Catching Up a Bit
It's been awhile since I've posted and that's my own fault in the last few months I've had it rattle several times in the back of my head that I should post something. I've learned a lot in the past few months as well and my kid has turned into a bean pole it's super fun to have a toddler.
One of the biggest things I've learned is frugality and being proud of it. My rug actually taught me this. So when I was in junior high we moved into my great-grandma's house (she was in a home at the time) anyway and one day I came across this old braided and crocheted fabric rug in the crawlspace. I love the thing to death. My mother even remembers seeing it in her grandparents living room way back. So this old rug is wonderful after I cleaned it up and it lived in my bedroom until I had my own place. But over time some of the seams in the braided section came undone, I sewed up a few way back but more and more spots were coming undone. Some of the fabric was worn and weak and there were spots were the fabric ripped and separated in the crocheted sections. So eventually it's the point where I keep telling myself the rug isn't going to last long. I'm worried about the day I have to decide the rug is done for and kinda wishing I could display it somehow because I love it so. And then in early summer I have the realization that I could just mend it, oh why hadn't I thought of this before the seams had come so undone. In August I took red tread and mended the seams and the fabric rips and I have this heirloom rug back and while worn is still a favorite possession. I've taken this to mending all sorts of things around the house when they need it I even have a bucket for mending projects. I think consumerism to a small degree has taught people that it's easier to replace than fix things. It's so funny how stitching a little hole can save time and money in the long run. It reminded me of when I was thirteen and I had this small green bowl and it broke into a bunch of pieces. My mom told me to just throw it away and determined I glued it together with Elmer's glue. I still have it and it makes a great little bracelet holder.
Without going into detail we've had some life challenges that have encouraged us to lean on the wisdom of those who lived through the great depression. I love being able to relate in certain aspects, in fact the 1930's have become one of my favorite historical eras. Being able to make things last and work longer goes along with some of the survival techniques used during the era especially. I so glad to be able to rely on these skills in most of the aspects in the home.
With my husband going to school (and a massive commute) I've been home with Pippin more and I've come absolutely adore being a housewife. I love keeping things maintained and baking. I love the purpose I get from housework (I never thought I would) and getting dressed up nice just to be home.
Another awesome project I got done in August was making diaper covers for Pippin. So I've wanted him in cloth from the beginning but it didn't happen. Anyway so back in February I bought the supplies to make six diaper covers and some soakers from the fabric store. Then they sat for six months because the idea of using a sewing machine terrified me. Then in August I got so fed up I just put Pippin in a prefold (used to be a burp cloth) with some pins and it was fantastic. It was enough that I got over my fear and sewed the diaper covers using my mom's machine. It took about two days but then I had Pippin in cloth diapers finally and for only $70 which is fantastic because cloth is usually a larger investment. Each cover cost about $7 to make and is made from PUL fabric which is made from a fabric and plastic fabric basically glued together to get a breathable waterproof fabric. My sewing skills aren't great but I love that I can mend the diapers when I need to. We stole all of our burp cloths (we weren't using them anymore) and just used them as prefolds - this gave us about 21. I also bought some micro-fleece and made some soakers that can be used with the prefolds for more absorbancy. We either pin the prefold on and put the cover on top or use the covers like AI2 (All in Two's) with the prefold folded in thirds and placed inside the cover before we put them on. My covers aren't lined so when I change Pippin they just get wiped out if it's just wet. As for other aspects of cloth diapers I use two buckets for dirty diaper lined with old pillow cases as liners. I made a small wet bag from PUL scraps but for the most part we use plastic bags as wet bags when we're out and about. We also use the good old swish and dunk method of dealing with poopy diapers (recently Pippin has learned to help which will and has helped with potty training). I've learned that cloth diapering can be as or more expensive as disposable diapers if you let it, I've seen tons of mom blogs about buying more and more cute cloth diapers. There are so many benefits we've seen from cloth and it's a great fit for our family and we plan to cloth diaper baby #2 in a few months.
