An interview from Sew, Mama, Sew!

I'm just sitting around waiting for the hubby to wake up so I can get showered and start my day. I would like to get some red rick rack to finish up the NY Rangers bib I made yesterday, and then of course since I'll be going right past it, I'll stop in at the Pickerington Goodwill, even though it isn't the best thrift store. Actually it's my least favorite one because it's small and pretty expensive, but it will have to do for today!

I found on Sew, Mama, Sew's blog where she has been asking fabric questions, so I thought I would play along:

What do you usually sew?
I started out by sewing mostly home-dec stuff (pillows, slipcovers, etc), however then I ventured out to sewing clothes. I made myself four maternity shirts and several maternity dresses, although the dresses were tank top style and therefore didn't see any use for this pregnancy. It's just been too cold to wear dresses anyway. Lastly, I've gotten into sewing things for baby like felt food, fabric blocks and toys, etc.

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?) I don't think I've purchased new fabric at all lately. I've made a pledge to myself that I would repurpose thrifted clothes, and I've been sticking to it. Actually I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn't buy any more fabric at all until I get this stash to a more manageable level, however with the arrival of Joel, I need to build up my stash of little boy fabrics. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?
Usually I am just out thrifting and I see some fabric that catches my eye at a price that's just right so I'll scoop it up. I might have it in my head that I am looking for baby pants fabric for example, and then I'll find something that I could chop up and make nice pants out of.

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? If I get it new at Joanns, then no I usually don't prewash it (I am so bad...) however when I get something at a thrift store, I do wash it. Although if it's at a thrift store, it's probably already been washed so the shrinkage factor doesn't really come into play; it's more for my peace of mind.

Do you iron it? Ha. This one made me laugh out loud. Um, not so much.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) Another question that made me laugh. There's no sorting. It's just dumped into plastic totes since Joel kicked me out of my sewing room.

Do you have any special folding techniques? See above. No sorting, no folding, no ironing. I'm a bit of a slob.

How do you store your fabric?
I have four large plastic bins and I jam-pack as much as I can into those.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?
Since I am a music teacher, I am a firm believer that a well-rounded education includes studies in the arts and physical education. I will have to try harder to teach my fabric stash how to play musical instruments and run laps. I would have to say though that fabric scraps don't talk back and generally do what I say, so we should have a good time learning about the arts and becoming well-rounded!

When do you say enough is enough?
Um, I don't know that I've ever said "enough is enough."

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?
Lately it's been stuff for Joel. I like making fabric food :)

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it! Hmmm, I'd have to say that my cowboys and indians themed fabrics are among my favorite finds right now. I can't wait for Joel to be old enough to care! I posted pics a few weeks back so you can see them.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?
Perfect for me means saving fabrics from the racks at a thrift store and revitalizing that little gem into something that my family will treasure! If it's second hand, it's perfect :)

Don't cry over spilled expressed breast milk

Phew, breast feeding is time consuming. I think we're settling into a routine now though, which is nice. I pump and bottle it since he doesn't latch on very well; we share the responsibility of feeding expressed breast milk to Joel. Although Joel somehow got the impression that daddy is the milk-maker of the family... He always roots around looking for the nipple when Jason is holding him but for some reason doesn't do it to me as much.

So yesterday I was pumping again, and afterwards I just let the bottles sit on the couch for a bit before getting up to put them in the fridge. I am so sore and getting up off the couch can be quite a chore. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) Eventually Jason walked over and noticed that one of the bottles had slowly leaked all over the couch. Eek! My liquid gold! All. Over. The. Couch. Jason didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. I'll make more anyway, right? But I was absolutely horrified! My hard work, wasted!

Something else about breast feeding that I find intriguing is that milk sprays out of many holes. I had read that online a few months ago, but that was news to me! I had just assumed there was one hole. I think it's neat to watch the milk spray out into the bottles. I'm so glad that the pump is clear so I can watch. It's not nearly as gratifying when Joel is latched on because I can't see the milk come spraying out. Am I weird, or does/did anyone else feel that way too? Shouldn't I be feeling gratification when Joel does latch on rather than feeling slightly bummed that I can't see the milk spray out?

Ugh, Joel needs a diaper change. It's going to be a gross one from the sound of it. *Gulp*

The long awaited baby post!

My water originally broke when I was getting ready for work (6:45 AM) on Friday, February 13. Joel was born almost 23 hours later at 5:22 AM on Valentines Day. The water was just trickling down my leg, and I wasn't 100% sure that it was my water breaking. I thought I might have just peed myself. So I called into work and told them that I think my water had broken and that I would not be in. I waited until the doctors office opened at 9 and gave them a call. They said that even if it was just trickling, I still needed to go to the hospital. I called hubby to come home from work. Once he got home and we were all packed, I then realized that I still had several instruments in my car from the after-school rehearsal the evening before. I needed to swing by school and drop them off, which we did, and then we were off to the hospital. We finally got there around 11 AM.

The first chunk of time was okay because I wasn't even feeling the contractions, but by 3PM, they were starting to get painful. I had been stuck at 3-4 centimeters for the past couple weeks, and eventually I made it to 5cm with the help of pitocin. I was stuck at 5cm pretty much all day. They eventually decided they needed to break my water even though it had already broken on its own that morning. They used what looked like a knitting needle and a big gush of water came out. Fast forward several hours later, and they discovered they needed to break my water again. One of the two nurses said she only ever had to break someone's water twice on one occasion, but the other nurse said that one time she had to break someone's water four times.

