A New Turkey Tradition

These wild turkeys turned up in our yard yesterday afternoon, there was nine of them. They wandered around our yard for a while and showed up again this morning though they didn't stay long with our dog outside. The boys watched them for out the windows yesterday and it provided some slow and gentle entertainment that they were in need of. Last year a larger group of turkeys showed up on December 26th and spent a very long time exploring the yard. Wouldn't it be nice if it happened every year? When Rowan woke up from her nap we went sledding and came home for stew from the crock pot.

The boys went outside this morning for some playing in the snow. We're having a bit of a thaw here so it was really slushy and wet out and Rowan and I stayed in, though she would have loved to go outside. The nice thing about having much older brothers is that they make snowmen for you.

And sometimes even deliver them to the front door....

While the boys played outside I made this blanket as a gift for a co-worker of Bill's. They just welcomed a baby a couple weeks ago and these extra big two layer receiving blankets are always a welcome gift. The Christmas decorations are being packed away slowly, mostly to avoid jarring the littlest one. All that's really left is the tree, this year is certainly a record for me. I don't think I've ever left my tree up this long (not in my own adult life anyway!) Tomorrow I'll clean it off and Bill will put it out in the yard and then we'll vacuum and vacuum those needles up! I've enjoyed the slower post-Christmas this year. There's been lots of knitting and some sewing. Next week they'll be more sewing than knitting as I get a couple of orders finished....for now though I'm back to my needles :)

Have a Happy New Years!

The crafting is done!

You'd think with all the coverage this doll is getting she's the only thing I've crafted this season. I got the boys pj's done on Saturday and I love how they turned out. Last week I had walking pneumonia which really slowed me down (it's karma for all my complaining about the chicken pox - which Rowan still hasn't shown any spots). It did force me into the reality of what I really could get done though. I'd like to knit one more hat, I'll cast it on today and hope I can have it done by Sunday.

My house though is a disaster, that kind of feeling that I just don't know how long I can stand it but there's just other things I need to work on first. I'll keep puttering away at the baking, the cleaning, and wrapping. Somebody remind me next September to get started on my Christmas stuff....please?

I'm hoping to share some tips from my doll making experience in January, for now I'll just say try it! It is really is simple, what a memory it creates. I hope Rowan just loves her up. By the way do you see the sewing basket she's sitting on? It's perfect isn't it, my mom brought it out to me last weekend. It belonged to my great grandmother who passed away in September at 98. I'll cherish it for certain. It will be perfect for holding all my hand sewing supplies, I seem to be doing more and more hand sewing.

12 days of Christmas

I've been away again, as I explained in my last post there's usually just a few reasons I'm not able to blog as often as I'd like and one of them is childhood illnesses, this week it's chicken pox. Quintin (at the age of 7) finally caught them and now I'm just waiting for Rowan to show the symptoms, there's no way she'll escape it!

Though I really wish it could happen in the new year the spots will probably show up in the coming week. I'm trying to get caught up on all the Christmas baking and making that need to get done before she needs me to stop everything for at least three days. The nice thing with sick seven year olds is they can understand that soon they'll feel better and they can say my 'throat hurts' and you can do something to help them. I don't think it will be that easy with a 20 month old!

So with 12 days left till the Christmas day I've still got most of my craft list to complete. I should be doing something other than blogging right now but maybe typing it out will help me to stay on track and figure out what I can cut back...


-make a wise men or sheppard costume for the school play on Wednesday (eeepp) I can't even start this until Monday night because I don't know what he is yet!

-finish Waldorf doll (she just needs hair)

-finish knitting a hat (I'd love to get a second knit too and I've got this as a project I can work on if the pox hit Rowan before Christmas)

-sew 2 pairs of pj pants and applique 2 shirts for the boys (this is really stressing me but really it won't take long at all)

-sew gifts for my sisters (not even positive what yet....not good! at least they'll happily take a rain check on their gifts, but I do really want to get them done)

-baking (I made a triple recipe of macaroons today, I'm keeping it simple this year and only baking 4 types of sweets but in larger batches)

We still need to cut our tree and decorate it, organize and wrap gifts, and I know there's more errands to run as much as I've tried to avoid this.

phew, am I stressing you out!? I don't mean to be! I'll share some picture end on a more relaxing note...

this girl just loves to craft

This picture was take Thursday afternoon, you can hardly see the spots, but look at the next picture

See, this picture was taken Thursday night, look at those spots! Liam had the chicken pox as a toddler so he's clear.

