Reclaimed denim sewing...

 

I can't tell you how many times I've reached for my pot holders and thought, "Gosh, I need to make some new ones."  I'm partial to the denim pot holders for their ability to stand up to everything I can dish up and dish out of my kitchen.  They remind me of my loved ones too because they are made from pieces of their old jeans.  This time I recycled the pockets along with the legs of denim.  I had the idea that I could slip my hands into the pockets, but honestly these particular pockets are too small for my hands.  They must have been kids jeans -- little butts.  Still, I like that extra barrier the pockets give against heat and they look cute too.

I reclaimed some denim for bibs for Little Boy Blue.  He's six months old now and is gobbling up solid foods so he needs some hearty protection from all that dribbles out of his mouth.  These ought to do the trick.  There are tons of bib patterns out there, but this is the one that I tend to make the most.  I use a ponytail elastic for the button loop and put a big button on the other side.

Here's a cute bib tutorial and pattern for you!

Diaper bag-tote...

A dear friend just had her 4th baby girl, and I wanted to do something nice for her so as I walked into The Bakery (my hometown fabric store) I asked Annie what my friend would like or need the most.  Immediately she knew and said, "A diaper bag!  And here's the fabric she likes."  This is what I love about hometown shopping.  Everybody knows everybody and the shop owners are so on-the-ball and willing to help.

My friend had chosen the red outer fabric for a diaper bag and so Annie and I chose this denim blue print for the lining.  I found a freebie pattern for a roomy, hip-mama diaper bag HERE at Sew Much Ado.  The tutorial was quite simple to follow and I think it made a terrific bag.  The finished dimensions came out to 18"wide by 12" high by 8" deep.  There are lots of pockets inside and I added a denim pocket on the outside and a key ring on the inside so she could snap her keys on it.  I hate fumbling for keys in a big bag.

I made a pin-on flower for the bag and found another simple tutorial for it  HERE at Sew Ritzy Titzy.

I plan to fill the pockets with little diaper bag necessities like wipes, butt paste, diapers, mommy snacks, and a paci.  I'm going to the workshop to make a changing pad similar to this dish mat to slip into the bag too.  Fun!

Sewing cloth diapers...

Only daughter, G., is due to have her first baby in April and so she asked me to sew up a bunch of cloth diapers for Cupcake.  I really like doing this so of course, I committed to it.  So far, I've only stitched up a half dozen, but I have many, many more to make.  I am using the patterns here and here.  I did buy a Quick Sew diaper pattern that is sized (S,M,L, XL), but so far, I haven't tried it.  I figured if I can sew a one-size-fits-all, why mess with sizes?

Tonight G. is going to try the diapers out on her friend's 5 month old baby.  It'll be interesting to know how they fit and if she might have suggestions in sizing.  There are so many patterns out there that I don't mind trying new ones to see which are The Best.

The green print diaper at the top of the picture is made of three layers of flannel.  It is supposed to be a pocket diaper, but G. and I wondered why a person would want to de-stuff a messy diaper and re-stuff clean ones?  So instead, I just made it plain and sewed up a bunch of diaper soaker pads from the scraps to place right inside the diaper next to baby's bum.  The other two diapers are made of cotton knits.  The grey one is knit terry cloth and the blue bunny diaper has the grey terry cloth inside and is a cotton knit outside.  Both are three layers.  None of these diapers have closures, but will be pinned or snappied shut.  It is possible that we may decide to do velcro tabs, but for now, we've chosen to keep the diapers plain.  I have made velcro tabs on other diapers, and they were well-received.

I think these new fitted cloth diapers are just wonderful.  They sure beat the old pre-fold diapers that I used on my kids.  I thought they worked just fine and they were very inexpensive.  After all, they were diapers -- made for messes, not for pretty. These days, the new-fangled cloth diapers are really expensive.  Check out the Fuzzi Bunz and see what I mean!  Yowza!  I knew I could make diapers on-the-cheap. 

Want a quick sample of a good diaper sewing video?  Click below! She is sewing the same pocket-diaper pattern that I made (minus the pocket).




More links for sewing diapers here:
The Diaper Jungle
Sewing Cloth Diapers
Very Baby (fabrics & patterns available here)
Zany Zebra Designs (lots of free patterns)
Fern & Faerie (frugal diapering)
Confessions of a Diaper Fanatic

Don't have a diaper handy?  Use a T-shirt.
Watch Dad diaper his son.