I Serged and Serged and Then Serged Some More

Since I got my serger, I have successfully made six sets of napkins, two sets of flannel baby wipes, and the longies I wrote about in my previous post. I have three sets of flannel wipes to go before I take my machine in to the sewing machine repair shop for a tune-up and some new needles. The only reason it's not going in earlier is that I need to finish the wipes before Saturday (for my cloth diaper party). I really love the finished product that sergers create, but using one can be oh so frustrating, especially when you have no manual.

This was going to be a much longer post, but Sweet Pea unplugged the computer without me noticing, and then my old laptop died because the battery has no life left in it, and the two additional paragraphs that I had written disappeared. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen with the automatic saving feature of blogger. Sad. I'll try again tomorrow. That's life with a baby, right? "I guess I'll try again tomorrow...." for a better bedtime routine, for better meals, for a cleaner house, for more items crossed off the to-do list, for returning more phone calls, replying to more emails, and sending more thank-you cards. But for now, it's time to get that baby ready for bed.

Baby Blue Recycled Wool Longies

The first time I made recycled wool diaper covers, I made "shorties" that fit like little shorts, or a more typical diaper cover. For that project, I bought several wool sweaters at Goodwill and followed a pattern I found online that basically consists of cutting a triangle out of the sweater, cutting off the sleeve cuffs and neck, and sewing it all together, using the sleeves for the leg holes and the neck for the waist. I can give more specific instructions if you'd like, just ask in comments, but unfortunately was unable to find the site that I originally got the pattern from. To size the sides of the triangle, measure your little one's waist and add a half inch. Katrina's Sew Quick blog has some great patterns for a variety of types of wool diaper covers.

Here is one of the first ones I made, clearly it is a little bit big at this point.

You can see another photo of my handiwork in the bottom photo of my "Diapering My Active Nine-Month-Old" post.

Sweet Pea has grown and the weather has gotten colder. So, this weekend I got my sewing supplies back out and made a pair of "longies" for Sweet Pea out of an old sweater of mine that shrank in the wash. It is high quality cashmere so this was the perfect way to re-purpose the fabric. It is free, soft, and I love the color! The only drawback is that it will probably get dirty because my little crawler likes to get into everything. They have an elastic waist, and I made them longer than needed for now, then whip-stitched the hem up to be the right length. As she grows I can let them out. I made the bottom hem of the sweater serve as the bottom hem of the longies, and cut them so that the pocket of the sweater is a left back pocket for her. I also added ribbons at the knees as just a fun detail.

Here is the uncut sweater. I know it's weird - a short sleeved cashmere shirt? But I used to wear this to work all the time.

And the completed longies! (before I stitched up the bottom hem)

 

I recently bought several more fitted diapers, which are the best companion (better than prefolds) for wool covers because they are so absorbent and they usually snap together. Wool is such a wonderful fabric because it is natural, breathable, and I think it is pretty! I am really excited to use my new fitteds with my new wool longies, keeping my little one warm and dry this winter. My mom is also knitting a pair for us, and I can't wait to see them! Wool covers can sometimes be quite expensive to buy new (as much as $75 for a hand-knitted pair, typically more like $30-$40), but they can last through multiple children, serve as pants so you don't need to worry about buying those, and only need to be washed once a month, unless they get poo on them. It is a naturally anti-microbial fiber and so breathable that it is the only thing that works for some babies who are extra sensitive to diaper rash. A more in-depth explanation of wool's great properties can be found at Llamajamas.

Some places to buy wool longies:
Cloth Diaper Superstore
Goodmamas
Llamajamas
Diaper Covers - Soakers for Night, Large  (Amazon)

Or how to make your own:
That's Kinda Cool
Bright Hub
Born to Love
the diaper hyena - this one has lots of link to patterns

And, instructions for caring for your woolies:
at Understanding Laura
at All About Cloth Diapers
at Green Mountain Diapers

If you have a site you'd like me to add, let me know in comments!

Emptying Everything

Sweet Pea's current favorite activity: emptying everything. She takes the books off the shelves, the garbage out of the basket, the napkins off the table, the containers out of the kitchen drawers, and on and on in every situation you can imagine.

Here is our typical experience sitting at the desk, notice the half-empty drawer and the pens on the floor:

I've heard that the next step will be putting things away, but not necessarily where you'd like them to be put. Check out New Urban Habitat's post about her toddler to see what I mean.