And the Waldorf doll! I took this picture on Monday, since then I've gotten her body sewn and attached her head. She's got underwear, pants a shirt and even some bamboo velour socks. This morning I even added just a touch of blush to her cheeks. All she needs now is her hair, I just need to get some dark brown embroidery thread. I keep forgetting this or that at the fabric shop. I'm hoping to share more details and info. on her in the new year, I've so enjoyed this doll project.

About Our Pad Sizes and Absorbency

I recently did a custom order that included one pad in *almost* every size we make. The only two sizes missing from the photos are the tiny 6.25" liner and our biggest size the 15" length.

You can see below some clearer photos of each of the sizes plus what absorbency they're suited for. Hopefully this helps you decide what sizes you need, I remember how overwhelming it all was when I first made the transition to cloth pads. Please contact me if you have any more questions.

Remember that you can customize the absorbency of any of the sizes when placing a custom order. For example I've had requests for 12.5" pads with only pantyliner absorbency to act as backup protection when using a menstrual cup. I've also made 8.5" length pads for heavy absorbency.

Pictured above (from left to right, top to bottom)

10" length ~ suitable for average to moderate flow {width 2.5"}

8.5" length ~ suitable for average to moderate flow {width 2.5"}

7" length ~ suitable for light flow and cup back up on heavy days {width 2.25"}

7" panty liner ~ daily use, spotting, menstrual cup back up, wonderful for pregnancy {width 2.25"}

6.25" panty liner ~ (not pictured) daily use, spotting, menstrual cup back up, wonderful for pregnancy {width 2.5"}

Pictured above (from left to right)

15" length ~ (not pictured) suitable for heavy flow (day or night) and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 3"-3.25"}

13.5" length ~ suitable for heavy use (day or night) and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 3"-3.25"}

12.5" length ~ suitable for heavy flow users great for day or night and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 2.75"-3"} Personally I find this a very useful size, even though my night time flow isn't 'heavy' I love the extra coverage and this was my most used size during my postpartum period.

11" length ~ Perfect for moderate to heavy flow {width 2.5"}

Catching up...

I hadn't expected on being away for so long! When I'm gone this long you can be sure that I'm...
-exhausted
-caring for sick child(ren)
-working on custom orders
-caring for teething toddlers
-very tired (aka exhausted)
-messing up craft projects (a tunic that turned out way too big)

I've been doing all these thing the last few weeks, I even took a break from crafting. Then I had to get to work on this guy for my Q's birthday on Saturday (7 years old!?). He's going to love this alien/monster/creature. I'm glad I found a project to use up some acrylic from the yarn stash. And he's soooo soft!
These mitts I finished yesterday (cruddy pictures) I love the fit and they're wool so they'll be so warm. I made them from a recycled sweater and I'll be making more for sure. I'm even storming up ideas how to make a pair that Rowan can't get off. I need to make them fast, I'm sure we'll get a dumping of snow anytime and she doesn't have any proper snow mittens.

A funny mitten story...I started working on these and then realized I'd made two left handed mittens. My partner was there when I'd realized my mistake and he laughed at me (it's not *that* hard a mistake to make!) he said my only option would be to make two more right hand mitts, so then I'd have two pairs of mittens. So I still need to finish them right hand mittens up, this seems an awful like a project that won't ever get finished.

I've been sewing pads too, which I haven't been doing much of so it seems a little remarkable to be showing these off. These two 12.5" pads are topped with bamboo velour. They're for a trade and I'll pop them in the mail on Monday.

I was so excited to get a custom order for these minky topped pads that I sewed them up right away. They're all 11" and have hidden PUL.

Now, I've been wanting to share my Christmas craft list with you, hopefully I can squeeze this in while the little one naps :) Some gifts I just keep changing my mind on, particularly my gifts for my sisters.

