little girl. I finally started taking belly shots like I did for him. It is really fun to see the belly blossom. It is also super fun this time since he likes to be in the photos and we are using the his chalk board to record the weeks. I am sewing a lot these days and planning to make more cloth diapers. I have a few newborn diapers but they have been through two other babies in addition to him so probably time for new ones. I am also making really cute maternity tops and skirts for myself. The orange top is my latest creations. I made both the top and skirt out of thrift store t-shirts and came up with the patterns from other clothing. I am having fun adding the flowers and trying new designs. I made this top a bit snug though but it will work great next year. I have made a lot of other fun skirts and tops that I will post soon.

Canning this summer

Our csa at Bellair Farm has pick your own fields which is really awesome for canning. They have several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, green beans and herbs. We picked a lot of tomatoes a few weeks ago and I decided try out a recipe for tomato jam. It is pretty simple and basically sugar along with tomatoes. You cook it for many hours until it thickens. It took quite a bit of tomatoes and only made one pint so not sure if I would do it again but it was a fun experiment and tastes really good. I also found some lovely organic cherries and made sweet cherry jam. I just opened a jar last week and it is pretty yummy.