More Nappy Success!!

Last night, I finally completed the last of the second set of nappies I made - 6 more in all, so up to a total of 7 homemade nappies!! Very pleased with my self.

Bella is modelling the nappy "Funky". It is the last one I made, and probably the best so far (you would hope!!).

"Funky" is a side closing nappy.

Hannah is modelling "Tangerine Skies". (And also teaching how to use props in photo shots. This is what she calls the "blue elephant dinner"!)

"Tangerine Skies" is a front closing nappy.

These are the other 4 nappies. Not so easy to get models these days!!

From left to right: "Lavender Fields", "Aussie Aussie Aussie" (or otherwise known as Dorothy), "Oompa Loompa" and predictably "Strawberry Fields"

Lavender Fields and Dorothy are front closing.

Oompa Loompa and Strawberry Fields are side closing.

We're not sure which style of closing we most like yet as today has been the first wearing day. Poor Tangerine Skies was christened shortly after the photo was taken, and not just with wees, but she seems to have survived the ordeal, so that is a positive!!

I like that the side closing looks neater - no snaps really seen from the front, but the front closing seem to be easier to work on wriggling nappy wearers!!

Now I just need to make more - 7 won't really last long when there are 2 little girls needing them!! Better get to it.............

A Day of Firsts!

On Monday, we had 2 "firsts" - Bella had her first day at preschool, and Hannah graduated to a forward facing car seat! They may seem like little things, but in this household - they were huge!!

Bella was so excited about going to preschool. For a week prior, all we ever heard about is "I'm going to preschool today" - all day, everyday!! So the day arrived and she was straight to the playground and didn't even care when Hannah and I left. The only tears were from Hannah as she wanted to stay too. It was for a full day - 9am till 3pm. When I got there at 3, the teachers said that they wouldn't have believed that Bella had never been in care as she was wonderful and even danced in the middle of the circle (by herself!!).

First day of preschool

And the obligitory sibling picture!

Bella's day came a little unstuck in the car on the way home when she couldn't find her apple in her school bag. I had tried to get Bella to help me in the morning to put it in the fruit basket for the morning tea, but she was too keen to get outside to help and was therefore devasted that she couldn't find it! I managed to assure her that she did eat it at morning tea and she could have another when we got home. Then it came out that a big boy had called her a "little girl" - a term we have not been using for Bella (all in hope that it might help her to get out of nappies!!). And this seemed to really upset her.

There has been very little talk of preschool since then, so hopefully on Monday, she will want to go again. Fingers crossed.......

And Hannah, well she is becoming a bigger girl. Turning her seat around at 16.5 months!! She got half a month longer than Bella!! But her feet were touching the seat!!

My 2 big girls

Bella insisted on carrying her school bag, lunch bad and drink bottle all in her lap the whole way

to preschool!!

While technically not that day, Hannah on the day previous, had her first painting experience. I think you could safely say, she had fun!!

It's finished... at last!!

Well, I've done it!! Finished my first nappy. Its a bit rough and not sure how long it will last, but it is currently being tried out by Bella - prior to it's first wash - and I don't think I'm going to get it off her very easily. When I asked her to try it on I got the response "thank you so much Mummy". The size is nearly too small for her, so need to go up a size with the next nappy, but overall, very happy!

So the disasters, well... mini disasters were many! The first was the crazy sewing with the material glued together (still holds the scars of that one) and the hours of unpicking that followed!! (Although I have read that a hot wash will close the holes in the PUL - but I'm not totally confident, some are rather large sewing holes!!) I had pinned the two layers together before I received Nat's great advice to use paper clips to hold together to avoid more holes. Another saving grace was the advice that I'd read in a forum to use baking paper to stop the laminated side of the PUL sticking to the sewing machine foot. I think another problem with my crazy sewing was the microfleece getting stuck on the foot too!!

After first sewing attempt - unpicked and pinned!

I then had problems with the elastic! I think I may have pulled it too tight to measure it in its full stretch for the legs and back. Its definitely a 2 person job - one to hold one end while the other person does the other end and marks the stretched length. When sewing it on, I sewed it completely on the inside of the seam, but am wondering if it should go over the seam (any advice??). But the legs are so gathered, that they look fine!!

