After 5 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I found the wonder of mothering slowly starting to get crowded out by the mundane feeling. I realized our world seems to surround people with the negative, and complaining about blessings seems totally acceptable. So I decided to fight against that "normalcy" and focus only on the positive. I look back to my first year as a mom when everything was new and keeping house was fun and I aim to have that attitude again. This blog is my outlet to showcase the daily miracles that surround me in my blessed life as a stay-at-home mom so that I will never forget the wonder of it all.



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Welcome To My Mess

Over the last two days, the headaches that have plagued me almost constantly for a few weeks, let up.  I have also had more energy and less of a questionable stomach.  To celebrate, I made a HUGE mess in my mom's sewing room.  She doesn't mind though because, well, she doesn't know.  She's on vacation.  And Mom, if you read this, I promise it'll all be back to normal before you get back.  :)

So, wanna see my mess?

My sweet friend lost her Grandma earlier this year.  "Nan" was a sewer and my friend passed all Nan's flannel on to me.  My friend said she wanted to make sure it got used, and she knows I LOVE sewing with flannel.  At the same time, another friend handed down some flannel from her fabric stash to me, when she purged.  So here I was with a Rubbermaid tote overflowing with flannel, as well as a few extra bags.  Most of it was smaller bits.....not exactly enough to make my usual PJ pants or nightgowns with.  So what to sew?
Diapers!!!
We have a full stash of one sized diapers.  There was a time when we had two in cloth, so do I need diapers?...no.  BUT, our one sized diapers have a high rise and baby can't be put in them until after the cord stump falls off and I just thought it would be fun to have baby in some mama made cloth from minute one, instead of having to wait on the cord stump.
So today and yesterday, I "processed flannel".  I think that term sums it up.  Favorite pieces that were big enough to make pants with were cut and sewn into newborn Big Butt Baby Pants.  Four still need the casings and hems.  That's them on the lower right.
Next, I took all the smaller scraps, and started cutting them into diapers using the Baa Baa Baby 2 size fitted free pattern.  That's them to the left of the pants.  All scraps from cutting diapers were set aside.
Once I was done with the big scraps, I went through the small scraps left over from cutting diapers.  Anything big enough was cut into wipes (ours need some refreshing).  That's the wipe pile to the left of the diapers.
All scraps too small for wipes were stacked up in case I needed to piece together tabs for a diaper that didn't have quite enough fabric.  You can see those piles above the diaper cut outs.
And at the back against the wall, are the diapers that are made and awaiting soakers.

 But wait, there's more.  In the Rubbermaid are pieces of flannel I still have that are large enough to make diapers out of.  The upper left pile are large pieces, set aside for pants or nightgowns for next winter.  And the red pile are solids for inner diaper layers.

 Oh wait, a bit more mess.  Diaper outers in need of matching inners, and diaper pieces cut and ready, hang on the sewing chair.

 And here's my view from the sewing room window.  Lissy's not falling out of the trampoline, she's purposefully hanging upside down, which reminded me that I REALLY must find a pantaloon pattern to make my dress loving acrobatic girl something to wear under her dresses!  All she does at the park is hang upside down!
So, while I "processed flannel", the kids jumped to music that we blasted.




 Then, when they got hot from all the jumping, I took a break from "processing flannel" to watch them cool off.

After getting cooled off, they warmed up again.  My kids lay in the sun after a swim like lizards.  They love to soak it up.

While Kian napped, I took another break from "processing flannel" to school Logan.....in our own kinda way....again (ahem).  Yes, we again are rethinking this whole curriculum stuff.  I wish I could insert a picture of me banging my head here.

Anyways, YAY for generous friends who know of my love for flannel, YAY for (MASS) baby sewing, and thank you Lord for the wonderful energy of the second trimester!

13 comments:

  1. You have been busy! And I don't mind the mess. So glad you're feeling more energetic. Baby will be so cute in all your hand made stuff. Love you.

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    1. Don't worry Mom, it's all cleaned up now and piled semi neatly in my spot next to the printer. :)

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  2. Diapers! Awesome!! And glad you're beginning to feel better. :)
    That photo of Lissy makes me laugh, oh my goodness!
    And oh goodness we are always changing and evolving as homeschoolers! Finally, this coming year
    I have resolved not to waste money on a full curriculum. . . .! I would love to chat about
    what your homeschool thoughts are, Jenny!

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    1. Ok, you asked for it. :) Will email you soon about school.........again. Thanks always for your patience!

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  3. Wow! i am so impressed that you found all this energy while being pregnant!!

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  4. Hello,
    I love you diapers! I made prefolds for our last baby b/c I could not find a fitted pattern I liked. Now we are expecting again and I really like this pattern you are using. I was just wondering if you are using flannel and knit as your layers as the pattern calls for or flannel for everything? I am not very good as sewing knits and I really don't have much knit fabric. So I was just wondering if all flannel would work?
    Thanks,
    Ashlee

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    1. I am using all flannel, b/c that's what I have. Knits scare me a bit, but I'd like to give it a shot. A diaper sewn with knit will fit longer, just b/c of the stretch. But seeing as this is a 2 sized diaper already, I was fine with all flannel. So mine have the outter layer in flannel, and the inner layer in flannel, and then there's a soaker of two layers old terry towels. The soaker is folded so actually, depending on the size, baby will have 4-6 layers of terry for absorbancy. I love the pattern, but really did NOT like her tutorial. I think she made a lot of extra steps. I've been thinking of doing a tutorial for how I took her pattern and sewed it in my own way. Your post gives me the incentive to do it.

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    2. Oh yes a tutorial would be wonderful!! The pin casement for the elastic through me for a bit of a loop. All I could think about when I saw that pic is how many sewing machine needles I might brake. :)
      When you mention size 2, all that I see on the website is large/small, am I missing some thing?
      Thanks!!

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    3. I think its the small, which is size NB and small. I think Large is size med and large. Yeah, I've never seen anyone do a casing like that! I turn and topstitch mine so after I sew all the way around (leaving an opening at the front to turn) I just zig zag the elastic right in place. Super easy.

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  5. LOL - I love your title! Reading your title on my blog (blog list) made me laugh out loud, making me feel at home!
    I love bloomers under the girls dresses, and they are on my top to-do sewing list for summer! In the past I made them out of old linens 'cause they are so light and cool! Lately, I've been asking S, to just put shorts under her dresses, b/c the dress is sure to come up during play :)

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    1. I love your idea of using old linens for bloomers! I would have her put shorts on under her dresses, but my dress loving girl has none! I had a drawer of hand me down shorts sitting unused for far too long, taking up space, so I finally just passed them down. Guess I should have saved a few for under dresses. Her acrobatics at the park is fairly new though so I didn't forsee that. Do you have a tried and true pattern? Or do you just wing it? Oh, and PS, I like to share my mess. Sometimes I feel like the blog world looks so clean, if you know what I mean. I love when people share their real-ness. Makes me feel at home too.....and normal. HA! :)

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  6. Oh I love flannel as well, and diapers are perfect! I have to admit I miss cloth diapers...I know that may sound weird, but I do, I loved them and find myself slightly disappointed when someone I know with a baby isn't using them...

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    1. I totally understand! Kian has been out of diapers completely since he turned two last October. I thought I'd hugely notice such a big change in our house, seeing as it was the first time since becoming parents that we've been a diaper free house. Our kids have all overlapped in diapers, at least slightly, so at times we even had two in diapers. And with cloth, you'd think you'd notice the ease of not having to do that laundry. But I guess I never minded b/c I never really felt a lifted burden. I actually miss hanging diapers on the line. By the time this baby comes, our house will have been diaper free for a year.

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