Teeny tiny dipes

When I was pregnant with baby#3, Benedict, I was stressed about buying disposable diapers for the first few months since the price of diapers up here is crazy! Our cloth diapers don't work very well for tiny bums and legs so I usually wait until my babies are 1 month old and bit chunky before wrapping them up in some fluff. I had all of the supplies for making my own cloth dipes so I drew up a quick pattern for making newborn size cloth diapers. 

I used patterned PUL and green microsuede from www.diapersewingsupplies.com, and snaps from an amazon store (can't remember which supplier) and velcro/touch tape/ hook and loop/whatever you want to call it, that I already had in my sewing stash.

I ended up making 9 in total, but here are a few that I managed to get done before Ben arrived in August.

Pretty tiny 

All ready and waiting for Benedict

A bit snug

Now, we knew Benedict was going to be big, but I figured he would fit the dipes longer than he ended up wearing them. But look how cute he is at only a few weeks old!

If I make more for future children (not sure if #4 or #5 will happen, we're pretty maxed out at 3), I will make the inside tabs longer and not bother with 2 rows of snaps because the hip snaps were not really needed.

I love how they turned out and I wish wish wish I took more pictures of Ben wearing them.

Clearing the cobwebs

Hi Blog world...
Hi...
I feel like I need to apologize for being away for so long, but really, who am I apologizing to? You, me, the Internet? Ha, well, please forgive me for my absence. I've been busy- you know, if busy includes sleeping (actually, not sleeping), drinking a LOT of coffee, avoiding housework, being grumpy because my craft room was invaded by my adorable hurricane of a son, having another baby (YEAH, 3 boys! And you better believe they will know how to sew, cook and crochet!), and a whole lot of nothing. Ok, somethings.

 Shepherd getting ready for SK school pictures

Liam (aka Hurricane) getting ready for church 

My peaceful Benedict

I know most of my posts say I'm planning on posting some of my projects soon, but seriously folks, I am working on it. Be excited for tiny newborn dipes, my most beautiful baby blanket yet, of course hats and maybe some other crafts. I've been behind for 2 years (yeah, 2 years since my last post), let's see if 2015 is my year at becoming a successful "Mommy blogger", maybe even a Pinterest phenomenon. Doubt it, they just added Friends to Netflix! (No Laura, that's junk)

Anyway, again, sorry. I am still here, for anyone who reads these humble stitches of my heart...

xo

Cleaning Cloth Diapers

Over the years I have learned a lot about cloth diapering, one skill being cleaning those suckers. I've used both top loaders and front loaders to wash my dipes and I have to say that top loaders are 100% the best for washing. Top loaders fill right up and use lots of water, something that cloth dipes need!! I also really like being able to soak my dipes right in the washer without having to stick my hands in to wring them out (I've done that and it's gross!!!).

The year we lived with a front loader (for those who use one no offense to you if you love your's, I just had the worst experience with mine so I'm a bit biased) I battled the stinkies almost every time I washed a load of diapers. I tried every kind of soap made for front loaders and cloth diapers but I was still stuck putting smelly (although "clean") diapers on my little guy. Through research and trial and error, I have come up with a nice, simple recipe that works great for both front loaders and top loaders (but better for top loaders, heehee).

For the recipe I used equal parts Washing Soda, baking soda, and powdered Oxy Clean. I then added some lime essential oils (a few shakes) for fun, but also for the boost from the acid to cut the smell of the ammonia in the pee. I usually just do 1 cup of each and mix by shaking it in a little container, then add the drops of lime and shake again. I did use a metal whisk to get rid of any lumps from the oil but you don't need to if it doesn't clump.

There you have it, diaper detergent! Now I will let you know my routine for washing.

Since my little guy isn't so little anymore (19 months tomorrow), he goes through less diapers than he did when he was little so I am finding myself washing them less frequently, about every 3 days, but it's generally recommended that you wash every other day to avoid bacteria build up and the dreaded stinkies.

*Note: this is the method I use for my top loader. For front loaders you can follow the same steps, adding more rinses at the end, and possibly an additional wash to make sure the dipes are clean. Also, I use pocket diapers with microfiber inserts.

Step 1: (make sure most of the poop has been sprayed off before soaking or else you're just soaking in poop water, I use a bumGenius sprayer attached to our toilet)
Only do this step if you have a bad case of the stinkies, if stink isn't a huge issue, start at Step 2.
Soak those dirty diapers in cold water for a couple hours or over night with no detergent added. Luckily our new washer has a setting to soak during one of it's wash cycles, so I just use that. Make sure your water setting is to super or the highest water setting. If you have a bad case of the stinkies you can soak over night with 3 Tbsp of detergent and follow the remaining steps.

