Here Comes a Convert - Quick! Lock the Door!

Yes, I am a convert. I proclaim it and embrace it and like the best (or is it worst?) converts, I proselytize to all who will listen. Don’t worry, it’s not some cult I’m shilling, not Amway, not even some fad diet - it’s cloth diapers. I’ve had four kids and the first three wore disposables (‘sposies, now that I’m in the know) from birth to potty-training. J-dub was also in ‘sposies till just six weeks ago. Then, standing in the line at Target to shell out $26 bucks (with a coupon, no less!) for a box of diapers that would last him three weeks if I was lucky, I had an epiphany. Not a bright lights, halo-type epiphany, unfortunately, but a grumbling, hard-earned-money-type epiphany - NO MORE. To be honest, ‘sposies never made any sense for us as a family. Sure, we’re busy - who isn’t, right? - and convenience plays a role in our decisions, but except for convenience, ‘sposies were all wrong. Besides a new winter jacket for my birthday, I probably spent no more than fifty dollars on clothes for myself this year. And, I bought a maternity wardrobe out of that! I also analyze every item I put into the waste stream, curse over-packaging with words usually reserved for a sailor - what was I doing lugging a bag full of dirty diapers to the trash every other day?
So, I went home, started looking online and realized that all those cute, plushy, fancy diapers were… waaaayy out of my reach. More searching got me started with flats (four kids means lots and lots of receiving blankets - lots and lots of flats!) - I found a great “origami” fold here to move things along.
But flatfolds are a lot of work and I knew that S would never take the time to pin up a diaper when it was his turn to change the baby. I had visions of disposable diapers squirreled away in the closet to appear when I was out, hidden by a dad desperate not to poke the baby, or himself, with those giant diaper pins. Thankfully I found a super-easy tutorial on making your own dipes here. And to top it all off I found recycled T-shirt ideas here.
So I got a pile of old T-shirts of ours and I started trying to make fitted diapers. They're soft and cute and they do the job. I've done seven so far.


Well, actually, I've done eight. This is my first one.


And that's fine, right? Except this is the only thing it fits.

I just kept trying to get the tabs even and, well, it didn't turn out great. Or usable. For a human.

I'm really enjoying this - I'm not much of a seamstress, but I just love finding a use for something I was just going to throw away. Now, if I can just get my sister to switch to cloth. And my best friend. And that gal down the street who had twins.... Yeah, I think I just heard a door lock.

Intros

Time to give you the low-down on this mo-crowd. There's me, my hubmeister of twelve years, S; my two girls, T & T; and the littlest mo, J-dub. Five years ago we traveled north to the tiny, fictitious town of Pockwockamus and bought a small, 40s-era roadside motel. Every day is new, is a challenge, and is totally worth it.
This blog will never be fancy, that's for sure, but I'll try to keep it interesting.

Let's Get This Thing Started

Well, I've never done a blog before and I'm a wicked bad typist so I don't know how long this'll last, but I've wanted to get some kind of feedback (ahem, accolades!) on my life in general - so what do I have to lose, right? On second thought - I might wait a while till I let this thing go live.... Oh, I'm such a chicken.