By 9-something that night I decided that it was time for an epidural. I still could talk through the contractions however I figured there was really no point in waiting since I knew I wanted one. About 10 minutes later, the anesthesiologist was there to prepare my back for the epidural. She did all the prep work, and then I got this severe urge to pee. The nurse tried to tell me that the feeling would pass after I got the epidural, but I really had to go. I ended up peeing 600mL. The nurse exclaimed, "You really did need to go!" Yes, that is what I said, isn't it?!

Getting the epidural wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The pinch to numb my back hurt about as much as getting an IV. I couldn't even feel any pain whatsoever when they were putting the catheter into my back. What I didn't like at all was what she said would feel like a "zing." It felt like my right leg was being attacked with a cattle prod or something. I flinched and started to cry. Then the anesthesiologist said, "We're done," but she said it in a way that made me think we had to try again. I began to cry harder because I thought I had messed it up when I flinched and we had to start over, but luckily that was not the case!

After midnight, I went from 5cm to 10cm in about two hours! The doctor could not believe it. She even asked for a second opinion because of how rapidly I had progressed during those two hours.

After that was smooth sailing except for the fact that I was tired as all get-out. After I reached 10cm, they let me rest for an hour, and then the pushing began. I pushed for almost 2 hours. Finally the nurse said that she was going to call the doctor in to perform a vacuum extraction. The doctor gave me a choice between a vacuum extraction and a c-section, and I chose a vacuum extraction. This did the trick after just two sets of pushing. When Joel came out, I threw up for the third and final time. I was puking my guts out and completely missed it when Jason cut the cord. They took Joel away to get cleaned up, and afterwards Jason got to hold him. He held him by me so that I could see him too. It would be 45 minutes until I could hold him.

I ended up with 3rd degree tears (anal muscle actually tore whereas 1st and 2nd tears are mostly just skin). I heard the nurse going off-shift tell the new nurse that the tearing was "extensive." It took 45 minutes to get sewn up. I asked the doctor how many stitches I had, and she said she wasn't counting. Ok, so alot then I take it.

Unfortunately, Joel suffered from shoulder dystocia during birth which is most likely what caused the 3rd degree tears. I've read on online forums where people compared having c-sections with 3rd degree tears that most doctors will make the woman have a c-section the second time around if she had 3rd degree tears the first time. I haven't talked to my doctor yet but I will ask her about this. Most people who have had both say that the 3rd degree tear is actually worse than having a c-section. Hindsight is 20/20; I should have gone with the c-section when she gave me the choice!

Here is a photo of Joel at home in his little cowboy outfit. He's so cute!

Here's the hobby horse I made Joel. I guess he finds it quite scary!

Find your style with this quiz

Today I saw a link from How About Orange's blog to sproost.com. On Sproost, you can take a quiz to see what your decorating style is. I'm 45% Nantucket Style, 27% Mountain Lodge Style, and 28% Traditional Country. That sounds about right!

Thrifting for the Newborn Babe

I had to get out of the house today. I was told not to drive for two weeks, and it's only been five days, but I had to get out none-the-less. My husband's cousin's daughter is turning one in a week, so I went to Kohls to find her a gift. Of course then I was near the Eastland mall thrift stores, so I stopped in.


Above you can see today's finds. I got a plain white onesie (50c because it was half off today), and then I found a new package of two pro-recycling iron-on transfers (50c) to go with it. I also found a little bottle to screw into my breast pump (30c), a Halloween bandana for making these adorable bandana pants (29c), and a NY Rangers towel that I plan on turning into a bib (59c). My husband loves the Rangers, so I was glad to find that towel! Columbus now has its own professional hockey team, so he also loves the Blue Jackets, but he's loved the Rangers since childhood. I also have two Columbus Blue Jackets flags that we got for free at a game once. They have some advertising for Nationwide Insurance on them, so I cut the advertising out of them and will make a bib out of them too. Two bibs maybe; one for Joel and one for his 2 1/2 month old cousin.


Here are the adorable little ties I got Joel a week or two ago when on a thrifting expedition, along with a little book about music. Yellow tags were half off that day, yay!


And lastly, a little metal thermos that I had my eyes on ($1.59). I actually saw a different one a few weeks ago but didn't get it. When I went back, it was gone and I was totally kicking myself. I saw this one later and scooped it up.

My Valentine's Day Gift from Hubby

This is what hubby made me for Valentines Day :) He finished it yesterday since I unexpectedly went into labor on the 13th. It turned out to be good though, because he was able to get the Hershey kisses for much less since Valentines Day had already passed!

Here's what he did in case you want to mimic this candy holder. First, he found directions for this on a kindergarten craft website. He said he thought he could handle a craft meant for five-year-olds. He gathered an applesauce container, red spray paint, a piece of ribbon, a small piece of fabric, masking tape for taping off the heart pattern, and some white paint to highlight the heart shape. Voila, a wonderful recycled craft for Valentines Day!

Sunday Stash is here despite the newborn's arrival

Hello folks. I'm in the hospital after a lengthy birth... more about that will come later. Luckily I photographed some fabric a few days ago, because otherwise there would be no Sunday stash today. I can't sleep, so I figured 1 AM would be a good time to get online and post some photos of Valentiney fabric that I have. A day late and a dollar short, yes I know, but that's the story of my life!

The fabric above was a Joanns purchase years ago. The one directly below was too.


This one is a set of thrifted pillow shams from a long time ago. I used them as pillow shams for a few years, got sick of them, and now they're in my fabric stash to cut up and use as I see fit. I was going to do some kind of Valentiney craft with fabric however with the little one's arrival, I never got around to it!