My Ideal Diaper Bag - WAHM Series

This is the first in a series of posts about products I've gotten from work-at-home-moms (WAHMs). 

Two days ago I was thrilled to receive my new diaper bag in the mail. It is the exact colors I wanted, the exact size, has the exact right number and size of pockets, and included a matching changing pad and wipes case. Similar bags that I have looked at cost around $150, but my bag cost me much less and was made precisely to my specifications. How is this possible? Well, the bag was made by WAHM who I connected with through diaperswappers. (You can check out her facebook page, Drea Designs, here.) I bought the fabric and sent it to her, and she sewed it together based on a pattern she had created when making a bag for herself. It has lots of great features, like a clip for my keys, and pocket toward the top on the inside for my cell phone. I am constantly misplacing (or losing, depending on your point of view) these items, so this is a biggie for me!

I got a couple of great diaper bags at my baby shower that have served me well over the last nine months, but the most-used one was getting pretty worn out, and they were all too small for the amount of stuff that I need to cart around sometimes. My ideal was to be able to pack everything I would need for a full day out with Sweet Pea into one bag, and this one can do it. A full diaper bag for me includes:

• three to four cloth diapers
• one wet bag
• one complete outfit change for Sweet Pea: shirt, pants, socks, shoes
  
• wipes
• changing pad
  
• bottle of water
• jacket or light blanket for Sweet Pea
• baby carrier (ERGO)
• cell phone
• keys
• wallet and checkbooks
• snack

General review: I love it! Love the size, pockets, strap, and design. The only thing I wish I would have done differently is maybe alternated the fabrics so the flap was the same as the inside fabric, just to break up the pattern a little. Or maybe a border edge around it - different colored stitches, or ribbon - or something. Totally my issue since I picked the fabric and Drea Designs suggested the fabrics be switched for the flap. But again, that is just a very minor thing. She was very easy to communicate with, always got back to me quickly and was great about asking me specific questions to make sure the bag was going to be precisely what I wanted. Overall I am very pleased with the look, functionality, and craftsmanship of this bag, and I expect it to last me at least until we no longer need diapers. But then you need to carry other things, right?

Here it is, with the top open, empty:

And here, full of all my important belongings:

The key clip detail. This can hang on the outside or be tucked in.

Finally, with the flap down:

Lovely, isn't it?

Planning My Cloth Diaper Party

A while back, my cloth diaper mentor sent me a link to information about hosting a cloth diaper party. It looked interesting, but I didn't think too much about it. Suddenly, in the last week, I've had three friends writing to me asking for advice about cloth diapers, and recalled the diaper party idea again. So, I've decided to do it! In about a month (date yet to be determined) I will be unpacking a big box of a wide assortment of modern cloth diapers, and talking about them to my friends and anyone else who shows up. If anyone buys anything at the party, or through my affiliate link, I get a commission! If no one buys anything, oh well, I get to spend an afternoon playing with diapers with other mamas. I can just send the whole box back, and I'm only out shipping costs. Seems like a win-win. There will be at least one prize for a lucky attendee, and I'm thinking about making cloth wipes to give away, and possibly playing a game too.
There are a couple of companies that do the cloth diaper party thing, but I like the diaper options best in the "booty in a box" from Cloth Diaper Superstore. I have never done anything like this before, so please share any advice or ideas you have for making this the most fun it can be. Thanks!

Mastitis

At this point, breastfeeding is generally easy and enjoyable, and a nice time of one-on-one connection with Sweet Pea. It is good for her and my health and well-being, and has so many benefits. There are just a few drawbacks, compared to the many many positives. One thing I have always hoped to avoid in my breastfeeding experience is mastitis: the painful lump that leads to the fever, aches, chills, and fatigue is something to be avoided at all costs. I had my first experience with it this week, and it was every bit as bad as I imagined.