One thing I really want to get made is a Waldorf style doll for Rowan. I bought this pattern and I'm hoping to get started on the doll next week. I've read through the pattern and it's very clear and helpful. I want to be able to take my time and make her as perfect as I possibly can, if I rush on this it won't be pretty and I'll be so disappointed. I discovered you can buy pre-formed Waldorf heads, how clever. Laying in bed last night I wondered if I should've gone that route, but I already have all the fabric to start from scratch so that's what I'll do (this time).

The rest of the gifts are pretty simple....

-pj's for both the boys (I already have a pair for Rowan thanks to a trade)

-oven mitts and a doll sling for Rowan

-some new holiday bunting flags (need to get these done soon, I'm tired of looking at my fall theme flags)

-gifts for my sisters (potholders, t-shirt totes, mitts, bunting flags???? I'm not positive yet!)

That list isn't as scary as I thought, I'll be more things added I suppose. I need to figure something out for the teachers but those gifts might just be bought this year.

phew, is that my longest post ever?

Getting Organized (and a plea for blog help)

A few blogs and sites I like to check into and there seems to be a search for finding a rhythm and a balance at home. I find this search reassuring-I'm not the only one looking for balance! I've been doing this stay at home mom thing for almost seven years. In that seven years there's been a fair amount of turmoil, ups and downs and changes so it's safe to say that while I've maintained my sanity there's a lot of room to feel more balanced.

One thing I've stuck to all these years is making a daily list, my list saves me and reminds me at the end of the day I've been busy, I haven't wasted time. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to use my list to get more organized. It's hard to stay organized with a family of 5, two kids who travel to their other parents, a toddler and a house that's been under constant renovations since we've move in. So my goal is to be a little more organized, and I'm starting with a purge and overhaul of Rowans play area. This seems the best place to start, if her play are is more toddler user friendly then mama (in theory) should be able to squeeze a little more organizing time into the day.

Here's some photos of the newly overhauled play space. I removed the huge storage unit I was using because it hid her toys more that organized them and over the last few days I've put away several toys (I like to keep lots of toys so I can rotate them in and out, truthfully this is great BUT I need to get rid of a lot more toys still!) I wish I'd taken some before photos because this is a big improvement. Looking at these pictures now I can see there needs a bit of warmth added, a little rug and maybe some art on the wall.

now for my plea for blogging help. Can someone please help me out with how to add links to my blog posts? I'm sure it's easy, I just can't figure it out!! I'll be posting my Christmas to-do craft list but I'd like to be able to link to some the patterns/tutorials I'll be using. thanks for any help :)

Finally...news!

I'm later on this than I expected but here's the news, maybe I've worked this up a little bit too much but I'm excited! It's a new slightly smaller pantyliner. County Cloth liners have been in the 7" size and I knew I needed to add something smaller because I needed a shorter liner myself. Here they are, our new 6.25" liner!

There's a few in my Etsy shop already and I've got more to add over the weekend.
These pretties are some 8.5" cotton topped pads for a trade. This is a good trade, I'll be getting some much needed new WAHM made yoga pants...can't wait!

I made these liners for myself, two of them are the new 6.25" size and one is the 7" size. I backed mine with velour and flannel. We're 20 months into breastfeeding with no sign of my period returning (yet) so I just needed something that's barely there.

Phew, it was a busy sewing week. I was only able to get this many done because my mother in law was here helping out. This coming week I'll post my holiday crafting list, we had snow yesterday so it's really feeling like the crunch is starting.

Monday to-do

Today I'm finally feeling like I'm getting caught up, the last couple of weeks have been sickness and teething and just a feeling of falling behind. I've got almost all of my Monday to do list done and it's only nap time. However, my shop is virtually empty! I've barely sewn in a week too. But I am working in something new and I hope to share it with you later this week.

I'm also hoping to get my holiday crafting list posted too. I've got lists and lists and meal plans to to write over the next few days to help me get back on track. My mother in law is coming to stay with the kids and I for a few days while the men-folk are away, it will be nice to have her help and company. I'm hoping for a bit of extra sewing time and perhaps even a mommy only outing or two...even just to the grocery store would make me happy.

back to work :) watch for the new goods later this week

How to Grow Pajamas

As mentioned in a recent post I recently re-sized some pj's for my son. I can't take credit for this idea, I happened upon some pj's years ago in a bag of hand me downs that were my nephews. One of my sisters grandmotherly in-laws had used this trick on a pair of pajamas, genius I thought and stored it away. It's probably a depression era trick.

