I made a Hot Mama Nappy Bag!!!

I am so very proud of me right now!!! Ive spent the last two days neglecting the house work & while ants have run rampant ive managed to actually sew a nappy bag! Its a Hot Mama Messenger Style Diaper Bag by Wired up Designs - i bought the pattern over a year ago & just never got round to attempting it, but i have a whole room to do sewing in now which makes it easier to make stuff cause i can just walk out & shut the door on all the mess when i dont have time to do any more!

I thought it would be way to hard but i just took it one step at a time & eventually i got there! Its out of the same material as the ring sling i made (which only cost me $2 per metre from Campbell's Cash n Carry!!!), it probably isnt a sturdy enough material for a nappy bag really but hey - it matches my ring sling! Heres a couple of pics -



I actually lined it with some white PUL i have lying around (i bought a couple of metres of the stuff in a co-op a year or so ago), you probably arent meant to use a material like that to line it but i figured it would make it water proof, so i did it anyway.

Heres the inside of the bag. Theres 4 largish pockets for nappies, wipes etc, a mobile phone holder, a little key holder that you can snap over your keys, a change pad (which i made too) with a little loop to keep it in place & a wallet pocket (which my wallet is far to fat to fit into):


Theres also two of these drink bottle holders on the outside (one on each side):


& the shoulder strap has padding in it & everything!

Heres the change pad i made to go with it, your meant to use the same fabric to back it (so it would have been purple on the back) but i wanted to keep my fabric so i just used PUL - makes it water proof anyway! Its topped with maiden mills fleece & has wadding on the inside so its nice & soft & cushy!


Notice that there are absolutely no close ups of any of my sewing...thats because its pretty freakin dodgy in lots of places...but i dont care! im just so glad that i actually managed to complete it! & it only took me two days which is pretty good for someone with my complete lack of sewing experience i think.

So what should i try & sew next??? i picked up some more cheap material today so ill have to find a new project for it :)

Trip to the Second Hand Baby Markets

We went to the second hand baby markets this morning & picked up some bargains (as always!). Excuse the picture quality, im having trouble locating the camera so these were taken on my mobile.

I got this big cardboard book for 50 cents:


A stack of clothes for varying prices:

A sheepskin cot liner (its folded in half here) for $7. Im planing on using this one for over the pillow on my happy hangup (the baby hammock) because regular sheepskins are a bit hard to fold over it:

A sheepskin car seat liner (i dont think this one was ever even used) for $10:

A toddler seat for our pram for $20 (normally $100!):

A pram & baby for jet $6:

Mum bought jet this scooter for $15 - not sure if thats cheap or not?

Some maternity clothes for $6, the skirt is a bit big, might have to stick some elastic in it:

A(nother) nappy bag (well, its a nice one!) for $5:

Think thats it! I love going to the baby markets, you can pick up such great stuff at really cheap prices. Its especially good for clothes although you mainly find newborn to size 2 there, you cant get much for the bigger kids which is a shame.

Sewing a Ring Sling

Ages ago i bought some rings to make a ring sling from somewhere (cant quite remember where) so i figured i might as well make one for the new bub. I went to the local Campbell's Cash & Carry store & bought a couple of metres of beautiful purple fabric for $2 per metre - bargain! i have no idea what it is, probably some type of cotton??? it has the slub (if that's what they call it) through it which i think gives it a nice look. Here's a close up:

Anyway, today i decided id start working on it, & low & behold i managed to finish it too! I didnt end up using the rings i had (which was my whole reason for doing it in the first place) because Hayley has MUCH better rings, they weigh heaps less & are slightly bigger & they dont make a clinking sound. So i ended up getting a couple off her & using them!

I attempted to follow the Jan Andrea instructions (the only reason i say attempted is because i haven't sewn for so long i had even forgotten how to get thread onto my little bobbin thingy - not because her instructions are hard to follow, im sure for a non-pregnant kinda competent sewer they are great). Here's my attempted pleating of the shoulder bit, i think it worked ok for a first attempt (I'm proud anyway!), you can also see the fab sling rings i got from Hayley clearly here:

I left the tail pretty long because i want to be able to flick it over my shoulder if im in the middle of the shopping centre walking along & feeding (should i ever manage to master that skill). Ive got a teddy in it here:

& heres the long tail bit flicked over:

& here i am attempting to breastfeed a teddy bear - lol:

I even managed to convince Jet to get in for a few seconds so i could get a real action shot:

You can kinda see my baby bump in those pics too - really should stick some bump pics up shouldn't i!

I hope the material i used is ok! It feels a little slippery (not to much but more than a drill would), not sure if thats ok??? I left the full width there, it fits through the rings fine so hopefully that works alright too. I havent stuck a pocket on it yet, i might do that after bub is born, im just not sure where would be best just yet.

Ive still got a few metres of material left so im going to attempt to make the Hot Mama Nappy Bag i saw over on Tracy's blog ages ago. I bought the pattern as soon as i saw her creation, im not quite sure im ready for such a big project though!

Interested in free Jewelery?

Visit my blogging buddy CanuckleHead's site. He is giving away a free Tungsten ring valued at up to $120 & all you have to do is leave him a comment on his blog! Its to celebrate the second anniversary of canucklehead.ca.

While your there check out his laugh section, he has stacks of jokes on there to cheer up your day - they always make me laugh!

Confessions...

