New Things

Here's a quick little custom order from this week, it was nice to work with all these bright fabrics.

After getting through a lot of my fabric stash it was nice to add a few new fabrics to the selection, (without feeling guilty about it!) I would like to add a few more,  but at the same time it's easier to manage a smaller selection of fabrics in my little sewing space.

You can see  more fabrics by looking at my Facebook page

As I write this I'm also loading some new listings to the shop 

                                     

Custom Minky and a Custom Wetbag

Here's another custom order, another really customized custom order. Often I learn so much from my customers when working on a custom order, and gather many ideas to better serve all of you! Here's the specifications on this one...

~each minky topped pad (these are 14.5" length) has a full body of PUL (rather than just the core backed as I usually do it)

~the customer want to be able to identify them as having PUL so I stitched an X on each wing.

The wetbag was customized too, using larger pads may you need a bigger wetbag too. This one is 10" x 10" and is my new dual zipper wet/dry style.

Another Fun Custom Order

I Just finished this order today. It includes a large hanging wetbag and 12.5" pads and 8.5" pads. This order was a bit different because the customer had her own flannel shipped to me to use for the tops (I love the prints she chose, so bright and a great quality flannel too). I used all my other usual core and microfleece fabrics to turn it into some pretty pads.

I don't generally do this type of order (where fabric is sent to me) but I'll definitely be open to it in the future. And if you're wondering the left over fabric will get sent back to the buyer with her order. It all worked out just right, and the customer has been just perfect to work with.

She picked the wetbag fabric from my collection, I'll be adding one just like it to my shop sometime very soon.

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?

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.

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.

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?

oh my!

I got the sweetest email from a customer last night, so sweet I have to share it because it made a great day even better!

"Your pads are unbelievably comfortable. I'm new to cloth pads and really had my doubts about them working for me. Yours work so well I'm changing them less than the store bought super maxis. I can't believe there is no leaking especially out the sides, that was always a problem for me. The fabrics you chose are perfect, I love the patterns and colors.Your pads are unbelievably comfortable. I'm new to cloth pads and really had my doubts about them working for me. Yours work so well I'm changing them less than the store bought super maxis. I can't believe there is no leaking especially out the sides, that was always a problem for me. The fabrics you chose are perfect, I love the patterns and colors." ~j~

how kind! It's always nice when I get such wonderful feedback. This email also reminded me of how reluctant I was to try cloth pads way back (5 or 6 years ago!). I was also so surprised that cloth pads can actually work better than disposable pads. I thought I'd have to change them more often, that they'd be gross and smelly. Those are all myths. The idea that disposable is the way to go has been worked into our brains for the last two to three generations....just know that you have options ladies...pretty options!

Here's another custom order that's on it's way to Australia. It's a mix of 13.5" and 12.5" sizes in minky and flannel.

Buttons

I finished knitting a sweater for Rowan last night (after I said no knitting for the week). It needs buttons so I got out the button jar. Most of these buttons are vintage from my mom and aunts, I decided to try letting Rowan search through them too. My son used to love to just sit and look at the buttons actually he still likes to look through them. Rowan though....I wasn't sure how it would work out, she still (at 17 months) likes to taste everything and sometimes doesn't transition well from things. It worked out all right though and I did find some buttons for the sweater. I'm hoping to get them sewn on while she naps so I better keep this short!

More canning, these are some bread & butter pickles. I'm branching out a bit in canning recipes and it's keeping me motivated. I also made a double batch of relish this week it's yummy. I'm going to get another batch made so we have enough to share and last through the year. I'll try to post the recipe, it's a good one.
And a custom order. I had two custom orders to complete this week and they're both done (yaaa!) This is a stack of flannel topped pads.

Off to sew on some buttons.

nonpaper towels

These nonpaper towels are going out for a trade (and just wait to you see what I'm getting in return...babywearers keep posted!) These are nonpaper towels, made from two layers of flannel so you can use them again and again...plus they're waaaayyy prettier than tossable paper towels. Just keep them in a basket on the counter to grab when you need to do a quick clean. They measure 12" x 12" so they're also a great napkin size. Though we have lots of reusables in our house we don't have any nonpaper towels (but also don't use paper towels) so I should try to make some for us too.

Some crafty bits

I just added some pads to my shop, I guess we can disregard my last post about stocking every other week. It seems just as easy to stock weekly, rather than having a bunch of listing to do all at once. Today I added some bamboo velour and some cute cotton prints, more with PUL than usual. I also finished up a little custom order of more purple.
Look at this, I've been wanting to make a few of these bowl covers for a while and I did get one made this week. I've been reaching for the plastic wrap way too often lately.


Even better than the wrapping gizmo is what's inside...homemade guacamole (my baby LOVES this stuff!) You can see the inner of the bowl cover here too, it's nylon so I can just wipe it clean or toss it in the wash. I've got to make more of these.

And knitting, after two kind of disappointing projects I took a break from knitting. The knitting bug came back though and I've started a pair of longies for the fall. It seems that after 6 years of knitting these diaper cover thingies I may actually know what I'm doing! I just bought this new pattern http://hyenacart.com/EviePants/index.php?c=0&p=34615 and I'm so impressed with it, I highly recommend it. This picture is from yesterday and I'm further ahead now, I've got the gusset done and I'm onto the first leg. I cast these on last Sunday and these are going pretty quickly for me. The yarn was a custom hand dyed by a WAHM, http://hyenacart.com/Yarnoodles/ when I was newly pregnant with my now 16 month old!

Purple Please

This custom is for a young girl who requested her pads and wetbags to be all in purples. (I love working on this type of custom!) Here's her wetbags, one hanging wetbag and one double pocket travel size.

And some pads to start out with 8.5" regular, 7.5" light, and 7" liners.

Her mom also requested some 7.5" light pads in bright colours, I hope she likes these.