I should have taken some pictures along the way, but I didn't so hopefully these pictures help...it's very simple to do. The idea is just to add length to the body, arms and legs.

In our house kids tend to grow taller faster than anything else. So the jammies still fit in the waist but they get too short in the arms and legs and tummies catch a cool breeze.

Soooo, onto some instructions


-find some similar matching (or not) fabric. Try to use a similar weight of fabric as the original jammies are. (these pj's are flannel and I used microfleece, it worked fine)

-cut into the pj's. Just a single straight cut across each arm and leg and across the torso of the shirt. You're not removing any fabric here, just cutting straight across to allow you to insert the new fabric.

-using the pj's for sizing cut the fabric inserts, add about 1/4" to allow for seaming along the sides too. Make the fabric as long as you need, I'd say I cut mine in the range of 3" and that's giving my son plenty more room to grow.

-sew along any side seams on your fabric inserts

-next pin your new fabric into the pj's and sew them in (see the top photo)


That's it! It would've been easy enough to go buy some new pj's (but honestly I'd have rather not!). These pajamas were thrifted and my son has been wearing them for about two years, now they'll last another stretch and likely be handed on to a nephew.

So happy I had to share

I've been wanting to make myself some new pj pants for a while since mine are so worn and awful fitting (too short in the leg, too big in the waist and back). I'm so glad that I made my own and I'm not sure I'll ever buy pj's for myself again! Of course I had to make a matching pair for Rowan. It was so cute to see her looking at my pants then looking down at her pants last night thinking 'we match'.

I did a yoga style fold over waist, it's so easy (and comfy) it's become by favorite way to finish off the waist of pants and skirts. The flannel was from Wazoodle and the knit fabric on the waist was from the remnant bin at Fabricland. (I luuuurve the remnant bin, it's always worth a peek).
If you wanted to make your own pjs but a little more economical/green/ethical you could use thrifted flannel sheets and t's shirts for the waist band. I'm sure I'll make some this way too, I had these fabrics on hand so I figured I'd put them to use.

We've decided to go out for dinner tonight so I'm heading off to peel a whole lot of apples and pears to make into apple-pear sauce before we go.

Challenge Met

I found some time to finish up my upcycling challenge. The projects piling up were starting to drive me batty! I've been going a little crazy making fun bath mats lately. I took the rest of my towel and cut it to size, serged the edges and appliqued these mushrooms on them.
I finished up the family cloth too, I think I did about nine of these circles. I only intended on making 4 or 5, but then I thought with the youngest being close to two years old (and hopefully getting some great ideas about using the potty) I may need some extras.

I still have some of the flannel and velour left but I put it away with my fabrics. I thought it would make adorable doll pajamas someday.

I dug out some flannel to make some pajama pants (for me!!) and I've also got a pair of my sons pj's out that need to be made bigger. I'll show you how to grow your pj's next week. Do you have any crafty ideas for the weekend?

new pants from old pants

I got one thing made from my pile, of course I'd like to have gotten more done by now but the little one is sprouting more new molars and has me exhausted. The projects are piling up on my work space.
So these little pants are what I made. I find it hard to find comfy, simple, warm pants that fit over cloth diapers so I've been making most of her pants. I made them from the red velour pants, and there's still fabric to use up.

I also made some new family cloth wipes from some of the flannel pj pants and the towel, I still need to serge most of them though so I'll get a picture later on. I'm a little stumped as to make from the remaining fabrics....a bath mat maybe?

Being Mindful

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. I remember saying that my next post would include a holiday craft to do list, but I've barely even thought about that (which isn't a good sign with all the gift crafting I'll need to do this year). What has been piling up in my bedroom and sewing area for a long time is clothing that I've been meaning to re-purpose. I decided to challenge myself this week and see what I could make from these three things (just a small dent into my pile!) In the picture are a pair of women's red velour yoga pants that I thrifted for $1, a pair of women's flannel pj pants that have always been too short for me but I love the mushrooms print, and a worn out orange towel.


