This button craft is just amazing, right down to the elegant colour wash effect. Probably not something that I will ever make, although a coin purse version of this would be lovely!
Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest
Month: February 2012
Big burps for little boys
In anticipation of baby’s arrival, there was lots of crafting going. One of the most useful projects that I completed was burp cloths. Yep, burp cloths. Not very glamorous or challenging, but they are so indispensable. If I could recommend a single DIY baby sewing project, it would be burp cloths. All you need is a bunch of flannelette (it goes on sale quite regularly, so wait to get it at 40-50% off) and a serger. The best part, you can cut them any size you’d like. Or maybe the best part is that they will cost you a fraction of what stores sell them for. Or that you can pick out a whole pile of fun prints. No matter how you look at it, making your own burp cloths is pretty fantastic!
Now for most of them, I simple cut the flannelette out to the desired size (I made mine big enough to fold in half for extra protection) and then serged around all the edges. After all, burp cloths are fairly utilitarian. They don’t need to be perfect, just useful. However, I did take the time to make some slightly more “fancy”, aka double sided. I used the flannelette on one side and a solid cotton on the other, sewed them with the right sides facing each other (leaving a small opening), turned them right side out, stitched the hole closed and then quilted them together a bit. The burp cloths in the
second photo were made this way.
Looking for tutorials so you can make your own? Here’s a few:
– Made by Rae (using old t-shirts for one side, cotton for the other)
– Sew She Sews (thicker cloths for super pukers)
– Prudent Baby (backed with terry cloth)
– Simply Modern Mom (lovely blanket stitched cloths)
– Nature’s Heirloom (shaped burp cloths with ric-rac edges)
Stitch by stitch
There has been some more crafting going on, one small stitch at a time. I prepared several embroidery hoops with a variety of lovely fabrics (thanks mom for letting me raid your stash of prints). Oh yes, I know it’s hard to believe that I would need to raid someone else’s fabric stash given the vastness of my own crazy stash, but I wanted to use particular prints. My mom has been busy working away on Sam’s baby quilt, all of which is made from 1930’s reproduction prints and I was keen to use these same type of prints to decorate the nursery. The inspiration for this embroidery hoop decor can be seen on one of my Pinterest boards. I’ve been slowly working away on hand stitching designs onto each, a bit every evening between Sam’s feeds, when I can hand him over to hubby and have both hands free. Hopefully I’ll be done soon and I’ll share the finished project once the hoops are hung in the nursery.
Button-spiration
Have you notice how popular bunting has become in the past few years? I have yet to make one, but maybe I’ve just been lacking the right inspiration. Now here’s a bunting banner that I can get excited about! The full tutorial on how this particular one was made can be found here. Of course I have my own take on the project. Why not cut the bunting bits out of craft felt instead of paper, and glue the buttons down with a hot glue gun? Craft felt will probably withstand more wear-and-tear than paper. This project is getting filed in the “some day” pile. Feel like I still need the right event or excuse to make it. Birthday parties? Maybe our next Pinterest party? A craft BBQ? Or maybe just to decorate my Bubblegum Sass table at craft shows? Not sure yet…
Source: pattyschaffer.typepad.com via Sarah on Pinterest
Button-spiration
Here’s a simple way to make a cardigan a bit more unique. Pick out some of your fav buttons and stitch along the front. You could even go all the way around the neckline too. This example is cute because they not only added buttons, but they also snuck in some small embroidered floral patches for a nice feminine touch. And of course, you could always pick a colour theme (eg. black, white, and red) instead of doing the eclectic rainbow. Good thing I have a boring old black cardigan kicking around to give this a try!
Source: greeneyed.com via Sarah on Pinterest
Knee deep in cloth
Cloth diapering, that is. Yep we started using cloth diapers for our little man as soon as his umbilical cord fell off, around day 12. We’ve known for a long time that cloth diapers would be the way that we would try and go. It wasn’t so much about choosing cloth diapers over disposable as much as it was about choosing what type of cloth we would use. To help decide we attended a very informative class at one of the local stores that specializes in cloth diapering and baby wearing, Babes in Arms. A super useful class if you’re new to the cloth diapering scene, which can seem a bit overwhelming at first. Babes in Arms also tends to focus on products made in Canada, with just a few exceptions, so you can feel even better about shopping there.
Many of our friends have been using various types of all-in-one diapers, but hubby and decided that we would start out with pre-folds and the traditional flats (which you fold up origami-style) with separate waterproof covers. Our organic cotton pre-folds and most of our covers are the Bummis brand. We also have a few Mother-easecovers that we borrowed from a friend.
