urban earth mother

The rings for the new baby sling arrived on Friday. For some reason I was thinking that one ordered them singly (which would not really make sense) so when I ordered two of each color I was actually ordering two pairs of each. This is not a problem as I planned to make us two slings each anyway. This is the fabric I bought. I had already ordered purple rings so went for something with some purple in it. It's a heavy cotton/linen, that actually seems like it might be a bit much now that it's made (another reason I'm making several.) As it happened, we were doing laundry on Friday so I had this in the dryer when the post arrived with the rings. I had to hand sew the last of it as the layers were so thick. I may altar the pattern a bit for future ones to make that easier. Once it was finished, I threaded it, tried it on and had to make sure it would work for carrying. Who says cats aren't my first babies! When I was finished with the sewing machine, Spouse decided

I've not been sewing at all. All my grand schemes of homemade maternity and baby clothes are as dust. But I did find something easy to make that might get me inspired! A Baby Sling! Spouse and I are pretty much on the same page in terms of how we're going to care for this upcoming child and baby wearing is part of that. However, there are several different types of slings and other carriers out there, none of them cheap, and how do we know which kind we'll like? I had been gravitating toward ring-adjusted slinks like the Maya and lo and behold they have a pattern to make your own on their site! I've gone ahead and ordered two sets of rings and now need to hit the fabric shop ! In other pregnancy-related news, I keep waiting for that nesting instinct to kick in where all I want to do is clean. I've done some random cleaning, like scrubbing the cupboard doors in the middle of the night, but that's mainly because I can't sleep because of RSL and start t

Greetings! As you can see, I'm not the only thing growing here. I planted some basil seeds in our seed sprouter and they seem to be coming up nicely. With luck we'll actually be able to have some homegrown herbs this year, in spite of our city status. I am going to try to set them outside later so that they can get, hopefully, more light than our living room provides. And speaking of things what grow, my darling Spouse came home with a huge bag of produce yesterday. There's a group that sells low-cost organic produce at the housing authority where he's working. He didn't want to take any last time they came even though they offered, but this time he gave in. The haul included a very large amount of rhubarb which he took because no one else wanted it. His first thought was a nice crumble . He ended up making three, one of which he gave away. It might not look pretty, but it sure is tasty. This morning I took a few more spears of rhubarb, because even after thre

I haven't been posting here as I've been working on a little side project that just became public. And no, I haven't been sewing as I should but I have at least gotten this pattern cut out and ready to alter. I'll need to enlarge the bust quite a bit, but then bring the shoulders back in. Fortunately I bought some Swedish tracing paper which you can actually sew and use as a muslin. Now I just need the motivation to get going! My constant fatigue has subsided now so I should be able to do a little bit before it gets too warm. Most likely I will be getting my fabric at the new Stitch lounge Gather Here . I KNOW I'll be going there when it comes time to make button holes! My machine doesn't have a button holer and I'm not really good at doing them by hand. I will, of course, be delving into their yarn stores too for soft yarns for a new small body. If I start now I might even finish a receiving blanket! But knowing my procrastination, that sounds like a

Happy New Year! I'm not one to make new year resolutions (you know, because I break them) but may just set myself a new year goal this year. Not weight loss (which is my constant struggle) or exercise (already have Spouse nagging me (because I asked him to) for that) or packing a lunch every day (although I did bring in three days worth of meals today) but sewing. This year I would like to make one item of clothing per month. The item need not be elaborate, even an accessory could do, but I would like to make use of the expensive sewing machine repairs and this seems rather practical. I may even go all out and finish some of the knit UFOs lurking in the closet as well! So that's the plan for me. Anyone else have any goals for the new year?