RED - work - woodpeckers - diapers...

I finished one of my redwork tea towels and I like her.  At first I thought she was a tomato, but now I realize she must be an apple.  The stem and leaf at the top give it away for me.

I clicked this photo of a Red-headed Woodpecker this morning.  He was resting in the Willow Tree out in the backyard.  It snowed and rained again a little bit this morning, but has since stopped.  The coming days are supposed to be sunny and warm.  Yippee!  The rain has been a blessing though.

My friend who recently had the baby was considering using cloth diapers.  She was showing us one of those fancy new diapers you can buy and was debating the pros and cons of buying a dozen.  Since then I have been studying homemade diapers online and came up with this lil cutie.  It's called the RRP (Rita's Rump Pocket) classic diaper.  She has a free diaper pattern here, and really, it was a snap to make.  This particular diaper has a pocket in the center that allows you to add an absorbent pad or cloth pre-fold diaper inside.  It will need a single diaper pin in front to close it, but as the baby gets bigger it can expand and will take two pins or a Snappi (have you seen these?), or I  could add velcro closures to the diaper.  I made the diapers out of stuff I had at home:  thread, a red flannel sheet, a windshirt my son was throwing out, and some elastic.  I am hopeful that the blue diaper's outer covering will be water-repellent, otherwise these diapers will need a cover.  As I investigated the *new to me* cloth diapers, I found a great idea for a pad that goes into the pocket of the diaper --  Shamwow! or microfiber chamois or those super-absorbent cleaning cloths you can buy for a buck!  This would reduce the bulk in the diapers and add super-absorbency!


This picture shows the diaper completely open and one diaper closed.  Aren't they neat?  I wish I had had something like this when I was diapering my five babies in cloth.   I felt blessed to have the pre-folds with pins and plastic pants.  I always had two in diapers so I know that I saved a TON of money diapering my kiddos in cloth.  I did buy the not-so-good-back-then disposable dipes for night time and for trips to town though and I think it's always smart to have them on hand.  I washed diapers every other day and on nice days I hung them out on the line to dry.  I know I could cloth-diaper a baby in my sleep yet today!

This afternoon I mailed out six diapers to my friend along with an extra super-absorb cloth and a cute fleece cover like this one.... 

I used this pull-on training knickers pattern  for the diaper cover. Cute eh?  Check out these DIY diaper sites:  the Nappy Network , Diaper Jungle and here's a YouTube video for sewing the pattern I used.    For excellent diaper-making supplies click SewShoppe.  These rainy days have brought lots of opportunities for indoor projects, but I'm itching to plant potatoes, onions, and lettuce.  Maybe tomorrow!