It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday & a sweater story

I have been cleaning & organizing this week, so sewing has been on the back burner, but I did manage to squeeze in a quick pair of longies for my son. Half of his "woolly pants" are getting too small, and won't fit him next year, so I made another pair. These have rolled cuffs, and a fold over rise, so they should fit him for at least another year or 2. Can you tell we love stripes around here? :)


Another thing I have been working on is finding the original owner of this sweater!



This is a wool sweater that was typically worn by high school football players in the 1960's. I purchased it at a garage sale last summer, and couldn't bring myself to list it in my shop. I ran across it the other day & looked it over. There was a name tag sewn above the maker's tag, and the maker's tag had a city & state on it. Out of curiosity, I Googled the man's name, and the city/state. This man's name popped up in a 1961 alumni list! I then Googled only his name to see how common it was, to see if it was a coincidence, and there only seems to be 2 people in the U.S. by that name (or at least that are Google-able). If it belonged to the man on the alumni list, his class will be having their 50th reunion in May! I thought it would be so cool to reunite this man with his sweater, if he wants it, so I contacted the alumni office, and they are trying to contact him. Wouldn't it be so fun if he wanted it? Maybe he could wear it to his reunion! I'll keep you posted, if I hear back from them.

A new shop & a new feature for Resweater

I wanted to have an online venue for my finished products, so I opened up a second shop, Resweater Etc. I set it up, and even added a few things, and realized that it's too much work for me to take on right now. It is time consuming to list, especially since I have to be the eyes & fingers in my descriptions, since my customers can't pick them up & feel them. It is also time consuming to keep them inventoried, and organized in between craft shows too. If this were my only shop & venue, it wouldn't be a problem, but I have my Resweater shop, my wholesale orders, and my craft shows. Preschool is only 3 hours long ;) ! I feel bad though, not being able to offer my finished products online, especially for those of you that have asked for them, so I will be doing something new. Wednesdays will now be "What i've been working on Wednesday", and I will show the stuff I made that week. Just like Sweater Sunday, this will give you an opportunity to call dibs on anything you want to buy, before it is offered up to my wholesale customer or craft shows. What do you think?

This is what i've made over the last couple of weeks...

Diaper covers: medium longies in a thick merino, large double layer soaker in lambswool & merino, small double layer soaker in lambswool.


Lots o' mittens! By the way... they look perfect on hands, but look so wonky & oddly shaped laying there. Does anyone have any mitten secrets they would like to share? Steaming? Ironing?



Lot's o' Mitten Doublers.

More diaper cover action shots!

A friend of mine let me use her adorable baby to model some of my diaper covers. She is a "size small" baby, so some of the medium size stuff we put on her is a little big, but still cute!

I love how my pumpkin pants turned out! These are a bit big on my model here, but with the adjustable rise and rollable cuffs, will fit for a long time!


These were supposed to be pumpkin shorties, but everyone thinks it's an apple, lol.


These are a bit big on our model, but still really cute!


Here's a couple of soakers that i've posted on my blog, but aren't they much cuter on a baby? :)

New winner of the longies giveaway

The winner never left a contact or responded, so I had to use random.org again. The winner is :
Congratulations Ryan! Please contact me to claim your longies (krisnstevep at netzero dot com)!

Ryan said...

I like the plaid blanket (528). And I have *two* kids who could wear those longies :)

recycled wool longies & soakers (diaper covers)

Since I plan to sell at some local shows this summer, I figured it would be a good idea to have a variety of finished products to sell, so i've been making some diaper covers the last few days. They are especially fun to make in the smaller sizes! I experimented with a few different styles and variations, but I keep coming back to Katrina's free soaker pattern (thanks Katrina! You rock!). I am really happy with how a lot of these came out! Many of them are made from merino, which is super soft, but also thin, so I made them 2 merino layers thick, or a layer of merino & a layer of lambswool.

I tried my hand at some appliques (I swear I made the star for these shorties before I saw Banbutsu's shop!)... front & back...


some basic soakers (the little tan one is double layer cashmere)...


some little longies with hearts appliqued on, and some yoga pant style ones...