One of the biggest things I've learned is frugality and being proud of it. My rug actually taught me this. So when I was in junior high we moved into my great-grandma's house (she was in a home at the time) anyway and one day I came across this old braided and crocheted fabric rug in the crawlspace. I love the thing to death. My mother even remembers seeing it in her grandparents living room way back. So this old rug is wonderful after I cleaned it up and it lived in my bedroom until I had my own place. But over time some of the seams in the braided section came undone, I sewed up a few way back but more and more spots were coming undone. Some of the fabric was worn and weak and there were spots were the fabric ripped and separated in the crocheted sections. So eventually it's the point where I keep telling myself the rug isn't going to last long. I'm worried about the day I have to decide the rug is done for and kinda wishing I could display it somehow because I love it so. And then in early summer I have the realization that I could just mend it, oh why hadn't I thought of this before the seams had come so undone. In August I took red tread and mended the seams and the fabric rips and I have this heirloom rug back and while worn is still a favorite possession. I've taken this to mending all sorts of things around the house when they need it I even have a bucket for mending projects. I think consumerism to a small degree has taught people that it's easier to replace than fix things. It's so funny how stitching a little hole can save time and money in the long run. It reminded me of when I was thirteen and I had this small green bowl and it broke into a bunch of pieces. My mom told me to just throw it away and determined I glued it together with Elmer's glue. I still have it and it makes a great little bracelet holder.
Without going into detail we've had some life challenges that have encouraged us to lean on the wisdom of those who lived through the great depression. I love being able to relate in certain aspects, in fact the 1930's have become one of my favorite historical eras. Being able to make things last and work longer goes along with some of the survival techniques used during the era especially. I so glad to be able to rely on these skills in most of the aspects in the home.
With my husband going to school (and a massive commute) I've been home with Pippin more and I've come absolutely adore being a housewife. I love keeping things maintained and baking. I love the purpose I get from housework (I never thought I would) and getting dressed up nice just to be home.
Another awesome project I got done in August was making diaper covers for Pippin. So I've wanted him in cloth from the beginning but it didn't happen. Anyway so back in February I bought the supplies to make six diaper covers and some soakers from the fabric store. Then they sat for six months because the idea of using a sewing machine terrified me. Then in August I got so fed up I just put Pippin in a prefold (used to be a burp cloth) with some pins and it was fantastic. It was enough that I got over my fear and sewed the diaper covers using my mom's machine. It took about two days but then I had Pippin in cloth diapers finally and for only $70 which is fantastic because cloth is usually a larger investment. Each cover cost about $7 to make and is made from PUL fabric which is made from a fabric and plastic fabric basically glued together to get a breathable waterproof fabric. My sewing skills aren't great but I love that I can mend the diapers when I need to. We stole all of our burp cloths (we weren't using them anymore) and just used them as prefolds - this gave us about 21. I also bought some micro-fleece and made some soakers that can be used with the prefolds for more absorbancy. We either pin the prefold on and put the cover on top or use the covers like AI2 (All in Two's) with the prefold folded in thirds and placed inside the cover before we put them on. My covers aren't lined so when I change Pippin they just get wiped out if it's just wet. As for other aspects of cloth diapers I use two buckets for dirty diaper lined with old pillow cases as liners. I made a small wet bag from PUL scraps but for the most part we use plastic bags as wet bags when we're out and about. We also use the good old swish and dunk method of dealing with poopy diapers (recently Pippin has learned to help which will and has helped with potty training). I've learned that cloth diapering can be as or more expensive as disposable diapers if you let it, I've seen tons of mom blogs about buying more and more cute cloth diapers. There are so many benefits we've seen from cloth and it's a great fit for our family and we plan to cloth diaper baby #2 in a few months.
Here is Pippin in a diaper cover sitting on my heirloom rug.
