Saturday, May 18, 2013

Sewing Pattern Favorite: Tulip Pinafore Top

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Around a year ago I came across a pin on pinterest of this top. I quickly pinned it to my Littles Style pin board because I thought it was so different and sweet. I must have been on a pinning frenzy because I didn't click on the link to see the source. More recently, I was scrolling through my style inspiration for little ones and came upon the top again and this time I clicked on the link to find it is actually a pattern! I was so happy to see such an adorable pattern available, among others within the etsy shop.

I bought the pattern and quickly sewed up this top. It's been in constant rotation and pairs easily with leggings, shorts, and bloomers. For this top, I used a thrifted XL chambray shirt for the exterior and an old sheet for the lining. If you opted for using two fabrics too, you could add a button to the inside of the top as well to make it reversible. Since making this top, I've sewn up a second and plan to make more. They're easy to dress up and can be layered over a tank, t-shirt, or even a long sleeve top in cooler months. It's one of my favorite patterns thus far! Great instructions and pictures and an easy sew, even for a beginner!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Wanted: A Romantic Scarf

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I've been looking for a linen scarf since the first onset of Spring weather. I think they're so perfect and light and add just the right amount of warmth for cool Spring days. They also make a nice nursing cover, if need be. Multi functional clothing and accessories are always nice. :)

I was delighted when a quick google search brought me to Linen World on Etsy. The sweet shop offers bed linens, scarves, and tea towels. Everything in the shop is beautiful and budget-friendly. My favorites are the emerald and violet scarves. Which one would you choose? Do you have a linen scarf?

Monday, May 13, 2013

Homemade Playdough

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I've been putting off play dough because I was concerned about how messy it might be, but then my mom said B would really love it at this age, so I thought I may as well give it a try. We made our own because...why not... it's super easy. B actually helped me pour the ingredients into the pot and stirred it before I placed it on the stove to cook. With helping toddler hands, we probably made it in 10 minutes. Since I haven't made it before, I decided to forgo adding color in case it got on carpet from being super sticky ... you never know when you've struck gold or a dud on pinterest. Since the idea of picking play dough out of carpet or clothing fibers sounds far from appealing, I thought I'd keep this first batch simple, just in case.

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I adapted our recipe from this blog.

  • 1 Cup of flour
  • 1 Cup of water
  • 1/4 Cup of salt
  • 2 tsp. of Cream of Tarter 
  • 1 TBS sunflower oil (the other recipe suggests vegetable oil, but that's not an oil we use). 
  • Optional: your choice of food coloring, as many or few drops as you like to achieve the color you want. 
Mix all ingredients together in a pot. Cook on medium heat stirring constantly until the dough forms a ball. 

I liked this recipe so much that I don't plan to search for another. I'm sure I'll be making this one time and time again. B's favorite thing to do is cut it and pretend we are making pizza with olives and salad. :) It's literally consumes hours of playtime. B has gleefully requested to play with play-to (playdough) every day since we made our first batch. So, if you're looking for a great recipe, this one is the best!

If you'd like to keep up with my play ideas for little ones, you can follow my Little's Play pin board on pinterest! 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Sewing Tool Favorite: The Difference A Knit Foot Makes

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This week I wanted to take a break from sewing patterns to tell you about a really effective and affordable sewing foot I recently learned about. It's called a knit foot. It's very easy to use and has significantly changed the smoothness of my seams when I'm sewing with knitted fabric.

I did quite a bit of research regarding tips for sewing with knits. I tried nearly every tip I read, including placing tissue paper between my sewing foot and knit fabric; using different stitch lengths and types; and even pressing my fabrics well after sewing. The only mildly effective tip was ironing my fabric after sewing, but washing then removes the minimization of the puckered seams. I don't want to iron knitted garments after each wash, so I really needed something that would solve my problem once and for all. The most costly tip I read, second to buying a serger, was a walking foot. I did a little research to find that they run between $35.-$40. Hesitant to invest in something so pricey, I figured it was better than buying a serger, which I'm not quite ready to invest in. I tried the walking foot and unless you're sewing several layers of fabric together (like a quilt-what this foot is commonly used for) you're going to have crooked seams. The way this foot works is by lifting up after so many stitches to allow fabric to pass through more easily, which is great if you're making a quilt or anything else that involves multiple layers of thicker fabrics. When you're sewing two layers of thin fabric with a walking foot the result is a foot that looses track of the fabric as it's being sewn, meaning to fabric slides back and forth because it's too thin for the foot's intended purpose. I hope that makes sense.
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Thankfully, I was able to return the foot. I also asked the company who carried the walking foot if they had any suggestions for how I may be able to eliminate puckering seams without using a serger. Their immediate reply was a knit foot. I hadn't heard of this handy sewing foot until their suggestion, but it has made sewing knits a breeze. I am so pleased with the knit foot and it's between $7.-$15. online. So if you've been experiencing similar problems with your knitted projects, check out a knit foot. They're very easy to use and make all the difference!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Wanted: The Sweetest Oxfords