... and some more longies. These I really love because they are SO soft (I can't even describe how soft they are) and stretchy, and I love the way the cuffs came out. The cuffs are made out of a v-neck from another sweater (I love it when piecing things together works!).


If you cloth diaper & use wool covers, can I ask you some questions? I'm trying to get a handle on what I should be focusing on more, and would really appreciate the feedback. If you were in the market for some recycled wool diaper covers and came across my booth at a fair, would you be more likely to...

.... buy longies or a soaker (keeping in mind that all of the fairs will be held in mid to late summer)?
.... buy soaker style longies, like the soakers in this post, but with legs, or longies like the ones I made in this post?
.... buy soakers/longies with a single layer for trimness, or double layer for extra protection & night use (keeping in mind that the double layer will cost slightly more... probably $2 more for extra material & time)?
.... buy soakers/longies with cute appliques and fun colors, or plainer, but less expensive ones?
.... buy soakers/longies with a double layer short waistband, or a single layer fold over long waistband?

I really appreciate any & all feedback on this!

ETA: I made a few more! All of these are double layer cashmere, except the black/gray striped one.

Winner of the longies giveaway

The winner, picked by Random.org, is Jae!

"Jae said...

I tried to follow your blog but couldn't find the link so I became a fan on facebook! =) "

Jae, you didn't leave an email! Please email me for your longies, krisnstevep at netzero dot com.

Banbutsu

I just love cute recycled wool clothes on children, so I was happy to find this fabulous Etsy shop, Banbutsu. Each piece is more adorable than the next!

Longies good karma giveaway!

I know I should be posting a tutorial, because it's Tutorial Tuesday, but it's been a busy few days. How about a giveaway instead? I made these longies (wool diaper cover pants) for my son, but they ended up being too small for him, especially in the legs (will not fit chunky legs!), so he never wore them. PLEASE don't enter this giveaway unless your child can wear these (or grandchild, or cloth diapering friend in need). I just don't want these sold. I may never know, but karma will. The measurements are 18" waist, 19-23" rise (ribbing can be folded down), 10 1/2" hips, 12" thigh. The inseam is 15", but they can always be rolled at the bottom. These are made from blue & maroon sweaters, and are 100% lambswool. There is a thick lambswool wet zone (positioned in the boy wet zone). These are bulletproof, and perfect for even heavy night wetters. They are clean, lanolized, and ready to wear! I will be using random.org to determine the winner, so again, please measure your child to make sure these will fit before entering the giveaway! By the way... the legs are the exact same length, even though the picture makes one leg look longer.


Mandatory Entry:
* Go to my shop and let me know which sweater is your favorite.

Want an extra entry?
* Follow my blog, and if you already do just say that.
* Do something kind... Slip a sweet note in your husband's lunchbox, play that game you've played a hundred times with your kid that you hate, but your kid loves, a random act of kindness to a stranger, bring some baked goods to a neighbor (that's what got someone the winning entry in one of my past good karma giveaways!) , and let us know what you did! It will make you feel good about yourself, make the recipient of the good fortune happy, and it will get you another entry! No fair posting something you already did, or were planning to do!... it's makes it more fun this way!
* Blog about this giveaway & link to it.
* Blog about encouraging kindness, and giving. (you can blog in the same post about this giveaway & encouraging kindness, and still get 2 entries).
* Have a giveaway of your own!

Make sure to leave a separate comment for the entries you complete!

Deadline: Saturday, February 20th at midnight, Central time zone. I will use random.org to pick the winners the following morning (February 21st). **please leave an email if your blogger profile does not include it or you don't have a blog. I need a way to contact you.** Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and the winner will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner.

Woollybottoms

I have to really hold myself back every time I visit Woollybottoms website! Their soakers & longies are so dang cute, skirties are adorable, footies are ingenious, and the slippers are fantastic! Why would anyone want to put plastic on their baby with these around?

Forty41

It's no secret that I love recycled wool diaper covers. They are breathable, insulated, natural, eco friendly, and cute! That is, they are cute when they come from somewhere like Forty41 Etsy shop! There you can find adorable longies, soakers, and more.