Bad dream

LAst night I had horrible dreams. I dreamt that I couldn't find Zach. When I finally figured out where he was, he was at the hospital. I called them and they told me he had gone into congestive heart failure. I told them to fix it, and then they told me it was too late and he had died. After screaming into the phone and crying for a long time, I had to tell my own mother, who was somehow here with me. Then I went to pick up his body, only to discover he wasn't actually dead, just blue. So I did some chest compressions (as in CPR) and he was okay. But it didn't last, and he had to be airlifted back to the hospital from our house. When they came to get him, they dangled down this strap that I was supposed to tie around him, and they lifted him up up and away. I remember watching his scared little face get farther and farther away and thinking about how much I loved him. I was so sad and scared. I'm not sure what happened because I woke up, but the raw emotion of that dream was so real and I still feel really sad and scared. I'm glad it was just a dream, but I hate it when I have bad dreams like that.
On a happier note, Zach is now CRAWLING!! And he says Mama all the time. HE can also clap and we're working on waving. As soon as I can I'll try to get a video of him crawling up! I cannot wait for this weekend, when we get to go see my dad On friday/saturday and my mom and aunt on Sunday.

Wool in one

Here is my pattern for a wool diaper cover from old suit coats, along with directions on how to make it have a snap in liner so it's a wool-in-one with interchangeable liner! Please keep in mind I have not as of yet tested the snap part since I don't have snap pliers (they're on the way!). I have made the cover, and it was super cute!

Regan Wool-in-one diaper pattern directions

Made from old wool coats, this diaper has a snap in liner, and Velcro closings, making diaper changes a breeze! This pattern is also highly customizable. Here are some options:

**If using wool coats or suits, you best option is to use two layers, as most wool coats are fairly thin. However, you may also use one thicker coat in a single layer, or a very felted sweater, and bind the edges with wool jersey or fold over elastic.

**The snap in liner may be sewn in a variety of ways. You may sew two layers and turn and topstitch as the directions say, or you may sew one layer and bind the edges. Keep in mind that if you sew one layer, you will need to add soakers for absorbency, or just lay a prefold or insert inside.

**This pattern is for a size LARGE.

**If you don’t have a snap press, you can still make the cover from wool suit coats and omit the snap in liner.

** This pattern could also be serged instead of turned and topstitched, but the directions are written using a regular machine.

You will need:

-Two old wool coats, or pieces of wool approx 20” x 19”

-Two pieces of liner fabric can be flannel, Sherpa, microfleece, suedecloth, old t-shirst, anything you want really

-Fabric for soaker layer that needs to be something absorbent. You can also use a prefold cut and serged or hemmed for this if you want

-Elastic

-Snaps and pliers or press

-Velcro

-Polyester thread

Now to the directions:

1. Print three copies of the pattern and cut along the outline of the cover on one, the outline of the liner on the second one, and the outline of the soaker layer on the third one. Alternatively, print out one copy of the pattern and cut it down as you cut your layers, starting with the cover, then the liner, and finally the soaker layer.
2. Remove any lining on the wool coats. Cut the backs out and fo ld in half. Place pattern on fold where indicated and cut. Repeat with second coat.
3. Fold liner fabric in half. Place pattern on fold where indicated and cut out. Repeat for second layer.
4. Cut out soaker layer as follows:

You may use any material you like for your soaker, but this is how I do it. I take a piece of brushed flannel a little longer, and 4 times as wide as I want my final soaker. Then I take a microfiber terry cloth hand towel and fold in thirds and cut to proper length. Then I lay the hand towel on the edge of the flannel and fold the flannel as follows:

5. The green is the hand towel and the thin black lines indicate a fold. Then Sew up the two ends. Not sewing down the center of the soaker allows for more flexibility in the soaker and makes it less stiff.
6. Sew the soaker into one layer of flannel, sewing along the two ends of the soaker.
7. Pin the right sides of the liner together. Mark which side face in and which faces out with a fabric pen. This will help you apply the snaps facing the right direction. Apply the snaps to the layer of the flannel that does not have the soaker layer sewn in. You may need to reinforce the fabric where the snaps are with a small strip of sturdy fabric on the inside. Repeat this step with the Cover layer, making sure to put the snaps facing the right way on the layer you want on the inside of the cover.
8. Sew up the back and sides of the liner layer with right sides facing each other, leaving the top open. I left a large seam allowance in the pattern, so you don’t have to sew too close to the edge. Add the elastic, stretching as you sew, to the back and legs using zig zag stitch. Repeat this step for the cover. Clip the corners and trim excess fabric away.
9. Turn right side out and iron if desired. Then topstitch around the entire liner, making a casing for, but not sewing over, the elastic in the legs. Also be sure to tuck down the fabric at the turning hole (front of liner) and be careful not to sew over the snaps, as this could break your needle and hurt you with flying debris. Repeat for cover.
10. Add Velcro using a zig zag stitch (or snaps if desired) for closing to the cover only.
11. Make however many more liners you want available.
12. Handwash and lanolize wool cover.

That’s it! Now you can snap your liners into your wool cover and go! Personally I would make several covers so that one could air out between each diaper change, and I would make about 14 liners for a baby my son’s age (8 months).

Here is a link to the pattern. Make sure you are viewing it as large as possible (I think there is a zoom button) then copy and paste into paint. It should be about 19" x 10" (check under attributes) then print and measure with a ruler to make sure it is about 19-20" by 10" at the widest part. I am working to get a picture with a cleaner background up. Check back soon!!

