I started making a new shopping bag (right) when I went into labour. I got as far as the final French seam at the bottom on that day and had to focus on other things , but I’ve finally found a moment to finish it.

I found the pattern for this bag when writing the bag roundup and you can find the pattern here. I used an old sheet that was already in the rag bag, I just cut around the pilling and the tear in the centre. So the cost to make this was only a few cents for the thread. The sheet was poly-cotton and it seemed a bit thin a flimsy, but because the bag is lined, it ends up being quite sturdy. The pocket on the front is so that it can fold down and be carried easily in a handbag.

(more…)

I previously wrote about how I was preparing for a frugal baby, listing the absolute bare minimum essential things that I thought I would need. Then we brought the little fella home.

I never expected that I would be bottle feeding so to the list of essentials we added a breast pump (I was trying for a few weeks to bring my milk in), bottles, formula and steriliser (as I expected to breast feed, we started out boiling our bottles on the stove top. A steriliser was an expensive but oh so wonderful convenience purchase). We also ended up with a pram (for nanna really), a bath and a bouncer, both of which get a pretty good work out.

Apart from the essentials, I also did some less essential crafting before the new arrival, that I wanted to share with you. Despite being non essential, we use the items below on a daily basis. As a quilter, I have quite a stash of fabric from my cashed up days, so everything except the fabric and notions for the bag was made from what I already had on hand (no extra money spent).

(more…)

I have a small confession to make. For the first four weeks of the little fella’s life we used disposable nappies. Not entirely, we had a foray into cloth the few days we were at home, but mostly it was disposable. The hospital required it, and I’m not sure I could have managed the six long days in the car with a bucket full of stinking nappies.

But now that things have settled down and we’re back at home, we have gone the last week using entirely cloth nappies (even out and about) and we won’t go back to disposable (unless we have to do another long car trip etc). I have to say that using cloth nappies is really not that much more work than using disposables. We are currently using terry towelling flats. They are inexpensive (we purchased them at $1.70 each), easy to wash and dry (much quicker than fitted nappies – a night on the clothes horse in the laundry is sufficient at the moment).

If you’re interested, below is how we fold our nappies. It fits a newborn bum well and is a good fold for boys.

(more…)

Photo by sewingdork

When I plunged into the cloth nappy world I was totally overwhelmed. Flat, fitted, pre-fold, pocket, covers, liners..? Which nappy is best? What to buy? OMG look at the price!

Making your own, especially from recycled materials is the cheapest option if you want to go with the modern fitted nappy style. Below is a list of tutorials that I hope will make sense of the whole diaper / nappy world.

Of course, if you decide to practice elimination communication(I’m going to give it a go) then the whole nappy conundrum will be in part at least, moot.

There is some overlap in these tutorials as different tutorials explain things in different ways, and if one part doesn’t make sense, it can help to look at a another tutorial for a better idea. You can also pick and choose or adjust patterns, sewing techniques and materials to suit your needs. For example, you may like make an all-in-one, one-size pocket nappy by combining tutorials.

(more…)

We’ve still got about three months left, but I’ve started preparing now for our first newborn bub. Here are a list of things that I’m doing to prepare, if you have any other advice, it would be much appreciated. The aim is to be as organised as possible so that things at home still flow as smoothly as possible after bub is born, and we’re not  spending extra money that we don’t have on things like takeaway because I wasn’t organised.

Purchase of Essential Baby Goods

My instinct is that you don’t need to buy a lot of stuff for a newborn baby. We are going to get:

(more…)

One of my favourite Australian online sites for buying reusable cloth nappies is Nurture Nappies. They have a large selection of those new-fangled nappies, as well as a whole array of other useful bits and pieces like liners and covers.

A couple of my favourite things about this site is that they offer an introductory package so that you can try out different brands and work out which ones that you like best, they give personalised advice as to what type of nappies might best suit you depending on babies age and your family’s personal circumstances and information about washing and care.

While their nappies aren’t the cheapest options around, they offer some top brands, product specials and packages, and their site offers plenty of info, advice and customer service.

By the way: I am not affiliated with this site nor do I get anything by writing about them. It’s all about passing on the great resources that I find to you.

Photo by Hans & Carolyn

Finally getting out of the morning sickness phase and I’m finding that my clothes aren’t fitting already. I’ve been scouting around the internet for low cost maternity wear ideas, but I’m really not ready at all for maternity wear. A the moment I’m doing the old rubber band round the button trick, but that is only going to last so long.

If you have been down this road already – help! I would love to hear your ideas for low cost maternity wear. My budget at the moment is a shy above $0.

After doing some research, here are some low cost/ no cost options I found for maternity wear.

1. The Belly Band. This is like a ‘boob tube’ for your waist. It is supposed to help keep pants up when you can’t do up the buttons and zips (and hide the fact your duds are undone), and cover your belly and your plumber’s when your tops get too short. In other words it extends the life of your pre-preggers clothes (as long as you can still fit into them otherwise!) It also helps keep loose maternity wear from falling off.
2. Borrow maternity wear. If you’re lucky enough to know someone who has maternity wear lying around in the cupboard then borrowing it is a no cost alternative.
3. Buy second hand. This can be at charity stores or some specialty maternity wear stores that buy and sell second hand maternity clothes.
4. EBay. This is a popular suggestion. I’ve bought clothes off eBay before, but browsing through the maternity wear, I didn’t find it all that cheap. There seemed to be high demand for maternity wear and therefore more bids and higher costs (something to keep in mind for later!)
5. Buy Online. Depending on your budget and what you’re looking for, buying online can be cheaper. I found a nice pair of pants for $38AUD which I guess is reasonable (but beyond my current budget).
6. Raid hubby’s wardrobe. Particularly for the in between period where your clothes are too small and maternity wear is too big.
7. Buy bigger ‘normal’ clothes. Again for the in between period.

If you have any other ideas or you would like to share what you did for clothes during pregnancy, I would love you to share your thoughts in the comments section.