Re-purposing and altering clothes has become something I've been thinking about more and more. I donate a lot of things we're not using or have outgrown but sometimes I love the print or the fabric (often because it's useful ie: velour & terry are super absorbent). Another reason I've been doing more re-purposing is economic, I just need to. It also feels like the environmental and ethical thing to do since it creates less demand on manufacturing, creating and transporting fabrics and goods. And sometimes I'd rather create what we need with things we have on hand rather than make a trip into town for something we 'need'.
I have managed to get started on creating some new goodies from these items and I'm hoping to get back this week to post them. One thing I'm still learning is to have patience when you're taking an item apart. Look at the notions I scored from the flannel pj pants...elastic, some trim, and a wooden button. There's also a sneak peek at at least one thing I'm making from these things, can you guess what they are?

October!?

October, I almost can't believe it. The photo of the tree out front of our house was taken just the other day, now it's completely orange and lost many more leaves. There's so many projects happening here, renovations, room changes, a wood stove being installed, a chicken run going in to contain our chickens who have become a little to comfortable in their yard, on the road, up the road, visiting the neighbors chickens and inviting them back to roll and dig in front of our house.

And the crafting that needs to be done. I made these bunting flags yesterday. What a fun project and a great way to use up some fabric. This set reverses to Halloween flags, love it! I started on some ornaments that I'll be adding to my shop soon. There's Thanksgiving at our house, birthdays to plan and craft for, Christmas gifts to make (many).
I think my next post will help me organize my holiday crafting.

Staying Local

This order is for a local customer (I love getting to meet my local customers!) this is her 3rd (4th?) order. Anyway, I just love to work with her. She just gives me the sizes she wants and a direction. This time it was floral and nature prints, and here they are. A single pocket travel size wetbag and eight 8.5" pads in both flannel and cotton prints.

oh, I love seeing some pretty pads all lined up, I just love the last print with the deer, it's from the 'Pet Deer' collection. I'm almost out of it but I would love to make a little pinafore dress for the littlest one from this print. I suppose I'll have to order more someday.

A bit more sewing (& building!)

Here's a skirt I made for the girl of the house. It's denim, it's stretchy, versatile, dark, comfy...I love it! I think it will fit for a long time too so it's perfect! I bought a meter of stretch denim several weeks ago to sew up a pair of cloth friendly jeans for the baby and I had enough for the skirt too, the fabric was about $8 so I guess that's pretty good value especially since she'll wear them again and again. She wore the jeans in a mud puddle yesterday and they washed up perfectly-love!

Here's a sneak peek at some wetbags I'll be listing at my Etsy shop on Thursday.

Lego is the toy of the moment around here, I hope it keeps up. I much prefer playing with Lego than army guys, I find myself joining in with the Lego play :)

mmmm, jelly

My ex-husband brought me some chardonnay grapes to make some jam. He brought *a lot* of grapes from his vineyard, so many that I shared some of them with my sister and fed some to the chickens. There was just no way I could have processed them all fast enough. I'm calling this a hybrid jelly, it's not a true jelly since I pureed some of the skins and added them back to the mix to avoid too much waste. It's really good though, it reminds me a bit of apple jelly. I won't lie to you, I'm glad the canning season is coming to an end. All I have left to do is some pickled beets and maybe another batch of relish.

This is a custom order of nursing pads, it felt good to get back to my machine and accomplish something. I have a bunch of wetbags to work on this week and another custom order to finish up. I'm also thinking about holiday sewing, mostly how much of it I'd like to do. I should come back to post my holiday craft list soon, the weeks are flying by!
What crafty things are dreaming up for the holidays?

Being Home

I've spent the last few days stuck at home, my partner was away on a business trip and my tire was flat. So, a flat tire right? It's not a big deal it's just I have to wait a bit for my partner to fix it, tomorrow I'll be able to use our second car (thank goodness we have two cars!). Being home though has made me realize that often my outings are an escape, sometimes I get out of bed in the morning walk out to our open concept living area and I'm overwhelmed, sometimes consumed by the clutter. The clutter I'm sure I just cleaned up the day before. Being stuck here has made me realize that I need to purge and re-organize. There's been lots of that happening already and I'm thinking the next step is to get my family to help out with this-they'll be rewarded with a much happier mama/partner.

