Baby Boy Sewing Projects

I love sewing for my girl. Dresses, skirts, ruffles, bows, I love it all (in any color except pink). But I did get awfully jealous of people that had little boys to sew for as well, especially when Dana and Rae put on the Celebrate the Boy series. When I found I had a little boy to sew for in August I was THRILLED and couldn't wait to get started on some little boy clothes and diapers. I still have my one size pocket diapers that I used with Bug, so I was just updating my diaper stash a little bit.

1 newborn fitted from the free Darling Diapers Unlimited pattern, 5 newborn all in 2's from the LaDiDa pattern, 4 one size pocket diapers from the LaDiDa pattern, and 1 one size pocket diaper from my own pattern.

These are all wool longies meant to be used as diaper covers. They are all made from the free Katrina longies pattern. I used wool sweaters I thrifted to make them. These first 3 pairs are newborn size, they are so itty bitty! Nate has pretty much outgrown them now, but they fit for about 2 weeks.

Size smalls

Size mediums

12 fitted diapers made from the precut kits sold here at wazoodle.com. I actually love the fit of these, although the absorbency could be a little better. I'm thinking about ordering a kit for a dozen mediums. It was really nice not to have to cut out all the pieces, they went together very quickly.

Infant Lap Tees, as seen on my tutorial. The tees started getting a little snug at a little over 10 pounds for him, perhaps his broad shoulders were part of the problem :)

Pants!! I used a pattern from an Ottobre magazine for these pants. I love how professional they look, they've got so many cute little details. They seem to be a bit big for the 0-3 month size range that they were meant for though.

Vests!! I love these adorable little vests, the second one is made out of organic bamboo fleece and is sooo soft and yummy. Again, from an Ottobre magazine pattern.

These shirts are my favorite part. I got to use all of the adorable knits that I was using in things for friends with boys and for my etsy shop. It was very satisfying to be able to use them for myself :) Also made using an Ottobre pattern.


Hopefully the outfits will fit him soon, then I can share pictures of the clothes on a baby, much more gratifying and infinitely more adorable!

Going Green is Saving Green!!

Since I had Bug, I really started searching for ways that we could save money. I've always been thrifty, using coupons, shopping clearance and sales, etc... But now we needed to save some serious cash. A few months after Bug arrived, I discovered cloth diapers. They were no longer the prefolds and pins and rubber pants image that I had stuck in my head. They were easy to use (no pins or plastic pants!!) and they were going to save us tons of money! In doing research, I also found that I could make them myself. I was doubly tempted. Saving money, and having a good excuse to slave away at the sewing machine and try something new, it was a no brainer!

Now, I'm not going to get up on a soapbox and tell you to save the Earth. I'm just going to tell you that I can make a reuseable cloth diaper for just about $5. The average box of bulk diapers bought at a wholesale store cost $30-$40, and got used up in about month. For the same price, I made eight diapers that will last us YEARS! It just makes sense.

The added bonus, is that cloth diapered bums are ADORABLE!

Hopefully this summer my little Bug will be a big girl with no more need for diapers, and these puppies will be cleaned thoroughly and put away for future use ;)

I have also discovered a few other things that have saved us money.

I made my own baby food, saves about 50% or more off the cost of buying jarred food. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

I've ditched the ziplocs and started using reuseable snack bags/sandwich wraps.

I use "unpaper towels". (I made my own very easily, but you can buy them here http://unpapertowels.com/ )

I use a vinegar/water solution to clean most surfaces. No more harmful chemicals, same disinfecting power, and it's cheap! I've also made reuseable swiffer wet pad and duster pads.

Of course, now my dear husband complains that he misses throwing things away :) At least we're not throwing away our money!