Friday, February 12, 2010

Recycle mania!


A couple years ago, I went to Coney Island ( no, not in New York, but here in Cincinnati, Oh. It is the largest fresh water resirculating pool in the US) with my mother and grandmother, and saw this woman crocheting a bag, but I had no idea what type of yarn she was using. So being the kind of woman I am I asked. She said it was plarn, a plastic yarn. She said she had taken plastic bags, cut them, tied them and used them as her yarn.

I had forgotten about this for a while when I came across this wonderful site. Here is the link: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/ this woman has some beautiful and unique patterns on her site. For all my green bunny friends out there, you all will love this.

So, I have been talking with my husband, and he had a brilliant idea! He mentioned diapers and plastic...then it clicked! Maybe I can use plastic grocery bags to make a waterproof layer, and flannel and minky fabric for the inside and outside layers that touch baby's skin. My husband is such a genius and we have an amazing stash of plastic bags downstairs. I am working on a new pair of wool soakers for Daniel since none of his others fit him anymore, so I will start working on this new project very soon and will keep you all in the loop as to how the pattern progresses.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Baby Leggs


Pure Bliss

Last of the seafoam baby leggs


I decided recently, I needed a new challenge. I have been hooked on crochet since my Sophomore year in high school when a friend of the family taught me how to crochet. My very first project was a crochet burp cloth for my aunt Sherri. Since then, I have worked on items from scarves and hats to Barbie clothes and baby items. I decided that I would challenge myself and try some sewing.I decided on two big items that I wanted to try sewing...one is pocket cloth diapers and the other are baby leggs. I spoke with my grandmother and asked if I could borrow her sewing machine (mind you, this was about five or six months ago) and she happily gave me the machine to use. I have tried a few times to play around with it, but I need to buy new thread and the thing is heavy as hell to move and it is currently in the basement...this means my amazing hubby needs to move it upstairs for me.
Since I have been unable to figure out a sewing machine, I decided to try sewing something by hand. Mind you, I have sewn buttons before...nothing else...not even a hem. What the heck though, I gave it a try and with a little bit of patience and a lot of luck, I completed two pair of Baby leg warmers...in about 3 hours. Here are my finished pieces as well as the next one to go.
As soon as I find out where all I need to get materials from for cloth diapers and diaper covers, I'll start work on those.






Baby Leggs in action!
Striking a Pose
Bello Bambino

Hard to tell, but he is using his pincher grasp here to get cheerios