I took this picture of the little one this morning, she loves some outside time and I'm trying to make sure she gets more of it....I'm trying to make sure she gets more of my time. I'm feeling very needed by her right now. This morning I made a big batch of apple sauce, (it's so yummy!) I gave some to Rowan as a treat after lunch mixed with some homemade yogurt, she thought it made better finger paint than food. Hopefully her brothers will help her understand the yumminess of applesauce after dinner tonight.

I've been busy sewing some fall clothes for Rowan, my shop hasn't been updated in a while. I have been keeping up with custom orders though. I have some shop sewing goals for the week, but I think I'll be a little behind with my schedule due to the flat tire and some juggling. I'm trying to find a better balance. When I sit at my sewing machine my toddler lets out a screech, so I'm taking that as a sign to slow down, at least for now.

phew!

I'm very happy to be back saying we're getting back into our routines, including nursing! yeah!!! Here's a little pick me up I made for myself. It's topped with swirl dyed bamboo velour, isn't the dye job fabulous, it's done by The Indigo Onion. I just backed this with some matching flannel since I don't need much protection right now.

The rest of today is about laundry, paper work, cleaning, a walk, and starting to pull the garden out.

good grief, what a week

good grief, I've taken to saying this lately-a lot and often. This week was no different, the littlest has been sick all week, miserably sick. Lots of tear, lots of tantrums, night waking and not even wanting to nurse unless she's sleeping. Our usual nursing to sleep routine has been blown away, I'm not sure if it's the bug she's got or if she's maybe starting to wean-this thought make me so, so, sad. She's 18 months-oh, I hope it's not weaning...

The older kids have gotten off to school fairly well, one week into school though and I have to say how much I admire those of you who home school, truly I do. I'm not sure exactly what it is that scares me about homeschooling, I think it's just that a fear, a lack of confidence too I'm sure. The same way I used to be afraid of driving and thought I wasn't smart enough to drive and got my license at 27.5 years old (how silly is that!?) I don't know that homeschooling would even work with our blended family but I see the value in homeschooling.

I'm hoping the little one is over the worst of her symptoms, I've got a lot of catching up to do. Errands, and sewing, cleaning and organizing.

the beach

We went to a little beach this morning, we had it all to ourselves. We dug in the mucky sand, watched minnows, played with rocks and seed pods. I had time to think, the kids were peaceful. They're won't be many more beach trips left with school starting Tuesday and some sharp temperature decreases coming this weekend. The kids peaceful play gave me some time to think, some things I've been thinking about...

~how to go even greener and be more self sufficient. Raw milk, a pressure cooker, sheep, goats?
~the disarray of of our house which is going to get worse for a while as our wood stove is installed, how can we use this space better?
~grief and how we each experience it
~school starts in just a few days, the summer has flown by

What's been on your mind?

Exhausted Sunday

I woke up so exhausted this morning, I think Rowan nursed all night last night. Still tired of course but things needed to get done so I pulled myself together and got some stuff done. I finished up some sewing, went for a walk in the rain with Rowan in the Ergo and an umbrella. Changed two beds, put away my sons laundry (possibly my least favorite chore!) fetched the eggs, made banana blueberry bread. It feels good to get so much done in such a fog.

There's more work to this afternoon including shop listings, another bed to make, washing diapers, and making a batch of homemade leftover soup. Making soup from leftovers is so fast and my family loves it. This batch will have a base of some of a leftover curried chick along with some rice and pasta from the week and a bunch of veggies thrown in. So easy :)

Here's a sweater I got finished up yesterday, it's made with a whole bunch of leftover hand dyed yarns. I cast it on just before we left for our camping trip and I surprisingly had time to work on it. My son picked out the bee buttons, he really wanted some red fire truck buttons but the sizing didn't work. It's made using the Mossy Jacket pattern in the 18 months size, I wish I'd knit the body a couple of inches longer. Hopefully it fits through the winter.

Here's another scrappy project, it's a double pocket wetbag that I should be able to get listed in my shop later on today.

And a quick custom pad (yes, custom orders can be just 1 pad ;) ) I love this Heather Ross print.