Simple, delicious veggie wrap

Spread a large tortilla (I like the flavored kind, like Tomato Basil or Spinach) with a thin layer of Neufchâtel cheese. Pile some spring greens and alfalfa sprouts down the center. Grate 1/2 of a medium carrot over that. Take a handful of grape tomatoes, cut them in halves, and scatter over the carrots. Cut up a small broccoli floret into bite-size pieces and scatter on top. Roll up the tortilla and enjoy!

(I have made this for lunch [or breakfast] several times lately and it's very yummy and filling!)

Cloth diapers

Lately, I've gotten renewed incentive to try to kick the disposable diaper habit once and for all. We've been dabbling with cloth diapers off-and-on for about a year. I am certainly not an expert on the topic; in fact, I find it rather overwhelming. There are so many choices these days that I hardly knew where to start! Eventually I just picked Econobum covers after my blogging friend Shannon alerted her readers to a "Buy One, Get One Free" sale at Cotton Babies. I purchased five so we now have 10 diaper covers and cotton prefolds.

I have no complaints with their functionality (no leaks or blow-outs in our limited experience), but they do have their drawbacks. Edmund is more prone to diaper rash when wearing cloth. Also, the cotton prefolds are pretty bulky and I have my doubts that they would work well on an infant as they are simply too big. And last but not least, they develop a strong odor when soiled -- I do realize this is probably due to build-up or laundry abuse on my part, I'm just still in the process of trying different things to see what will work to get rid of the smell.

So, I decided to take a look around and see what might solve some of my problems. Thankfully, Shannon is a fount of cloth-diaper information. I went back and reviewed her helpful posts on cloth-diapering (Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) and decided to try my hand at the free Rita's Rump pocket diaper pattern, taking Shannon's suggestion of using Alova suede as the liner in an effort to keep moisture away from tender skin.

Serendipitously, Jo-Ann Fabrics had their flannels on sale for $1.99/yard and with a 50% off coupon, I was able to get a good price on the Alova suede, too. I planned to make just a few to make sure I liked the style and fit before going crazy making tons of diapers. I also bought some microfiber auto towels at Target for about $1 each to use as "soakers" in the diaper pockets. Here are two of my first efforts, made up in nice gender-neutral fabrics.

[You can see I added a seam at the crotch of the froggy diaper, just so the frogs would be right-side-up on both the front and back of the diaper!]
These diapers are not waterproof so I still use the Econobum covers over them. They do not have any fastenings, which is supposed to make them more versatile in fitting infants all the way to toddlers (the diapers do fit Edmund, who is almost 28 months and around 35 lbs., although the back wings barely meet in the front on him). Shannon said she is able to use them without pins by keeping them in place with the waterproof cover -- I tried this and it is a little tricky on a big, active toddler. I will pick up some diaper pins next time I see any at a store (I'm assuming these are still sold in stores, right?!) and try that route.

As far as reducing bulk, they certainly do that, and are doubtless more comfy for Edmund to wear than the prefolds. It remains to be seen whether they'll help with the diaper rash issue -- never a huge problem with him anyway, but one that just crops up from time to time when he is wearing a lot of cloth. It's certainly an economical option as the materials can be had pretty cheaply if you use Jo-Ann coupons, and the pattern sews up very quickly. It's a little hard for me to judge how functional they are because Edmund is in the process of potty-training and isn't giving them the full workout that a newborn infant will. So stay tuned for an update in a couple of months! :)

[Baby bump at 30 weeks!]

Regency Roses

Before the month slips away from me, I'll share about this Regency gown that I made for a friend this past month. She and her husband were invited to an English Country Dance, so she wanted a pretty Regency gown to wear to the event. Julie chose the fabric and the style, and I did the stitching!

I used the Elegant Ladies' Closet pattern from Sense & Sensibility Patterns, with a few modifications. I raised the neckline 1.5" and added a total of 4" of extra width to the front of the dress for potential maternity/nursing wear. I custom-fitted the length of the bodice on Julie so that she could wear the dress without needing period undergarments. Julie wanted a little extra something to add interest and definition, so she requested that I use a coordinating bias binding on the outside of the dress for the drawstring casing. I also added detachable long sleeves, from the same fabric, which I basted in after this photo was taken. I also made a chemise from cotton muslin for her to wear under the dress (no pictures of that, as it is pretty basic, but the interesting challenges of that pattern are flat-felled seams and inserting gussets under the arms).

