My sewing "room" :)

Don't forget about the giveaway!

On a side note, I went looking and I think I figured out how to make ... da-da-da-daaaaa! My Own Button! :) Let me know if it works k?

I took a few weeks off of sewing, and I sure was dreading pulling out all my stuff. Let me tell you why. I have decided it isn't because I don't like to do the sewing, but I because I don't have the room. I have 6 kids and we live in a little 3 bedroom modular home. I don't really have room for all the fabric that I need to have to keep up with the business. here are a few pics of what we live with because I do this...

my sewing table in my living room

the purple suitcases have fabric in them!

These have sweaters for soakers

This is more fabric!

and even more fabric!

This is my wool yarn for soaker ...if only I could find time to crochet!

I try to stay organized, but it is kinda hard with no space. I really love to sew the diapers. I love to see how cute they are when they are done, and I LOVE the hear how much the mama's and babies love them. It is too fun to hear someone say that my diaper is their fave, and that everyone that sees the baby in them thinks they are too cute. I really do enjoy all of it, but the space issue. I hope to someday have a house that is big enough that I can have a room all my own for sewing! :)

Giveaway Time!

Here you go!
For this giveaway I am pairing up with a good friend of mine over at littlejumpingbeans on etsy.

This giveaway will go from July 26 - August 2, 2009 -that is Sun to Sun! :)

We are going to give away:

a Nifty Nappy-compliments of me:

and a pair of Soft Soled Baby Shoes-compliments of Jamie:

They are going to match isn't that adorable?

What you have to do to get into the drawing!

REQUIRED:

follow my blog

follow Jamie's blog

make sure you leave contact info too! :)

EXTRA ENTRIES:

*all these need to be reported on my blog!

1 extra entry -follow me on twitter myniftynook

1 extra entry -tweet this giveaway (after following so I see it!)

1 extra entry -comment somewhere else on my blog *come back and let me know what post!

2 extra entries -visit my etsy shop and pick your favorite item or fabric and report on my blog!

2 extra entries -visit Jamie's etsy shop and pick your favorite item and comment on her blog then come back and report on mine!

3 extra entries -become a fan of Vilate's Nifty Nook on Facebook here

3 extra entries -become a fan of Little Jumping Beans on Facebook here

4 extra entries -blog about this giveaway on your blog -provide link

10 extra entries -make a purchase from Vilate's Nifty Nook

10 extra entries - make a purchase from Little Jumping Beans

There you have it. All the entries will be written down and drawn by one of my kiddos! :)

Good luck to everyone!

ps. if this fabric isn't girly enough for your little princess we have an alternative: here

Guess what?

So I am taking a break from blogging for the weekend. But I wanted to leave you hanging. I am going to do a giveaway on my blog next week. :)

It will be good and I am very excited! So, stay tuned. . .

my beginnings...

So I was asked the other day what inspires me to make what I make.
I think that is kinda hard to pin-point. I am obsessed with cloth diapers... have been since day one.
When we were in college, (you know those days? ) money was pretty tight. We had two little ones in diapers and we were spending a huge chunk of our grocery $$ on them. I really don't know where the idea came from ...
...actually now that I think of it, I didn't go looking for them. I just stumbled onto them. I was looking for a good nursing bra, the store that I went to had a pattern for cloth diapers. It was just a little shop in a small town. The gal had all the diaper flannel and everything. I was there with my mom, and she said if I wanted to give it a try she would fund the project. We walked out of the store with flannel and velcro and the pattern. A stop off at Wal-mart and we had plastic pants too (can't believe I used those nasty things). A few hrs sewing and I had some fitteds to use they were just a basic side snapping fitted in flannel. I sewed a soaker down the middle and there they were.
They saved us alot of $$ right off. YEAH!! I will continue this another day! Just wanted to share where I began.

School dayz....

It is less than a month till school starts, have you gotten your school shopping done? If you have you might have missed a few things. I have a few items that I think you should consider.

Just a few of my faves on etsy! check them out-

Keep them organized at school too,
send these locker magnets to keep notes from home up.

PaperPumpkin


I love the idea of reusable...
..saving money is a great idea right?
With these you can do it with style

IsamarDesigns

Send a little friend along to school with them!

MadeByMarta


Accessories a girls best friend, right?

JazzBaby1920

My girls would love a bag like this!
Backpacks are soo last century!

GROOVYGURLZ

...and last but not least, we need order right?

somewhatsimple


So run on over and get yourself all prepared for the mayhem of back to school!

Animal Tamer

In my weeks off I decided to do a crochet tutorial. My first ever, so here goes...

Let your child's inner animal come out. I have 6 kiddos and they love to pretend to be all sorts of animals. I saw a pattern for horse reins, and thought what a great idea. I made one up and it is ok, but I thought I could simplify the pattern to be faster to work up and maybe be a little more durable!

So here is my Animal Tamer....

you will need:

small amount worsted weight yarn in 2 contrasting colors

G hook

scissors

needle for sewing in ends

*see the end of post for pictures of cross over and dec.

Body:

with MC

Chain 31

row 1 sc in second chain from hook and across, ch2 turn

row 2-4 dc across, ch2 turn

row 5 (cross over design) dc in next 6 dcs, *skip next open st, dc in st, dc back into skipped st*, repeat from * to * 8 times (should have 9 cross overs), dc in next 7 st, ch 2 turn

row 6-7 dc across, ch2 turn

row 8-9 dc dec. over first two sts, dc across decreasing in the last two sts, ch2 turn

over head loop

add in your coordinating color

hold both colors of yarn throughout the end

Ch 40

attach to the other top corner with a sc


sc back across the top (using both yarns)

continue sc down the side to the bottom

Reins

Ch 250 then attach to the other bottom corner
sc back up the other side

finish off

sew in ends with the needle.