I had made a 4 layered booster (with a possibility of another 2 layers). I sewed the 4 layers (really a 2 layered doubled over) with a top layer of micorfleece. But then decided I really should have 6 layers, to added the other double layer so that it folds out in 2 directions. That all worked really well, but it wasn't until I started with my first attempts at the snaps that disaster struck. I was silly not to have a play first but just wanted to finish my nappy!! I attached the snaps to the back of the nappy where the booster will attached - all good! Then I attached them to the booster itself. They went on really well and perfect distance, yet when I went to attach the booster, realised I put them on the wrong way and my microfleece layer, that should have been on the top, was in the middle. I quickly got online and tried to find a way of getting them off, and got a few ideas. They one I first tried was to put the snap back in the press and try and snap it with the press. It worked for the first one, but did put a lovely hole in the bamboo. I tried the old nail clips trick, but it didn't work. So due to the hole, I thought I may as well cut out a strip where the snaps were and sewed the booster back together!!

The finished product showing snap in, fold out booster

The middle

The outside

So a very valuable lesson to learn on my first nappy. Check the snaps are facing the right way!! I then finished the snaps on the nappy and tried it on! Very chuffed with myself!! Not a wonderful specimen, but a great first attempt (if I do say so myself).

The cheeky model!!

The front

And the back!!

A big thank you to the cooperative model!! She has just learnt the cheeky 'head on the side' pose!

Not sure about the calibrating of the snaps machine - not really sure how you know - I think its a time thing. If the snaps fall off prematurely, its not calibrated right!!

But the proof will be in the pudding... or should I say... the weeing!!

Nappy still not sewn!

Well, the girls did sleep. And so did I! What a lovely nanny nap - woke up feeling very refreshed!

But my nappy was put on hold for housework (groan) and then fruit preserving and sauce making! Luke made the sauce while I was sleeping, then we put it into the preserver while we got some apricots ready to put in next. So even though no nappy sewing was done, it was a highly productive evening!!

And the sewing begins......

I'm a cloth nappy using mum. Love them. I'd been using a brand that was fairly inexpensive, and for the first 3 years, were fine! But then I discovered pretty, slim lined properly fitted (none of those little packages escaping in these!!) cloth nappies and I was hooked!!

I have research for hours for patterns, material and every nappy forum I could find. Picked the brains of 2 of my uni friends (thanks Nat and Penny!) and many 'help me' queations on the forums, for help in the initial setting up 'I don't know the layers of my nappy' process, and I think I have finally got my head around it all.

I ordered the material (and snaps machine which is still in the box!) and was sooo excited to get my delivery in the post. Here it is:

And my bamboo, microfleece and suedecloth

And my gorgeous PUL

So, for the past 4 days I found the stretch of the material and cut the pattern the right way and glued it together. And yes, took me four days to just do this, Bella only occassionally has a day sleep and Hannah has slipped back into sleeping problems and often will sleep for less than an hour. If I was able to resettle her without having a big sister coming into help, she may sleep for longer. But it is sooo frustrating, going from a little girl 2 weeks ago that would sleep right through the night and would have between 4 and 5 hours sleep during the day (in 2 sleeps) and no resettling required! I thought that I couldn't possible get 2 children with sleeping problems, but I have and I think Hannah is the worst of the 2. But saying that - Bella is now a wonderful sleeper! Anyway....... I digress

Back to the four days to get the preliminary work done...... And in the evenings - too tired (and again one little miss thinks its okay to stay up way past her bedtime!). So yesterday I finally got the machine out and sewed the 2 outer layers - a bright pink PUL and soft pink microfleece - together. Well the first 10cm looked great, then it all turned into a disaster!! And took me about 3 hours to unpick! And I've now pinned it together, rather than glued as I think the glue was making the material stick to the machine (a theory anyway). I was hoping I would have a smooth run, but no such luck :(

The initial cutting

So will hopefully get to 'take 2' this afternoon. We have a 1st birthday this morning, so the girls should hopefully be tired and sleep this afternoon, otherwise Luke is home, so may be able to distract the girls. Although I did hear him saying he wanted to play in the vegie patch and sew some seeds so.............

I'll keep you posted!!