Shirring

Inspired by Sues fantastic effort I thought I would give shirring a go today.

I used a second hand skirt bought for $1 and it turned out pretty well....room for improvement but wearable. The skirt already had 3 tiers and rick rack and ribbon sewn on so I removed the waist elastic, cut the skirt open at the seam and then cut a piece to use for the dress. I hemmed the top and then did the shirring on the top tier (a bit wobbly but thats OK), sewed the side seam up and then added some straps.

No pattern was used of course but it fits Beth well and she says she feels like Barbie Island Princess which is a big thumbs up from her. I have enough skirt here to do 2 more dresses, but that wont be happening today as the house is a mess from my lack of supervison, lol.




Thanks for looking :0)

Woolies from The Wooly Weaver

I was naughty and used some of the Christmas money to buy Nate and Bub some Shorties *Blush*....how can I whine when I can't control myself.

Anyway I received these today - Nate's were $35, bubs were $20 - post was $5.30. From memory, as the listings are gone, Nate's are knit from Dylicious 'Mocha Magic' and Bubs are Merino wool I think??.

They are very nice, I love the colours in Nate's and bubs are so tiny and cute.

I don't like that you can see some of the short rows in both of them...and there is a gap/hole right beside where the short rows are visible in one spot.....maybe I am spoiled by our possum pouches knits as they are just perfect and you cant see where the shorts rows are at all. I don't think that this will effect them at all...maybe I am too picky or expect too much.

Anyway here they are....they look great on Nate :) and for the price I shouldn't complain.

Diapers By Deb

Continuing on my "finally I found my camera card" upload..lol... here is a purchase I made a few weeks ago while the aussie dollar was doing great.

I bought 2 covers from Diapers By Deb - size small (7-15lbs) - with 2mil print PUL outers and suedecloth inners, TT closure for ease of use with a newbie. Total cost with post was about $24AUS and Deb included 3 wipes and 4 little pieces of London Ribbits Royal Heiny Wash (which smells lovely and I am using on Nate to test out). I couldn't find print PUL covers for the same price in Australia and am quiet happy to support a SAHM no matter what country she resides in.





Can't wait to try them on bub...

Beths Christmas Dress

I went down the markets a couple of weeks ago to get Beth her Christmas dress, it cost about $15-16 (I think)...and here it is...she wore one made by the same lady for her first Christmas.



I know that by the time I bought fabric and spent the time making it this is a great buy for the price and she will look very cute in it of course.

Newborn Stash

This is what I have so far for baby boy in belly.

I have been working on filling the gap in the small - medium sizing, Nate started at 5-6mth and 8kgs so there are a few nappies needed before new bub will fit those.

A lot of these nappies were bought 2nd hand, some were made by me, some are Nates nappies that didn't suit....very few are new. This has saved me money in that the newborn ones wont be used for long but they will be nice to have and I don't think I have spent any where near as much as I would of spent on newborn disposables.

Newborn--Small Flats/Fitteds

25 x Infant Prefolds
7 x NB Whizz Kidz Flannelette Fitted
3 x NB Side Snap Fitteds
1 x XS Bumgenius Fitted
3 x NB Fitteds Made by Me (2 Poochies 1 HB)

4 x size 1 Cotton Tots Bots snappiable
1 x size 1 Cotton Tots Bots Aplix
1 x Small Girly Fitted (b4b Suzanne)
3 x Small Poochies Fitteds Made by me
4 x Small Honeyboy! Fitteds made by me
Terry Flats

Newborn--Small AIO / AI2

2 x NB AI2 made by me

Newborn--Small Pockets

1 x Small Fuzzi Buns

OSFM Fitteds - to use from 4.5kgs or so

7 x BBH OSFM
2 x BBB OSFM
1 x Bamboo Velor CB (elastic has not been tight ever and on washing it has failed)
3 x Hemp Whizz Kidz Side Snappers

Covers PUL/Wool

2 x Snibs
3 x NB Pro Raps
2 x NB Bummies Whisper Pants
1 x NB Wool Cover (tie dyed by me)
1 x “Camo” Newborn Soaker from Woolly Butts

2 x Small (7–15 lbs) print PUL covers Diapers By Deb
4 x Small Bummies SWW
4 x BBH PUL small
1 x Knitted Soaker Small/Medium

Bits and Pieces

7 x Suede cloth topped 2 layer mini hemp boosters for NB Whizz Kidz
Some 2 and 3 layer mini hemp and bamboo boosters
8 snappies in the packet and 3 in use (somewhere, lol)
And wipes and wipes solution (how good does it smell)


I welcome any input and advice on what you found fabulous on your newborn or what you may think my stash is lacking....I am having fun sewing nappies now and am planning on making some more when I get the time.

Mel's Giving away $50US

Hehehe...well I would never knock back the chance to win some money right ;)o so here I am mentioning Mels wonderful blog, with pics of the cutest little boy and lots of stuff about nappies and related things.

Mels blog which you can find here: http://www.melinanutshell.com/ has details on how you could win.

Hmmm......what would I do with $50? I would spend it obviously...but on what you might ask - NAPPIES, lol, for bub of course or maybe some sewing supplies to make nappies for bubs, hehe, I am so predictable,

So send me your lucky vibes *rubs belly*.

Baby Belly 22+3weeks

Well the title says it all really, lol, here is my belly :) It is getting bigger everyday and there is so much movement now - he is kicking up a storm as I type:).

Dying Wool With Food Colouring

I had a go at dying the other night so here is my first ever effort at dying wool....actually my first ever dying of anything....lol.

