Little White Lotus: November 2013

Saturday 30 November 2013

Elimination Communication

Elimination communication (or EC) was always something that I thought would be beyond me in my parenting journey. I pictured being constantly covered in wee and poo and endlessly scrubbing the carpet, so I put that one in the too hard basket.

Over the months I've been quietly noticing when Mio needs to go by the little signs that she makes. She grizzles a little and she always wakes up (sometimes reluctantly) when she is going to wee or poo. My interest in EC was reignited after a brief conversation with a mother of a 10 month old told me she started EC after working out that her baby fussed and grizzled until she had her nappy off and then would wee over everything. I went home and thought about it a bit and did some more reading and decided to give it a go.

We've been playing around with EC for a little while now and it's really great. I do less washing now and have to remind myself to put a load of nappies on every second day so they don't get stinky.

Night times can often be the toughest time for parenting and broken sleep can be a killer but I've been lucky in that Mio got into a sleeping through the night routine straight away and just woke to feed. More recently though I noticed that some nights she was waking more frequently and not always wanting to feed. When I started ECing I realised that this waking was because she needed to wee. Some nights she sleeps solidly for a few hours without waking and others she seems to wake every hour. Now that I know she is waking because she needs to wee I find it hard to ignore her needs for a clean dry nappy so I have to get up and take her.

I'm doing my best to catch all her wees and poos but it's not always easy when we are out of the house and some days I feel like it's easier just to have a nappy on her when I have a thousand things to do.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

365 Handstands- Week 19

Day 127

Day 128

Day 129

Day 130

Day 131- Half way through doing a major clean up and rearranging things. The bookshelf has been moved downstairs and all the books are still in piles all over the place. Work in progress!

Day 132

Day 133

Tuesday 19 November 2013

365 Handstands- Week 18

Day 120

Day 121

Day 122- Among the clutter of paper and art supplies I play.

Day 123

Day 124

Day 125

Day 126

Sunday 17 November 2013

Button Up Bloomers

Browsing Pinterest I came across a beautiful pattern for some button up bloomers (here). I really wanted to make some for Mio so after altering the pattern slightly I managed to make some up really quickly. I chose press studs instead of buttons because they are quicker than sewing button holes and sewing on buttons. They fit great with or without a nappy and with both the press studs and elastic waist at the back it means they are super quick to pull up and down when we are doing EC and easy to snap on and off when wearing out with a nappy.

Again, I used the naturally dyed fabric our friends bought from India which suits Mio beautifully.

Great stretchy elastic at the back.

With my help Mio loves to stand, one of these days she's going to take off!

Great roomy bottom (and fantastic chubby little back rolls!)

Saturday 16 November 2013

Hand Stitched

I am a big fan of hand sewing, to me it is like a meditation. Making garments by hand stitching them requires patience and is incredibly rewarding. One of my favorite designers is Natalie Chanin who's label Alabama Chanin includes gorgeous clothing all hand sewn from organic cotton.

I made a top from her book Alabama Studio Sewing and Design found here. At the moment my breastfeeding boobs make it hard to find clothes that fit well and I just followed the pattern so I would have liked it to turn out a little more fitted around the waist and hips but overall I like how it turned out. I chose organic cotton jersey for quality and sustainability. I have many more ideas and look forward to making my own patterns with which I can make beautiful hand stitched clothing.

India's Circle Skirt

I had some beautiful naturally dyed fabric that some friends bought from India for a few months now, I was unsure what to make with the gorgeous fabric so I just sat on it for a while. The fabric is beautiful and soft and falls really nicely so I decided to make a circle skirt. Together with some organic cotton ribbing I quickly whipped up a new skirt for India.

Circle skirts are great for a quick bit of sewing. I discovered that by folding the fabric into quarters and cutting a circle from it at the length India wanted her skirt to be and then cutting a hole for the waist, it meant that I only had to sew the bottom hem and attach a bit of ribbing to the waist. I made the ribbing section quite wide because India likes to wear her skirts and pants low on her hips and this way having a wide and soft band means that it goes up to her waist but won't bother her.

I did most of the sewing on the overlocker but it could easily be sewn with zigzag stitch on the sewing machine.

Sewing clothes for yourself and your loved ones is cheaper, more special and enables you to make conscious and sustainable choices with the materials you buy and the products you support. India loves that she has input in how her wardrobe is designed and made and it shows her that making beautiful clothes can be simple and is very rewarding.