a sewing spree, part one: diapers and a beach bag

My sewing machine went in for service last month for a few weeks that coincided with my parents coming to visit. So I was faced with the rare opportunity to hand the baby over to somebody else and hole myself away and make things, but I had no machine. The result is that I cut out fabric for a bunch of new projects: diapers & diaper covers, a dress for me, pants for Joseph, a beach bag, a laundry basket, curtains for my mom, the beginnings of a quilt, a very ugly never-to-be-seen camera case, and a few other failed efforts that I won't detail.

So when I got my machine back, I was ready to go on a spree, which I did. Here are some of the results:

First up: diapers & diaper covers.


Wow. These look awful. Wouldn't you think that I'd trim the strings before putting them on the internet (or on the baby)? But no.

I'm actually very pleased with these diapers and diaper covers. Since I am too cheap to buy a pattern (but not too cheap to ruin yards of fabric not knowing what I'm doing) I sort of winged it on these. What I did was basically trace the outline of a diaper I liked and then add bigger tabs. Because when you have to change a squirmy baby by holding him by one foot upside down you need big tabs. The covers are made from thrifted cashmere sweaters. They were five dollars each, which seems like a lot to pay for a thrifted sweater in summer in Phoenix, but I got a few covers out of each so they were worth it. I felted the sweaters as best as I could, then added elastic along the legs and bag with a zig zag stitch. Then I added velcro to the tabs. Done. You don't need to bind or finish the edges because felted wool won't fray. The diapers themselves are made of cheapo fleece from JoAnn on the inside, gingham cotton on the outside, and a cut up prefold sandwiched between. I used basically the same outline I used for the diaper cover and the same process, using the turn-and-be-too-lazy-to-topstitch method.

My father says the baby looks like a caveman in his wool diaper cover. He kind of does, in a good way.

Next up: beach bag.




This is from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. Or, it should have been, except for how I don't have the attention span or spatial relation skills to actually follow a pattern. Anyway, it has loads of lovely outside pockets in which to stow sippy cups made from toxic plastic, snacks, sun block, etc. Inside it's big enough for a towel or two. I added a button-and-loop closure. Because that's pretty much the only way I know to close anything.