introducing.. Mums and Bums!

I've mentioned a few times that my sister and I are going into the cloth nappy business, well now that our website is close to ready, and all our stock is arriving, I thought I'd share the general premise of the business!

Mums and Bums.  Our aim is to demistify the often daunting world of cloth diapering, and make cloth diapering easier and more enjoyable!  Upon start up we'll be stocking five brands of diapers - Little Lamb, Bummis, Real Nappies, Ecobubs and Sunbaby, and we will hire out trial packs, containing all those brands (or more customised, depending on the customers needs/wants) so that parents can get an idea of what they like about certain brands, and dislike about others - and hopefully work out which cloth diapers are going to be the best option for them & their little ones.  We are also going to be the distributors of Boingo's for New Zealand.  Along with our trial packs, we will also be selling the various brands I mentioned, it won't be necessary to do a trial pack, in order to buy from us.

We are also going to be making and selling cloth products for Mum's - cloth breastpads and cloth sanitary pads, but these will probably be a bit further down the line.  I am also going to be making and selling fleece and PUL covers to sell.  Really the sky is the limit!

We aren't 100% sure when we'll be 'going live', but we are certainly getting ready for that - and we have a fabulous graphic designer working on our website, which is going to look amazing when it's finished!  

It's a very exciting time for myself, my sister and my brother-in-law, and I can't wait to share the journey with all of you!!!!

If you want proof that we really are in existance, just check out our website so far... is it rather sad that I cried *just a little* when my sister gave me the link to this? Mums and Bums

Having SEW much fun!

I got a sewing machine for my birthday and have been giving it a whirl...  I have to say that even though I HATED sewing at high school, I'm having a LOT of fun sewing now!  I've pretty much mastered the art of fleece soakers, and have even made a pair of fleece longies - which were really easy, probably easier than the soakers.  My sister and I are starting a cloth-related business, so I've been practicing making some items we are hoping to sell - and it keeps me occupied for hours on end.

My latest fleece soaker.... I call this 'watermelon'!

There is something so... rewarding... about sewing - because within a matter of minutes you have a product developing right in front of your eyes, and with items like soakers it is literally minutes until you've got a finished product RIGHT there, ready to use.  I enjoy knitting, but hate that it takes so long to see major results - well, when it comes to me it does anyway.  Sewing hasn't really cost me a lot to date - most of the fabric I've been using has been fabric I've already had at home - old fleece blankets, tops etc...  Can't complain when you have a store quality item, that hasn't cost you anything - or has cost you verrrry little.

I have to give big ups to 'Katrina' who has put her soaker pattern on her blog for anyone to use - it's the soaker pattern that I use (and LOVE), she has various sizes, and also patterns for making larger soakers (up to XXXL I believe), and for longies/shorties.  You can find the blog & pattern here Katrina's Free Soaker Pattern, the patterns themselves are on the right hand tool bar, if you scroll down a bit (in line with the 'Just a Soaker' blog post).  What I really really love is that she has given permission for the pattern to be used for commercial use - so long as you donate to particular organisations, or make one to give away for the price of postage.

I am attempting to make breastpads and mama cloth at the moment too, and while nothing I've made is FABULOUS, it's all very functional, and I am learning as I go.  It's nice to experiment with fabric and with various stitches...  After almost 5 years of feeling like I'm 'just a Mum', it is nice to be doing something that makes me feel like I'm contributing in some way - I'm doing something that is completely seperate from 'just being a Mum'.. and it makes me feel really good about myself.

I wish I could share more about our business plans - but that will all come out soon!

Until then, I'm armed with my sewing machine, PUL, bamboo, hemp, microfleece, suede cloth, flanelette, aplix, FOE... and many glorious sewing related bits and pieces...

Creativity has its price...

My first ever PUL cover...

I got a fancy new sewing machine for my birthday, so have been getting a bit out of my comfort zone and attempting to sew all manner of cloth diaper related items.  I have generally had success - which is a lovely feeling, and I'm feeling quite proud of myself.  I made my hardest thing yet on Saturday night - a PUL diaper cover/wrap... I used velcro/aplix for the first time, and FOE (fold over elastic), and was amazed when the wrap was finished and actually looked half decent.

Action shot...

I was confident enough that it was functional enough to use, so put it on Emersyn on Sunday morning - we did a little photo shop, and I assessed my work, noticed a few areas that needed some tweaking etc.  Generally I just looked at the wrap and felt rather pleased with myself.  A functional PUL cover, made by ME - who would have thunk it?

Nap time rolled around and Emersyn was in the wrap, with a trifolded prefold underneath.  I noticed a little of the cotton that was holding one of the velcro tabs on had come a bit loose, but made the executive decision that it was still able to be used.  I'd just sew it on a bit better after her nap.

Lesson one - NEVER send a product out (even if it's just to your daughter) if you aren't 100% happy with the workmanship.

Emersyn went to sleep - and ended up having a rather hefty nap.  I decided  after 2 hours that I should go in and check on her, just incase she was awake and was up to mischief.  Not that she could get up to a lot of mischief in her cot.  Right?

Upon opening the door I was met with a wall of STENCH...  "Oh my - she must have done a might big poo", I thought to myself - suddenly wishing that I had actually Snappi'ed the prefold...  Oh well - she had a cover on - the mess would be limited to that.  Right?

NO.

Uh oh.

Looking at my daughter the first thing that struck me was that she had a bare bum.  The second thing that struck me?  Poos.  Everywhere.  Sheets, blankets, quilt, blankie, arms, legs, tummy, face, in between toes, on bottoms of feet, dummy/pacifier...  She was SOUND asleep - and all I could do was look at the scene in front of me in dismay, while compiling a 'to do' list in my head.  Run bath, bath child, strip cot, wash ALL bedding, wash the cot down, make bed....  I rang my Mum to share the news with her, and it was then that Emersyn woke up - in a rather festive mood...

I knew that I had to either see the funny side in the situation, or cry cry cry.. being that I was in a good mood, I saw the funny side.  Being upset about it wasn't going to clean the mess up!

I ran a bath, then put Emersyn in it.. and after two changes of bath water she was sufficiently clean.  Got her dried and dressed, then attacked the bedding - which I threw outside, because my washing machine had recently finished a hot wash, and after a hot wash it takes a couple of hours to work again.  Yea, perfect timing for THAT to happen!

Eventually the bedding got washed, and the cot got re-made... and we all lived happily ever after - and I learnt a few little lessons along the way, one of the most important?? REINFORCE REINFORCE REINFORCE TABS!

strange how the world works

I blogged the other day about being sad that when Emmy is done with diapers, that there will be no more cloth diapering for me - and how I was thinking of starting some sort of business related to cloth diapering... WELL, my wonderful sister came to me with a business proposition, one that we both think there is a need for - that there is a market for. 

I won't give away any details yet, because there isn't really a lot to give away at this stage - but it is something that has us both rather excited, and I've been thinking about it all afternoon.  This 'little idea' definitely has potential, and is something that can be built on over time - admittedly it's a little hard to not get ahead of myself with the ideas, I need to slow myself down and just concentrate on the INITIAL idea, and building a nice little foundation.

All I CAN say is this - stay tuned.... and if anyone would be willing to help us out with research at some point [probably just answering questionaires], please let me know.