Mastitis usually starts as a lump in the breast, a clogged milk duct, and can progress to an intense illness very quickly. The clogged duct could be related to engorgement or not emptying the breast of milk often enough, or it could have no apparent cause. I have heard that mastitis is more common during cold and flu season and that it is usually related to over-stress on a mama's body. Well, Sweet Pea, Average, many members of my family that we were around over the holidays, and I have had a cold over the last weeks. Sweet Pea's cold hindered my sleep, and guests and traveling added a mental and physical strain. On Monday, my body gave me a big sign that it was time to slow down, way down. At noon I started to feel some pain on the left side of my left breast, at 1:00 I nursed and then pumped for good measure, took some vitamins and applied heat. By 3:00 I was experiencing body-shaking chills, muscle aches, and intensified pain in the large, deep, lump. I knew it was likely the onset of mastitis, and knew that I needed to rest and get some remedies and possibly get started on antibiotics as soon as possible. If mastitis is untreated, or doesn't respond to treatment, it can progress into an abscess. Unfortunately for me, I'd been missing my cell phone since Saturday night and we no longer have a home phone. I felt stranded alone with Average at work, and no way to call him. In a way, the Internet rescued me from this bad situation. I was able to find out what I needed to do online (from diaperswappers breastfeeding forum and kellymom.com), then reached a friend through facebook chat, she called Average, and he got online to chat with me. Another friend gave me the names of the homeopathic and herbal remedies she had used successfully to combat mastitis, and I passed the information back to Average again. He came home from work early, picked up Sweet Pea, and headed to the local natural store to pick up supplies while I lay in bed doing nothing. You know that crazy feeling when you're really sick where you can just lay there and not read or watch t.v. or sleep, and yet you don't feel bored at all? I was there. Out. Of. It. I was doing everything I had heard of that might help. I took vitamin C, grapefruit seed extract, raw garlic, Red Root tincture, and phytolacca homeopathic remedy. I massaged the area, nursed as much as possible, took a hot shower, and other than that just laid in bed, occasionally picking up a magazine. By 11:00 my fever (which only ever got to 101, not bad compared to some I've heard, but still not pleasant) broke and I felt a little more normal. I was more aware of what was going on, and the skin on my entire body was no longer painfully sensitive to touch. What a relief. The lump still hurt, and was still there, so I knew I wasn't totally out of the woods yet. I spent most of the next day on the couch, besides the time I spent heating food, feeding Sweet Pea, changing diapers, or bathing. The next day was even better and I threw in a load of laundry and logged some internet time. Today (Friday), I feel pretty much back to normal and have no more lump but I still feel like I want to be careful to get myself plenty of rest. I feel extremely grateful that I was able to avoid needing antibiotics and an expensive trip to the doctor. Luckily I knew what I was dealing with and was able to get what I needed quickly. Mastitis can come on quite suddenly, so all of us breastfeeding moms should be prepared to deal with it. The main advice that I got over and over was to REST REST REST to recover the most quickly. Hopefully this experience will help a reader or two to take steps to avoid a plugged duct, or at least recognize the signs to react quickly. Please share any other tips you have in comments!

Counting Sheep/Sleeping on a Sheepskin

Sweet Pea recently started sleeping in her own room. Her lovely crib went completely unused for the first nine months of her life, and was just a storage area for stuffed animals, clothes, and baby gear. When we decided to make the transition, I took her sheepskin out of her sidecar co-sleeper (we used the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper Mini Bassinet Convertible) and put it into her crib on top of the sheet. She was probably four months old when we first got this sheepskin as a gift from a family friend, and I immediately noticed that it was easier to put her down once we started using it in her co-sleeper. I would definitely recommend using a sheepskin to anyone with an infant. I have a friend who uses one in her baby's crib and said she got the idea because she knew it had been used with an elderly relative to prevent bedsores and increase comfort. A few of the reasons I love my baby's sheepskin are that it is:

• A natural sleeping surface (not synthetic)
• Soft and cuddly while still maintaining the "firm surface" sleep recommendation for babies
• Not cold to the touch like cotton can be
• Durable
• Warm in winter, cool in summer
• Healthy, due to the natural anti-microbial properties of wool

I'm not sure where ours was purchased, but found this online store that seems to have a good selection and some interesting products: SheepskinTown.com. Of course, Amazon also has some available such as the Bowron one:

Holiday Traditions

This was Sweet Pea's first Christmas. We got her a set of blocks and she got to taste a Christmas cookie. Her stocking wasn't finished in time for Christmas, but she didn't seem to mind. Now I am thinking about future holidays and imagining what traditions we will continue from our own childhoods and what we might decide to start new with our children. I definitely want to include some outdoor activities as part of our winter plans, and like the thought of decorating the tree and cooking together. What are your favorite family holiday traditions?

Here is a photo of Average and Sweet Pea at the ski lodge a few weeks ago.