I clicked on the About Me tab at the left of my tabs & my bio currently reads: "Im a 27 year young cloth nappying, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby carrying mum. Jet (DS) - 15/12/06 Rocky (DH)- 29". But...most of those things aren't exactly true:

• Im not 27
• Jet is mainly in disposables at the moment
• Im no longer breastfeeding
• or co-sleeping
• or baby carrying
• Rocky isnt 29 any more either

I think the only truth in my bio is that im a mum! So heres an update:

Im now 29, i just had my birthday on the 10th of March, & Rocky turned 30 last year.

Jet is pretty much exclusively in disposables at the moment due to most of the nappies in my stash just not being effective - some of them have lost their elastic & most others just cant hold the volume of wee he manages to pump out!

Im also no longer breastfeeding. I breastfed Jet for 2 years, i think his last feed was a week after his second birthday. 2 years was always my goal & having reached it while i was pregnant, still sleep deprived & totally exhausted i decided it was time to wean him, i cut his feeds down to once a day (first thing in the morning only) a couple of months before he weaned. At first he fed religiously every morning for about 40 mins, which i would have been happy to continue (because it bought me extra sleep), but eventually he started skipping days, then he would only feed two or three times per week, then once a week, then once every few weeks, by his second birthday he hadnt had a feed for a week or two, then fed again a week after his birthday & that was it. he has asked me a couple of times since but ive just told him that its all gone!

We moved jet into his own room just before he turned 2, he ended up back in with us for a few more months but we decided we should try & get him comfortable in his room before the next bub comes along. We have had our ups & downs (which has always been the case with his sleeping). At the moment he is sleeping through sporadically, once every few nights, most nights he just wakes up once & some nights he wakes up 5+ times. *Hopefully* he gets the hang of it (& keeps it that way) before the new bub arrives!

As for baby carrying, Jet just got to big!!!

So anyway, im *trying* to rectify the whole cloth nappy vs disposables thing. I am disgusted at how long you can leave a disposable on, the things just soak up sooooo much fluid! if you didnt have a heavy wetter you could probably leave one on all day & thats just disgusting. i hate the thought of all the chemicals that could be leaching into jets skin & i also hate contributing so much to land fill. So ive made another cloth nappy purchase. Ive gone back to basics. Bamboo fitteds with covers & Baby Beehinds have some really well made affordable nappies so ive gone with them. Also a fellow ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association) member is now the central coast rep for them so i can order it all through her! I decided to buy 10 x Bamboo Fitteds, 2 x Large PUL Covers, 1 x Small Wool Cover, 2 x Medium Wool Covers & 1 x Large Wool Cover (all the wool covers were on special because they are discontinuing the coloured varieties).

I find bamboo the most absorbent of all the materials used to make cloth nappies & also it doesnt tend to get that smell that hemp does. Fitteds with a cover tend to absorb more than pockets & AIO's (in my experience anyway) so they should suit jet better for now & *hopefully* he will discover the inspiration to toilet train some time soon (he knows what the potty is for & when he is weeing etc - he just doesnt care one bit if he has a wet or pooey nappy on - go figure!). So heres a pic of my new haul:

Thats my spiel for the day! Thanks for 'listening' :D

A Stop at Gresford Markets

Today we went up to Allyn River (about 3 hours north of where we live) to Rocky's cousins son's party (we just claim him as jets cousin). We had a fantastic time, Allyn River is such a beautiful spot, one of our faves to camp at!

On the way up there we stopped in at the Gresford Markets...& decided to buy some chickens!!!

Jet is sooooo excited & absolutely loves them! They are bantams & *hopefully* female (otherwise the neighbours will kill us!!!). We haven't named them yet - so please tell me your suggestions!!!

I also got some beautiful handspun angora wool, it hasn't been dyed that's the natural colour, isn't it gorgeous!!!

Presents for two special little boys :D

Today i went to Hayley's son's birthday party, one of them turned 3 & the other turned 1. Since Hayley made Jet a fabulous little sling for his birthday (the type he can carry a doll around in - which i will have to blog pics of!) i thought i should go to the effort of making presents for them. So... i made them each a pair of picky pants & a matching beanie. Here's some pics:

I was so petrified they wouldn't fit but i *think* they should be ok.

While I'm at it i might as well stick some old pics in here. About 9 months ago (when i was being totally slack & not blogging anything!!!) i made Hayley's (then) new little bub a bear out of the last minute knits book. She stuck pics on her blog of it which ive been meaning to nick to post on here - so ive finally done it, thanks Hayley!

Present for Briony

Thought id stick some pics up of one of my latest projects. I was planning on going to a friends baby shower this weekend but cant make it cause one of jets cousins (well, rockys cousins kid) is having a b-day party. So i made her a little pressie to send. heres some pics:

The octopus (thats what the top 2 pics are of just in case you couldn't tell!) is from this pattern, i stuck a little cat toy which has a bell in it inside so it jingles when you rattle it.

For the hat i kind of modified a pattern out of the lincraft baby book, for some reason they never stick patterns in that are knit on the round!!! heres my modified pattern.

Gumnut Baby Hat:

I used Fairy Floss Yarn from lincraft (less than one ball), & 5mm double pointed needles.

Cast on 42sts, work in the round in stockinette stitch untill work measures 12cm

Decrease as follows:

rnd 1 - * K4, K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

rnd 2 & all alternate rounds Knit all stitches
rnd 3 - * K4, K2tog, repeat from * to the end.
rnd 5 - * K3, K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

rnd 7 - * K2, K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

rnd 9 - * K1, K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

rnd 11 - * K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

rnd 13 - * K2tog, repeat from * to the end.

on next round reduce stitches so there is only 3 left (cant remember exactly how many K2togs i needed here, if any???).

Knit 3 stitches in an icord till the icord measures 12.5cm then tie it in a knot! thats it! :D