There you have it!

cross over stitch:

skip one stitch and dc in the next stitch then cross back and dc in the skipped stitch

skip the next open stitch and dc in the next ... continue the pattern

finished stitch

dc dec stitch (double crochet decrease)

YO and insert in next st pick up yarn and pull through

pick up next stitch, pick up yarns and pull through

you should now have 4 loops on your hook.

pick up yarn and pull through 3 loops

pick up yarn and pull through last 2 loops


There you have it!

Let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you!

If you make one and wanna send me a picture I will welcome that too!

another giveaway i am hoping to win! :)

here is a link to it!

http://jaimiecollette-logansmommy.blogspot.com/2009/07/tiny-wiggles-giveaway.html

here are the deatails as posted on her blog:

Tiny Wiggles is an amazing shop specializing in all things bath related for baby! Hooded towels, facecloths, and my favorite the wash mitts! Little Jumping Beans has teamed with Tiny Wiggles to do a great giveaway for all you readers.

Jamie is a great buddy of mine, so you should follow her blog and give the giveaway a try! :)

good luck and happy blogging!

technorati

exna6myhrf

"Sew your Nifty Nappy" Kits

I have decided to do the diaper kits. They will be this:

Nifty Nappy Pattern: $10
this will be a PDF file with lots of photos!

"Sew your Nifty Nappy" Kit without aplix: $12
Organic Version: $14
outer: cute cotton knit or flannel
absorbent: Organic Hemp Fleece
inner: micro fleece
layin insert: 1 each of Organic Hemp Fleece and Organic Bamboo Velour
elastic cut to length

"Sew your Nifty Nappy" Kit with aplix: $14
Organic version: $16
outer: cute cotton knit or flannel
absorbent: Organic Hemp Fleece
inner: micro fleece
layin insert: 1 each of Organic Hemp Fleece and Organic Bamboo Velour
elastic cut to length
aplix cut to length

Kit with aplix and a Nifty Nappy: $30
Organic version: $34
Nifty Nappy pattern
"Sew your Nifty Nappy" kit
a finished diaper, which can make following a pattern and tutorial lots easier. :)

**I will also offer a discount for multiple kits. I will give the same as my diapers for every 5 you buy you get $10 off.

These will be easily done with just a sewing machine that has a straight and zigzag stitch.
I will also show how to finish with a serger.
Ther perfect project for a beginner sewer!

There you have it.
So now my time I am taking off sewing diaper will be spent getting a tutorial ready. :)
I will start selling them the beginning of August.
I am excited about this new adventure though.

TIME!!!

I am trying to figure out how to get my time all lined out. I feel that I am doing my sewing all the time and everything has to take a back burner to it. That isn't what I want though.
My family is really important to me. I want to be able to spend time with the kids not get all ornery cause I stayed up late with diapers or something isn't working like I need it to.
I also have many other hobbies that I feel like I haven't had time for. I want to be able to quilt with my friends, do some scrapbooking, or not feel guilty when I am sitting down doing a little crocheting that isn't a soaker.

How do you ladies all do it? I don't want to just give up, but I don't feel that I have my priorities right and I am not ok with that.
Any ideas?

One of the ideas I have had is to sell a "Sew your own diaper" kit. I would cut out all the fabrics and the elastics and such and then I would have a tutorial video on my webpage to help them out.

What do you think of that idea?

I am also having issues with the whole lead testing and labeling things. That is a major thorn in my side.

Ahhhh.... sorry I just had to vent my feelings somewhere. Any suggestions or advice would be welcomed!

New blog...

...what do you think? Do you like it?
I just wanna get more followers any suggestions?

I was tagged! Ahhhh!

Well really it is not that bad. I am supposed to write 10 things about me and then tag 10 people. so here goes I guess.

1. I grew up in Utah
2. All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mom. I am so lucky to have a wonderful, supportive hubby that lets me stay home and do that.
3. I really love Skittles! They are probably my fave candy
4. I love to watch Matlock while my kids take a nap.
5. I don't like PB & J's.
6. I have more fabric than one person should have and I live in a little 3 bedroom with my hubby and 6 kids!
7. My dad came from a family of 15 kids. I have a huge family! I even know all my cousins. there are 87 of us grandkids.
8. I have 17 chickens.
9. I have lived in 4 states, but I have lived in 16 different houses in my life.
10. If you have read my blog or visited my etsy shop you will already know, but I am obsessed with Cloth Diapering and I am deterring my baby from potty training cause then I can't use my CD's anymore!

So now on to the tagging others huh?
These ladies all have etsy shops or some sort of shop. Feel free to visit them!

http://breasmommy.blogspot.com

http://fashionableetsy.blogspot.com/

http://thechrysanthemom.blogspot.com/

http://2livelovecreate.blogspot.com/

http://blissfulbloomspaper.blogspot.com/

http://morganashdown.blogspot.com/

http://lazydazefarm.blogspot.com/

http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com/

http://ktmotif.blogspot.com/

http://thedressupdrawer.blogspot.com/

there you have it! Thanks to Cuter than a button creations for inviting me to do it! :)