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These oxfords and quite possibly the most perfect pair of oxfords my eyes have seen. I adore that they're handmade and so affordable. And the mint, oh the mint... I'm swooning for these beauties. If oxfords aren't your cup of tea, this sweet etsy shop offers a nice variety of other flats as well.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

When Breastfeeding Was Not Such A Joyous Occasion

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A few weeks ago I wrote about a sweet ritual B and I share during our nursing sessions these days. Nursing wasn't always so joyful for me, though...

My mother breastfed me until I was well over two years old and allowed my siblings to wean themselves also after the two year age mark. I had every intention of breastfeeding my little one and the idea of formula was out of the question. With a good example of a healthy breastfeeding relationship from my mother and plenty of information about why the breast is best, I thought I was set.

I gave birth to a healthy baby. My little one latched well initially, but then stopped latching consistently.  My midwife checked for a tongue tie, no tongue tie. I continued to try breastfeeding and sometimes my little one would latch and sometimes not. In fact, most of the time B did not latch. When B did latch the pain was excruciating! I thought birth was painful, but this kind of pain was worse (in a way) because I was still healing from giving birth and I was now also experiencing additional intense pain frequently in different part of my body. I couldn't see an end to my discomfort because I had no idea when my tiny newborn was going to latch. As much as I wanted to breastfeed it was unbearable. I continued pumping and fed B with a dropper, but B seemed to hate it just as much as I did because it took longer to consume the milk and it wasn't natural... at all. Eventually, we graduated to a bottle and I continued to try putting B to the breast first, but babies need to eat when they're hungry to keep their blood sugar levels up. With B, if milk was delayed, I dealt with a crying baby who would then refuse my breast, a dropper, and even the bottle. It was emotionally and physically taxing every. single. day. I hated myself for not being able to feed my baby in the only way I had ever wanted to.

Initially my body was a milk making machine, but when extreme exhaustion set in from pumping and then feeding my baby and a body that was still recuperating from birth, I started to sleep for longer periods throughout the night (usually three or four hours) and wasn't pumping as frequently. Since B wasn't nursing consistently yet, my body was relying on my pumping schedule, which was more sporadic than scheduled (though it should have been) and my supply suffered. Thankfully, I was able to up my supply by taking fenugreek, but it was scary to see such a significant drop. I went from pumping bottles full to barely being able to pump a single ounce! I'm certain that stress played a role, but it was scary. I wasn't going to formula so I knew if my supply didn't increase fast, I'd be forced to make B's formula which I really did not want to do any more than I wanted buy store bought formula or get donor milk. Breastfeeding was my dream and it continued to be a dream until about six weeks after B's birth. B would sometimes latch and nurse for an hour or more during which my toes would be curled from the pain and I'd be doing deep breathing exercises in a feeble attempt to manage the pain.

Throughout our struggle, I tried a nipple shield, which was actually more painful and a bigger hinderance for B. This was oddly enough recommended to me by a doula and looking back, I think it was really unnecessary. I know of a few women whose babies only nursed using a shield, but my experience with them was unsuccessful for B and myself. It was painful to put on, B lost some of the milk through this attempt (this is an unavoidable effect of nipple shields), and it was something I wish I'd never tried. Since the shield wasn't working, I wondered if B was uncomfortable in the nursing position so I thought a chiropractic adjustment might help. We had an adjustment and still, no change. I felt I had tried all that I could think of and we were still struggling. Why wasn't my baby nursing? Did my baby hate me? What is wrong?! Were thoughts that circled my mind non-stop throughout the weeks leading up to B's ability to latch well.

Then....

About four weeks after giving birth, I learned B had thrush, which meant I had yeast. If you don't know, thrush and yeast are incredibly painful for nursing mothers and also said to be uncomfortable for baby. No wonder B and I were so emotional and crying for hours out of the day. We did manage to get the yeast and thrush under control, but nursing still hurt and for a much longer period than it would for a mother who did not have yeast.