THE LINK TO THE PATTERN is here



Please note you can also download the picture(instead of copy and paste) using the button at the top of the page after opening the above link. You could also adjust the stretch and skew in paint to get a smaller size if you want one.

Feel free to make and distribute this pattern. You can even make and sell the wool in one diaper cover and liner, but please don't sell the pattern itself. Thanks and enjoy!

My projects

I have many projects going on right now!
Felted Teddy Bear
-I have used bernat felting yarn (100% wool) to begin to knit my first teddy bear. I am more proficient at crochet, so this was a project to re-learn knitting as well before attempting my next project- a pair of shorties for Z. The bear so far is a heard, arms, body, and legs, stuffed. I still have to do the ears and nose, and embroider on facial features. Anyhow, after he's done I will list him for sale on Etsy.
-The next project I have going on is the recycling of several wool sweaters into longies and shorties (diaper covers). Wool is waterproof if lanolized and it does not smell like urine after using it a few times, so you only have to wash wool diaper covers once every two weeks or so. Anyhow, it is more natural than using plastic pants. SO I have made two pairs of longies and two shorties out of an old 100% merino wool sweater. I have one more sweater that I am still felting and cutting up that will be next in line, and the first four items are still drying after I lanolized them.
-My next project is refurbishment of 12 all in one diapers I got used online. I only paid shipping on them since the elastic and inner fabric was shot. So I am taking them apart (I love my seam ripper), cutting new fabric for the inner from soft turquoise fabric, then adding new elastic and stitching them back up. This is taking a while because 1) I don't get that much sewing time and 2) My sewing machine is in bad need of a tune up. My needles keep breaking and I think it is because there is something out of alignment and my needle is hitting the plate.
-Another project that I'm working on is making some diaper covers out of a bunch of fleece I got from the remnant bin at wal mart. This is fun and fast! I have already done two. Here is a picture of one of them- the other is a pair of longies.



I have lots of wonderful yarn that I got on sale at Joannes that I need to make into something, and I also got some beautiful alpaca yarm from my mom for christmas thet I am still trying to figure out what to do with. I love it an it's so soft, I want to make sure to use it for just the right project. I have done a little research and found that alpaca yarn is more "drapey" than wool, so it should be something that doesn't require stiff structure. Maybe that slouchy hat I wanted to make a while ago. Hmmm....

Videos

From

From videos

From videos

From videos

Play time and a new hat

PICTURE TIME!!!



Here are some great "freestlye" play time pictures:


And here are some of him in the newest hat I made him. It is very cute with a little rolled brim. It is still a little big, but he'll grow into it. It is made of peruvian wool (blue yarn) and baby alpaca/silk blend (red yarn-thanks Suki!), so it is super soft and warm.

And here is where he realized he was wearing a hat:
And here is where he decided to take it off:
And eat it.
\

And afterwards he dreamed peacefully of eating hats:

New Years

We had a nice insouciant New Years. We have joined the sanguine masses in a hopefully not-too-feckless ritual of creating a "New Years Resolution". Ours is probably among one of the most common, but our reasoning is probably fairly unique. We want to start living more healthfully for several reasons. One is that as Zach begins to consume more solid foods, he has quite expectedly started to want our food instead of baby food. In the hopes that he will develop eating habits that will help to ensure life long health, we have decided the best course of action is to lead by example. Another reason is that we would like to have another child someday, and although Preeclampsia has not been linked specifically to being overweight, I cannot get it out of my head that I would be less likely to get it again if I lost about 60lbs before getting pregnant. Even if research has not proved that being heavy plays a role in the course of the disease, I would feel like I had done my very best to prevent it if I had lost some weight before getting pregnant again. In addition, there are other benefits of reaching your optimal weight prior to conceiving. I haven't talked to a doctor about it, but if they were willing to let me try to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after Csection) despite my placental abruption, I tihnk the odds of it working out would be higher if I was lighter. Of course, there is the chance that since the placental abruption I had was so catastrophic, they will want to do a c section as soon as I am at 37 weeks. SO, to sum it all up, the benefits would be numerous in the next few years, as well as down the road some.
The real challenge for me will not be sticking to a diet, or motivating myself to exercise. Before I because pregnant with Zach, I was on a roll, I had lost 25-30 lbs and I was highly motivated. BUT I was also working a part time job, and I spent hours each week planning my meals, writing down every single thing I ate, going to weight watchers meetings and exercising a lot. NOW I barely have time to bruch my teeth at the end of the day. I am going to try my best though, to make the time for myself that I need. I got to go on a nice bike ride yesterday alone for almost an hour. It was great, especially since when I returned I learned that Zach only cried for about 2 minutes!! :)
There are some new things I am going to try. In an effort to increase the useablitly (is that a word?) of our prefold diapers I am going to make a pair of "longies" out of an old werino wool sweater. Longies, for those of you who don't speak cloth diapering slang, are a pair of wool pants that go directly over a cloth diaper and act as a cover. In the olden days, wool was often used as a cover because when properly lanolized, it is waterproof and antimicrobial. I found a pattern online that I am planning on using.
http://www.boiseclothdiapers.com/wool_longies_pattern.htm
I also crocheted my own diaper soaker, out of some pretty wool, that is a similar idea, but does not cover the legs like longies do. Another option I am looking into are fleece soakers, since I bought a large piece of fleece at the thrift store, and they are fairly easy to make since fleece does not have to be lanolized or washed a certain way, or hemmed when sewing. Now if only I had about 48 extra hours to do this all. I can dream right?
Pics will post at next nap!