Hiatus

So, last spring I decided to take on the position of president of the PTA at my sons' school. The job really ramped up in early August, and since then-- I have pretty much found myself with a nearly full-time unpaid job. Crafting fell by the wayside. Like WAY by the wayside. While it just hasn't been in me to blog at all over the last few months, I have managed to make a few things:

A Concord Tee from Cashmerette Designs:

LOVE this design. I've purchased fabric for two more.

A cute, swingy dress from McCall's 6957:

Check out that stripe matching under my arm where no one can see it! But I know it is there. I don't think this is supposed to be a high-low hem (at least, not according to the line drawing), but that's how it ended up, despite the fact that I did a 1.25" swayback adjustment. It's fine though, because I like it.

An unintentionally sexy top from McCall's 6963:

I think the lowness of the drape is a result of the FBA I did. It is definitely a date night kind of top!

Some wizard vests (from Simplicity 8023), robes (from a lovely pattern from the SewingPatternPixie available through Etsy), and wands (no pattern there):

The accessories-- ties, scarves, glasses, Gryffindor patches, white button-down shirts, toad-- were all purchased.

I can't even get over my boys. They are awesome. And they just. keep. growing.

I also managed a few holiday gifts, including some Kismet Trinket Boxes from Sew Sweetness. (LOVE this design!!! These are seriously so fun to make!)

These are all the medium round size, measuring about 4.75" tall. I put little treats in them and gifted them to teachers and friends.

Finally, I also made some maxi-pads and panty-liners of my own design.

I feel like I should note that I do not generally make a habit of giving feminine hygiene products to my friends/family. My sister-in-law specifically requested these. :P

Relative to my usual output and craftiness... the last six months has been a serious dry spell, creativity-wise. PTA has kind of been all-consuming, leaving very little energy for anything else.

So! My new mantra starting a couple of days ago is "Life Balance." I am going to make a conscious effort to be present with my family, make my home a better place to be (cleaner, more organized), while at the same still doing my PTA job and also taking better care of myself by eating better, making time to exercise again (I miss running!), and plan dedicated crafty creative time-- including, hopefully, a little blogging. No problem, right? But, if I am conscious of these things, maybe it will help me to make better choices along the way. We'll see how it goes.

Hope you have had some wonderful holidays and I wish you a joyful start to 2017!

Happy pads

I'm a cloth-diapering mama. I diligently swathe my boy in his hemp prefolds and Thirsties diaper covers at every changing, use cloth wipes, and launder it all myself. Yay for the savings over disposable! Yay for not contributing to landfills!

Since I've been doing that I've had this nagging guilt following me though— I don't use cloth pads myself. I have been a faithful user of disposables my entire adult life. When I think about it, I realize it's for the same reasons that people don't want to use cloth diapers: convenience and less mess. I started thinking, "If it's good enough for my boy (and it's working well), it should be good enough for me too, right?"

I started by looking around online to see what was available. I saw some great looking pads, but the cost just seemed prohibitive—particularly when investing in something that I wasn't even so sure about. So a few weeks ago, I attempted to make my own pads. They turned out not-so-hot, and only moderately functional (it didn't occur to me that if I quilted through the waterproof barrier that it would no longer be waterproof... oops!). It's taken me a few weeks (admittedly, I've not been thinking too hard about this... only once a month or so...) to come up with a better plan, but finally, I think I have.

The result:


Not only do I think they are going to be functional, but they turned out much prettier than the first attempts. And they are all stash! The flannel (left over from a quilt project), scraps of batting, snaps, and even the waterproof layer (some of that rubberized flannel stuff bought long ago for a bib pattern I never got around to making) were all sitting about just waiting to be used. For the pattern, I just traced around my favorite brand of disposable pad and then adjusted the shape to be a little more sew-friendly.

Of course, now the real test is how they perform. I'll find out soon enough. If they work out well, I may try and post a tutorial.