The first day or so was a trial and error adventure, as we attempted to figure out what fit and worked best for our little man. So far we’ve mostly been using the pre-folds because the flats still seem a bit big for him once they get folded up, but he’ll be able to use those soon enough. We have been using the Bummis Bio-Soft Liners in each diaper to make poop clean-up easier. Although we are now considering discontinuing the use of these (Sam is pooping less and then when he does poop the liners don’t really cover that kind of volume, plus it’s one less thing being wasted).
We needed to look for a better night-time solution pretty early on because Sam thankfully was interested in sleeping 3-4 hours or more at night, as long as he didn’t get too wet in his diaper. That’s when we started using the Mother-ease covers, with a larger pre–fold and added a hemp/organic cotton wool liner. It makes for a rather big diaper on a baby that is just one month old, but Sam doesn’t seem to mind and is able to sleep more comfortably.
And before you even ask it, because it’s generally the first concern folks have about cloth diapering, let me say that washing them is no big deal. We have a nice diaper pail and liner which makes popping all the dirty diapers into the washing machine easy. We use Rockin’ Green detergent with and extra rinse cycle and the diapers come out nice and clean.
Another choice we’ve made in order to be more “green”, is that we aren’t using disposable bum wipes. We have a big stack of cloth wipes we just dampen in a bowl of water that we keep on the change table.
So that’s been our adventure in cloth diapering, so far. I’m curious to know what all the mamas (and papas) out there prefer to use, when it comes to cloth diapers. Leave a comment and let me know.
I did something!
Yep, I actually did some crafting this week. AND not only did I do some crafting, I completed a little project! Here’s my first Button-spiration completed craft project. I posted about it on Wednesday. I quickly discovered that it was a perfect thing to work on in the evenings while Sam dozed between feedings. It whipped together nicely and it was so enjoyable to spend some time with my beloved buttons! This rainbow hoop of buttons is destined to be hung in the nursery. Now Sam has something colorful to look at in there (or maybe it’s more that mama has something to look at…). Either way it felt wonderful to get back to some crafting, no matter how simple.
Hope you can find a few spare moments in your day to create, whether it’s cast on some stitches, doodle in your sketchbook or cut out a few pieces of fabric.
A whole month
Our little man is one month old today! A month! That’s crazy! Time does some strange things around babies. Some 24 hour periods feel like a week long, but then suddenly a whole month has gone by. Sam has changed so much in that time!
He’s now a healthy 8lbs 11oz, a wonderful weight gain for a baby that lost 11% of his birth weight and has been entirely breast fed (no supplementing). He’s averaging about 40grams/day.
Sam has definitely found his voice in the past couple of weeks and he exercises his lungs frequently, letting us know when diapers are wet or full, or when his tummy is empty. He seems to develop a new sound or cry with each week that passes.
And each day his quiet alert time seems to increase. Sam spends some lovely periods just chillin’ and looking at things, not fussing or needing anything, just becoming more aware of the world around him.
This baby boy now enjoys the comfort of a soother when he desires it, and takes a bottle now and then too. This mama decided it would be worth it to pump and have hubby feed baby from a bottle on occasion. So far, neither the soother or bottle have created any “nipple confusion”. Sam knows his mama from plastic.
Sam and I have started using a Moby Wrap on occasion. I’m hoping we get into using it more, actually, because it frees up both hands and makes things like cooking supper and doing laundry and crafting a lot easier.
As for bath time and naked time, Sam is still on the fence about these activities. He has become a little less fussy during bath time, but it will be a while before he actually enjoys it. Naked time is hit and miss. I wish he would like it more so his skin would get chance to air out a bit, but it’s tricky to keep these winter babies warm enough for naked time.
And that’s our little Sam in a nutshell. Excited to see what the coming weeks bring!
Button-spiration
I am quickly discovering how tricky it is to write on this blog with any much frequency and at any great length now that Sam is in my life. I have, however, been spending many late nights and pre-dawn hours surfing Pinterest while nursing my little man. I’ve been collecting lots of inspiration for future craft projects when both my hands are free and my brain is slightly less consumed by all things baby. This is how the idea for a new weekly post was born. “Button-spiration” will feature a new button craft each week. Some of them I may have already tried, some may get filed away for “some day”, and many will probably never be attempted. Inspiration is, after all, about being stimulated and getting excited about an idea, even if it doesn’t lead to a finished product. And inspiration is something I could a healthy dose of each day while I continue my recovery.
So here we go, the first of many button loving craft projects to share with you:
Definitely want to make a version of this to hang in the nursery. So colorful and cheery, what’s not to love? I even have an embroidery hoop and fabric all prepped to do this. Just need to pick out my button rainbow.
Source: littlebitfunky.com via Sarah on Pinterest