Step 2:
Pre-wash cycle on COLD (my washer has a short pre-wash setting, but you could just run your shortest load if no pre-wash on your washer)

Step 3:
Regular or super wash with HOT water with about 2 Tbsp of detergent

Step 4:
Regular wash on COLD, no detergent

Step 5:
Repeat step 4. My machine has an option for a second rinse, which I usually turn on for step 3. Or you can just run a rinse cycle or 2.

Step 6:
Dry. I love hanging my diapers to dry outside on the line in the sunshine. The sun bleaches the stains and I find that if there was any smell (there shouldn't be) the breeze blows it away. Or, if it's mostly winter where you are (like it is for me, bye-bye summer), you can dry your diapers in the dryer or hang to dry inside. 

I hope you have diapers that smell like, well, nothing! If you find they still smell you might need to do a good soak over night again. You can also stick your head in the washer after step 3 and if they still smell, repeat step 3 (or 4 if you want to save some $ on your gas bill). Good luck!!

Handmade Dipes

Just a quick post tonight to mention that last winter I attempted making some cloth diapers. They turned out quite nice I think. The first one I made was from this tutorial, but I top stitched it before adding the elastics and it turned out a bit frilly. 

A little frilly

The second one I modified a bit, I didn't top stitch until the elastics were sewn in place and I used a cotton print over a girly PUL fabric, but that resulted in a more narrow dipe.

Cotton over PUL, you can barely see the flowers!

Slight difference

I'm hoping to make up some more once the craft room is put together. Right now it's looking pretty chaotic and I still need to "encourage" the husband to help me build a desk, and a kitchen island, and a guest room bed, and ,whoops got carried away there, haha!

Seriously messy

Well, let me know what you think of the two styles. One has side snaps and the other wraps around front.

Here we go again...

Oh my, how embarrassing! I was just about to hammer out a blog post about being a lazy blogger, that I am still around, just crazy busy until I noticed my last blog post was that exactly! Lazy blogger. Well again, I am still around, I've been working on a few projects and WE MOVED!

Moving Day

We are now in a Northern Ontario community while my husband teaches on the reserve. At first we thought our move would just be temporary but after discussing with my husband and praying, we decided we would relocate for a while, we even bought a house ($86,500 for a house, yes please!).

Front view of our new house

Many big milestones have happened and are coming up for us that I will be sure to post, like my little Sheppy heading to Junior Kindergarten next week, Trevor starting his first full-time teaching job, Shep's 4th birthday, tons of house projects....oh my the list is long!

Shepherd riding the bus for the first time during the Safe Riders Orientation.

Lazy blogger

Hello Friends,

I am just popping in to say I'm still around, just very busy being a mom, but I have some fun things to post so keep an eye out for new recipes and creations I have been working on. Also, it's little Liam's first birthday on Friday and I have many projects to show you that I hope will make his day special.

See you soon!

Settling in

I can't believe we have been up here for a month! Sometimes it feels like longer, and sometimes it feels like we just got here. We're finally unpacked as of 2 weeks ago when we stayed up late one Friday night rushing around cleaning and unpacking the last few boxes so we could have a presentable house for some guests who were staying with us.

Part of the unpacking process has included unpacking and organizing my craft things, and let me tell you, that is hard! My crafts are all stored in this old pantry style cupboard we got from Canadian Tire when Shep was born (we used it as a closet in his room), and anytime I want to making something I need to pull about 5 things out (with about 10 things falling on my head in the process) and nothing stay neat in there. And don't get me started on my yarn! I used to keep my yarn in a big blue tote beside our couch, next to the fireplace- it was so nice to sit and watch a movie and work on my projects by the fire- but our new place doesn't have the same space. My tote is now stored in the crawl space behind our coat closet. I shouldn't complain because it is actually a really neat little hideaway that we've nicknamed Narnia.

Anyway, after all of those excuses that have kept me from crafting the past little while, I have been able to work on a few projects. I'm working on a few slipper patterns for women and kids and I'm pretty pleased with them. But, surprise, I haven't finished them, I've only made 1 slipper of each pattern, haha. I'm also slowly working on the blanket for Liam. The list goes on and on for the projects I want to complete.

I also sent out an email for friends and family to let me know what they would like for Christmas. That is my priority right now. Well, Liam isn't napping this morning so I'm off. I'll post pictures later of my current projects and my sad storage situation :).

LG