Finally, B did begin to latch. My heart sang with joy. At last B and I were experiencing the sacred closeness that only breastfeeding allows. To this day, I still don't know what the reason was for B's latch struggle. All I can imagine it may have been is that B had a very tiny mouth as a newborn. People actually commented on just how tiny it was. B was healthy and otherwise a happy little baby, except when it came time to eat.

I only wish I had known more about breastfeeding hurdles prior to giving birth, so I could have more quickly remedied my yeast and learned about ways to overcome hurdles more quickly than we did. A couple days before B perfected a good latch, my mom called a la leche league woman to come and offer some advice and additional support, even though I was feeling much more confident about B's nursing, she still came to visit and said B had a great latch. I was so encouraged to just hear those words alone. It's amazing how much of an impact a seemingly small positive comment can have on a new mother, but it brought such joy to my heart. A helpful piece of information the lady shared with me was that it is very important to keep the back of your baby's head warm when they're nursing. Otherwise, they may jerk off the breast in an attempt to find the warmth. Doesn't that make perfect sense? They're gently cradled in a womb of warmth for months and the outside world is quite different, so keeping their tiny heads cozy is essential. I started doing this with B and it eliminated B's tendency to jerk off the breast, which had actually been a tendency of B's and I had no idea why.

It's not often than I share very emotional stories on Milk & Honey, but I never want to give the impression that breastfeeding is easy because sometimes it isn't. Breastfeeding can be easy, but out of all my friends, breastfeeding has only come without struggle to two out of six of us with children and another one of my friends had a great experience with two of her children and experienced thrush and yeast with her third. I remember her telling me if she had experienced with her first what she did with her third, she probably wouldn't have wanted more children because it's so difficult to deal with. It's painful and breastfeeding is hard enough, so adding in another element of struggle only adds to the stress.

The only thing that got me through the hurdles were an excellent support system of a handful of women  and a healthy amount of self-determination not to let any hurdle keep me from my goal. :)

Image of breastfeeding art, found here.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Sewing Pattern Favorites: Toddler Shorts and Pants Tutorial

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This week's pattern isn't a pattern, really. Instead, it's more of how to fake a pattern. This method is nothing new. I see it used quite often as a way to make a new article of clothing without the use of an actual pattern. I thought I'd show you how I used an existing pair of B's shorts to make another pair of shorts.

The magenta fabric is a nice organic interlock knit that I purchased here. The blue fabric is a cotton and spandex blend and is a bit lighter than the interlock and can be purchased here. Both are great to sew with and worked very nicely for these shorts. A couple of other notes: I used the zig zag stitch throughout. When it's time to sew your waist band, use 3/4" or 1" wide elastic. Use your double needle or a straight stitch for this portion of the pattern.

I used a pair of shorts that fit B nicely to trace for making the new pair. I simply folded them in half and carefully traced around the edges, leaving a seam allowance of about 1/2 inch. I used a marker that disappears when sprayed with water and I much prefer this handy tool to chalk because it's naturally much more precise. 

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If you're familiar with sewing patterns, you probably know what it means to cut something on the fold. If you're unfamiliar, it means that your fabric must be folded in half with one side of the pattern (in this case, shorts) lined up on the fold line to create a connected piece of fabric that isthe same cut for the front and back of the garment. Does that make sense? It's a very simple technique and you probably could easily assume what it means, but anyway...

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Now that you've traced and cut one side of the shorts, repeat once more so you have two pieces of fabric.

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Pin your fabric together and you're ready to sew up your front and back seam. Do not sew up the crotch just yet. We'll do that next.

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Pin and sew the seat of the shorts. Remember to back stitch at the beginning and end to keep your stitch from coming undone. Oddly enough, I still sometimes forget this step. I'm always so excited to complete my projects. 

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Now you're ready to add the elastic for the waist band. It should measure a half an inch less than the waist measurement of the pants. Of course, you can adjust to the comfort you would like - loose or snug. Sew the elastic band together first. Then place it over the pants (with the pants still inside out) and fold the top of the waist over the elastic, encasing the elastic. Pin and sew using a straight stitch or your double need. Don't be intimidated by your double needle. Check your machine's instruction book for how to use it. Mine took all of about five minutes to switch and it creates a beautiful and professional finish. I did not hem the magenta shorts because jersey doesn't fray. I did hem the spandex and cotton blend by folding them up 1/2" inch. Use a straight stitch with your single or double needle.

What kinds of clothing do you make using garments you already own? I'm always interested to know how other people are being creative when it comes to sewing garments. 

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