Saga of the Worst Afternoon Ever

I am recovering from a bad cold that is possibly a flu. Yesterday and the day before all I felt up to doing was sitting on the couch and folding a little laundry. Today, thinking that some fresh air would be good for me, and feeling energetic enough to try, I take a walk around the neighborhood with Sweet Pea in the stroller and Glen on his leash. We have been working on the command "heel" and he is actually doing OK, so I walk for more than 30 minutes, even though it is quite cold. Sweet Pea is bundled up in her wool pants, sweatshirt and down jacket, and two blankets. She falls asleep in the stroller on the way home. We arrive home, tired and hungry and needing a tissue, to discover that I have locked the door to the house and neglected to bring a key. Well, I usually forget to lock the sliding glass door in the back, so we'll just try that. Locked. My phone has a blinking red light in the shape of a battery so I'm praying that there's enough juice left to make one call, and speed dial Average. Luckily, he answers right away and drove a car to work today so he will be able to get home fairly quickly and let me in. Phew. My phone turns off two seconds after I hang up. We wait a while in the back yard, play fetch with Glen, pick up some more of the garbage that he had strewn around a week or so ago, and Average arrives, lets us in, and drives back to work. Lunch is uneventful. Next, I decide that I really need to clean the floors because we are having company tonight and hosting Christmas for my family in just two days. I know this will be a challenge with my two little creatures around, so I go to my default plan for mommy-only activities: Sweet Pea in the pack n play, Glen back outside. This works for 20-30 minutes before one or both of them gets bored or impatient and becomes fussy and/or destructive. I get the house swept and mopped, and let Glen back inside after carefully wiping his muddy muddy paws. We take a nursing break with Sweet Pea on the couch. OK, now it's time to tackle the carpeted areas of the house: living room and bedrooms. I get out the vacuum, and Glen freaks out, barking and darting at it, trying to bite it. Sweet Pea also starts crying. I pick her up, and drag Glen to his crate to sit out the vacuuming. I vacuum each room with my baby in one arm and a serenade of barking in the background. This is not the way I prefer to clean, but Average is working every day until Christmas, and our evenings are full of events so now is the time. Things are starting to look pretty good but I know I still have a long way to go. Sweet Pea gives me some sleep signals, and I consider different options for putting her to sleep. I decide on wearing her while I try to continue to clean, and then remember that the ERGO is out in the car. Since she is fussy I know that leaving her inside while I go out will cause a furious bout of crying, so I hold her in my arms, head for the door, and grab some shoes. Glen sees, and gets right in front of the front door, not wanting to be left behind. Here is where I should have a) put his leash on him and taken him to the car with me; b) put him back into his crate until I returned; c) put him in the back yard for a few minutes. Any of these options would have been better than what I decide to do: try to squeeze past him without letting him out. Of course, he gets out. He walks to the car with me and hops in when I open the door. He doesn't get back out at my command, so I close him in, walk back to the house, drop off the ERGO, and then walk back to get him. When I open the car door again, he jumps out and starts racing around the yard. I try calmly walking back to house, and whistle for him at the door. He comes to me, then darts away again, looking like he wants to play. I don't want to play. I walk in the house and leave the door open behind me, expecting him to follow within a minute. He doesn't. I go back outside and whistle for him while he completely ignores me and frolics around the neighbors yard, stopping occasionally to gobble something up from the ground (cat poop?). This has happened twice before, and both times he returned to the front door within 15 minutes. Twice, I step outside again and whistle and call for him, to no avail. But that's OK, I can wait it out. No, I can't - I hear him barking, look out the window, and see a mail truck. Outside again in bare feet, Sweet Pea now securely strapped into the ERGO, I whistle and call Glen. The mail man thanks me as he drops a package off on our neighbor's doorstep. Glen circles close to me, then darts away again. I am calling him and whistling and he continues to act like this is a game, even though I have never ever played a chase game with him. He comes close, but not close enough for me to grab his collar (which is actually the lower part of the harness that he chewed up while we were gone last weekend, so it is loose). I head back inside and grab the leash, head collar, and some treats. The mail man drives off, and I decide to get serious. I follow as Glen trots into another neighbor's backyard. Ah ha! I might have him cornered! Nope, there is only fence on one side of this yard and Glen weaves back and forth between this yard and the one behind, sniffing everything in his path. I consider giving up again, but then he runs into another neighbor's yard, which I can see only has one opening and the rest is fenced. I follow after, whistling, showing him the treats, trying to convince him to come to me. He comes close, but hops away when I try to grab his collar. I realize that I'm going to really have to go for it the next chance I get. I station myself by the opening to the yard, and he passes by a few times before trying to dart through. I lunge for him, and feel the collar slip through my fingers as I fall to the ground, my foot sliding out of my shoe. Sweet Pea's head hits the ground too, although I'm doing everything I can to protect her body with mine. I hop back to my shoe on one foot. The other foot feels sore but I don't think much of it. Sweet Pea is sobbing as I pick grass and pine needles out of her hair, and I head back towards our house. Every swear word I know is running through my head, I am so mad at this dog, but I say only soothing words to Sweet Pea. Glen sees us leaving and runs up behind me to catch up. I put my hand down, and... easily grab his collar. I have to twist it around my finger to make it tight enough for him to not slip out, and he doesn't like being held this tightly but I know he can get away again if I don't. As we're about to cross the street back to our side, a UPS truck drives up and two guys jump down to take a package to a neighbor's house. Glen starts barking and lunging to chase after the delivery guys. I can't maintain my grip when he turns to chew my hand and his collar, and he once again slips away, this time leaving the collar in my hand. I yell out a SORRY! to the delivery men, and walk quickly back to my house, holding back tears. My crying begins as soon I get inside, just as Sweet Pea's starts to ebb. She seems confused by my sad face and strange noises, and just sits there with me for a few minutes. I think I might hear something at the door so I walk across the living room, and peek out but there is no sign of Glen. Heading back to the couch, I notice spots of blood all over the newly cleaned floor. Apparently I gouged it pretty badly when my foot slipped out of my shoe. I check it out in the bathroom, and see a big chunk of skin missing as I pick the dirt out, running my foot under water in the bathtub. After I've gotten all the blood off of the floor and rug and bandaged my foot, this story ends with a neighbor bringing Glen back (he ran into his house!). I know I'm supposed to welcome my dog back happily after something like this, so he thinks it's a good thing to come back to his owner, but it is so hard to be affectionate with him right now because I am so mad about hurting myself and my baby chasing after him and embarrassing myself in front of my neighbors and three delivery men. And remember my cold, and the cold weather, and the fact that we have a guest staying the night tonight. Ugh. Tomorrow has to be better, right? The worst thing might be that I can see that I brought most of this on myself: I forgot my keys, I didn't plan for the vacuum, I let Glen slip out when I opened the door, and I haven't fully trained him to come on command yet. Oh, so frustrating.