Sewing this dress in the middle of winter was like getting a whiff of summertime and roses!

Handmade Christmas

Here's a review of some of the handmade items I crafted as Christmas gifts. I went a little more homemade than usual this year, and considering I didn't get started on any of them until December was well underway, I'm pleased that I managed anything at all!

Here we have a counted cross-stitch ornament given to my friend, Susan. I lifted the design from a early 1990s library book. Most of the designs looked fairly out of date, but this classic folk pattern caught my eye. All materials came from my stash.

The recipient of this crayon roll was my little one-year-old niece. I used this excellent tutorial from The Pleated Poppy, adjusting the size to fit jumbo crayons. (If you want to do something similar, my fabric pieces were 5-3/4" x 24-1/2" for the outside and inside, and 6-1/2" x 24-1/2" for the pocket. The crayon pockets end up being 1-1/2" wide.)

Finally, this toile makeup bag went to my Mom. She had requested a smaller-sized makeup bag so this one ended up about 6" x 7." I used a tutorial from Flossie Teacakes, adjusting the sizing slightly and adding box corners. I am not totally happy with the way it turned out because the zipper corners look a little wonky (see photo). Perhaps my upholstery-weight cotton was simply too thick. For the lining, I used polyester lining and lightweight fusible interfacing. Other than the shape, I'm very happy with the neat finishing touches and the pretty fabrics.

I'm a little late, but I'll wish you all a happy (second day of) Christmas! :-)

Poor man's holiday room fragrance

Now that citrus fruits are in season, we've been going through boxes of clementines like there's no tomorrow. Here's a little room freshener idea that makes good use of all those peels sitting around.

• orange peels from 2-3 clementines
  
• cinnamon stick
  
• whole cloves (maybe a teaspoonful?)
  
• a sprinkling of grated nutmeg
  
• (optional) a few drops of sweet orange essential oil (I have it on hand, so I add it)

Place everything in a small saucepan and add some water (not necessarily to cover, but enough that it won't boil down right away). Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Your kitchen will begin to smell wonderfully fragrant. Top off the water as needed. You can reuse the same mixture for several days -- just toss it when it starts to look like a nauseous mess. ;-)

A Fond Farewell (sort of!)

I've been procrastinating writing this post -- I'm sure you've noticed the neglect my blog has suffered of late! Douglas and I decided to get rid of our home Internet connection for a season, which went into effect at the beginning of this month. This is partly to cut out an unnecessary financial expenditure, and partly because we both felt we were too addicted to the Internet. It's been a few weeks now, and I'm truly surprised at how little I miss it -- mostly the convenience of looking up a recipe, checking the weather forecast, or things like that.

I initially thought that if we got rid of our Internet connection, I would give up blogging altogether -- but when push came to shove, I'm having a hard time severing something I've enjoyed so much over the past five years. So, I decided to semi-retire instead. My posts will be much more infrequent, since my Internet time is so limited, but I hope to continue posting from time to time, especially my sewing projects.

I will also be changing the comments so that all comments need to be approved by me before they show up. I've been blessed not to have to deal with much spam or unkindness through the comments feature, but this will just give me an extra measure of peace about the content of my blog when I'm not around to check on it every day.

Thanks for hanging in there with me! It's a blessing to be able to share the small beauties with which God has enriched my life at home. I'm always glad to hear from you, either in the comments or by e-mail (my address is in my blogger profile). God bless you, dear friends!

Pink or blue?

I haven't been up to much sewing lately, but I did manage to make these two swaddling blankets from lengths of flannel I had in my stash. It's just a single layer of flannel, with the edges folded under 1/2" twice and stitched down. I made mitred corners for neatness. They ended up being about 38" square. I had several like these that I used with Edmund, and I really liked them for their versatility -- swaddling, nursing cover, floor mat, etc.!

Lord willing, one of these blankets will be put to good use in our family next May! ;-)