....everyday rambling...

DH came shopping with me yesterday *shock* he saw how much money it costs to feed the family (plus extra milk and fruit I have to buy each week) what an eye opener for him.

I am much more relaxed this week and have some money aside to pay for Christmas pressies.

I also have to get DS school stuff ready for Kindy next year - I can't believe my baby is going to school in 3mths. I have bought his backpack (Chrissy), lunch box, a hat, 5 shirts, 2 shorts, socks - I guess I need to get him a jumper and trackie pants but they can probably wait till later in the year. I think another 3 pairs of shorts, library bag and some shoes and we have the basics covered. Oh and some name lables.

So when I combine DS#1 growing up with begin pregnant I understand a little more why I have been so crazy latley. I am not usually one to freak out like I have been.

Anyway - Cheers for listening :)

*Sigh* sewing and swapping

I have decided not to buy any more stuff for bub until we can get ourself sorted out. I was planning on layby and DH was cool with that but I just need to take a breather and think...

I will instead use what I have here to make some nappies. I have a snap press, patterns and sewing machine so can do everything I need to, it just involves time and patience. I have a few yards of PUL and suedecloth - also about 3.5metres of hemp fleece so I will see what I can do and then maybe do some swaps :). Send me some creative vibes and motivation :).

My dilemma - what can I swap - I guess I could swap some of the fabric? Or my photoshop "skills" lol? I could of course pay but it would depend on the price...oh I wish I was really good at something useful.

I have some white bonds suits here that I would like tie dyed for bubs so will maybe put that in the wanted section and see if anyone can help.

I would like some Velcro closure little gusseted snap in AIOs for bubs - for night changes - I guess in smalls. I will need FOE for that.

Also would love some newborn longies/long shorts for bub with a shirring elastic waistband (picky much, lol) - I have the wool here - just sheen sheep stuff from BigW . I just don't have the ability without a lot of practice.

So I will work towards fulfilling those goals for now - and take a deep breath and remember that we are all healthy and that money stresses are not the end of the world.

The Fluff Arrived!! Possum Pouches and Whizz Kidz Nightz

What a fabulous fluffy morning I have had today . At 7:30am there was a knock at the door and it was the postie delivering some great fluffy mail .

Firstly - Nate's Christmas present, now I know he shouldn't see it before the day but I had to try them on to make sure they fit so I could wash them ready to be worn on the day . The beautiful Robyn made me another nappy in the medium long size as the large would of been too big on him. I am so thankful for the great service and thoughtfulness .

The nappy has:
Outer: imported flannel featuring pirate designs
Inner: soft orange cotton velour.
Concealed layers: full layer of double napped flannel and a soaker of 4 layers of bamboo terry.
2 Trifold boosters: 1 has 2 layers of bamboo terry plus a layer of orange cotton velour and the second has one layer of bamboo fleece and a layer of orange cotton sherpa. Both have a strip of suedecloth.

The shorts are teal, orange and jacaranda. I love the picot cuff.

Secondly - 2 Whizz Kidz Nightz nappies and a bamboo fitted (no pic as I already chucked it in the wash ). The Nightz look good on, slight gape at the front of the thigh when he lays down but that shouldn't be an issue - They are done up on the tightest thigh and second tightest waist setting - they are drying now and hopefully I can give them a go for day sleeps for the next week to get the washes up so we can get him out of disposables at night.

The fitted is a red snake scale print and gorgeous I will post pics when he wears it.

Fluff Expected This Week

I love when you know fluffy mail is coming.....this week I am waiting on.....

Nate's Christmas present - his knitted and fitted pirate set from Possum Pouches - the wonderful Robyn offered to make him a Medium long instead of the large so it has been a little longer coming. I can't wait to see them and hope that they fit him OK - the curse of the very skinny bub, lol. It was really so nice of Robyn and I am so thankful :).

Whizz Kidz - 2 Nightz and a Bamboo day nappy - It will be good to put him back into cloth at night, Beth is wearing disposables as she gets super red raw rash from cloth :( - hopefully she will get more aware soon and be out of nappies all together. I have been thinking I should give the WKN a go on her but I worry about her toxic wee eating the fabric away (gosh I am paranoid about bamboo) - I will have to get a few washes up first anyway and see how they go on Nate.

B4B - a Elly Belly soaker from buy for baby. I think I paid $7.50 with post. Cute little blue and white number with a couple of little planes on it.

I really want to buy some stuff for baby but really cant decide what small nappies to get - I was planning on fitteds but am really not sure atm.

Whizz Kidz Nightz

Some may know we have been using disposables at night - a combination of reasons (morning sickness, heavy wetting, no suitable nappies, smelly hemp) - so after reading a night nappy thread and having tried Whizz Kidz side snapper hemp day nappies and found them a great fit I thought that the Nightz would be a great nappy for Nate.

The upside of these nappies for us is:

*Made from Bamboo fleece (85% bamboo/15% organic cotton).
* 16 - 18 layers.
*Fast drying.
*Multi-fit design to fit from 4.5 - 17kgs.
* Able to be used now for Nate and later for bub in belly.

I find the hemp day nappies are good but not quiet absorbent enough for Nate so while I was buying the Nightz I picked up a new Bamboo day nappy as well. I will keep the hemp ones for bub in belly as they should be a great nappy from about 2mths but will be giving the bamboo a go on Nate.

I do worry about the longevity of bamboo - but I guess time will tell. Oh and I actually told DH about this purchase and he didn't bat an eyelid - hehe - hangover guilt.