Tucson and Saguaro National Park

This post is to share some of my favorite photos from our recent trip to Tucson. It was different from any place I've ever been before, beautiful in a strange, dry way.

 

 

 

So, What IS a Serger Anyway?

A serger is a type of sewing machine that uses between two and four threads continuously, giving you a finished seam like the one you see on the inside of manufactured clothes. A regular sewing machine generally does a line of thread, always using two threads. Using a serger you will typically get a kind of a zig-zag appearance with thread on both sides and all the way around the edge of the fabric, but you can achieve a variety of types of stitches depending on the setting you choose. It is a very strong seam, and allows you to do just one pass through the machine per seam, avoiding multiple steps of folding and ironing, to get a finished edge that won't fray or unravel. Thanks to Ann for asking what a serger is!

Mine is a New Home MyLock 234D. Apparently it is made by Janome because that is what came up in Google Search when I typed that in. Unfortunately, I don't have the manual for it, but I do have the original receipt from when my grandmother bought it in the 90's! It seems similar to this Janome MyLock 204D Serger Overlock
at Amazon.

Here is an example of a serger seam, not perfect but OK:

And an example of a serger seam with something wrong with it. How do I fix this? I swear I have tried every single tension option on the machine. But isn't Sweet Pea's hand cute?

You can see I'm using my "cloth kleenex" as test fabric. It needed to be hemmed anyway and it doesn't matter to me if it's not pretty, as long as it doesn't unravel.

I used a friend's serger to do a set of napkins for myself about two years ago and they are still going strong. So, my first project on my own serger is napkins for friends and family. Since my last update I haven't made any more progress. We went out of town for a couple of days and have been very busy with holiday events and plans so I haven't had the chance to get any more napkins done. Tomorrow will be the day, hopefully. Cross your fingers for me because there are only a few more days until Chirstmas!

Lastly, just because I took a picture of it, here is all of the tangled thread I cut off the napkin fabrics after running them through the washer and dryer - always very important when you're making something that should be machine washable.