To Finish Well...

I'll try not to get too sentimental in this post, despite what I feel in my heart :)

This business isn't just a venture that I started out with business-minded or financial-gain intentions. No...it actually started the day I finished making my kids' christmas presents out of a mens XXL wool sweater, and posting pictures of them and how they worked in a young mothers yahoo group of mine.

Many mamas were like me...dealing with bedwetting. Waking to soaked bedding, and frustrated that NOTHING worked anymore. Not cloth, not disposables...these children were super soakers! They were all so excited about the potential relief that wool covers might bring them, that I immedately had 5 orders, and had to run out and buy some wool from my local thrift store! After they were finished, I got 3 more orders from THEIR friends, and then began the trickle of emails requesting wool longies and soakers. I was excited to share my newfound love of wool, and morning after morning of my kids' bone-dry bedding made me a firm believer in this "wool miracle"!

I did a poll for my family and friends to pick my busniess name (Baby Snickerdoodles won narrowly by 2 votes...), and I created my etsy shop!

I love looking back at all the purchases on Etsy...both custom and instock. I remember every one of them. In fact, years later I was able to inform a mama selling one of my covers as a nameless "WAHM" cover, that it was mine because I immedately remembered it! I put time, sweat, tears, and love into every cover I made. 

As time went on, I got more adventurous and began doing appliques, changed my longies designs, created my own sizing charts according to my fans' feedback on their babies sizes, and created my own soaker pattern to meet the needs of the "fitted diaper" world.

Then came Etsy's fumble. Yes, it was very frustrating, but I found peace in the decision to leave Etsy and move to Hyena Cart. Wool being imported from other countries at an extremely cheap rate, was being allowed in shops within the Etsy community, and who can beat those prices? Etsy was no longer "handmade", and even now can easily be "Handmade and imported" as long as 3 clicks away you make a mention of it in your policy footnotes. It was time for Baby Snickerdoodles to find its home with other TRULY handmade items...so the jump was made. I purchased my domain name, and switched to Hyena Cart.

A few weeks later, still more adventurous, a dear friend recommended I get some wool interlock, and use it for trim. She even sent me a bag full of wool dyes she had used and didn't need any more! Now I was VERY excited! It was a bigger hit than I could have ever imagined...and I LOVED combining the two worlds of "interlock" and "upcycled" to make a perfect medium: an affordable, one-of-a-kind wool cover, with extraordinary fit, durability, and may I say visually adorable?? ;) It was one of the best decision I made at Baby Snickerdoodles.
 

Time goes on...our babies started growing up, and before we knew it, we had a houseful of crazy, fun, silly, adorable children, and were expecting another baby.

 This time around, I knew it would be different. I knew my creative time would become more limited, as the need for my affection and time with my children increased. My little "Rose" was born after a difficult labor, and immediately struggled with breathing issues. A persistent rattle in her chest for the first 5 months of her life, and permanent cold-like symptoms, saw me up so many times nightly, its pointless to count...and daily my other children needed their mommy. I would sew during naps, but naps were short as she would wake in coughing fits, or be unable to breathe well.

(She has improved GREATLY, and I am so thankful for that! She is such a sweet baby, and we will be celebrating her first birthday in 2 days!)

Homeschooling begins, life never slows down. All my boys are now at my kitchen table for 3-5 hours a day, and my sweet girls play and laugh with each other while I teach. I cook meals between lessons, and change diapers with kisses and snuggles.

I am so incredibly sad, to the point of tears, to think about closing my beloved business. A creative outlet, a blessing to other mothers, a source of income for my family...and so, so much more than this! But, the time has come, and I am determined to do what is best for me and my sweet family. I love them so much, and we had always known they would come first.

My sweet oldest once replied when asked if he minded me sewing all the time, "No, I kinda like it. You make cute pants for other people's babies, and so its good. I want you to keep doing it." My heart melted! This was for them, and if the blessings of it began to be outweighed by the sacrifices...it would be time to stop...and I would know it.

So here we are. 5 years after my first order. 5 years after my first pairs of woolies for my kids. 5 years after my first shopping trip with a basket full of sweaters. 5 years after "Baby Snickerdoodles" was born...I am saying goodbye.

Thank you all so much. I cannot describe the joy you have brought me, or the support you have given me through your comments, messages, purchases, and photos. You truly will never know  how much it has meant to me and my family. I wish ALL the best to you, your little families, and your sweet babies! Blessings, and much love from us here!

Love,
 Heather Hawkins
 Owner and Seamstress @ Baby Snickerdoodles

Chore Cards (DIY)

Well, this week was a good one! Not only did we have an awesome giveaway event, but I also got a bit of creativity back! :D

Not only did I cut and sew some SERIOUSLY cute lavender lambswool for upcycling, I also ventured to create chore cards for my kids! I know, I know...it might be controversial to have your children doing chores, but in my home, we feel it is necessary to equip them with knowledge. We also believe in emparting a spirit of hard work in them...hard work that is greatly satisfying and character building! 

My youngest son has only a couple simple chores, like puting shoes in a shoe box...but the older boys have more serious ones, like setting the table, and emptying the dryer clothes into a basket. I thought it would be fun to share a tutorial, and inspire YOU to creativity. This would be a GREAT project to do with your older kids too!

Supplies:

• Cardstock
• Marker
• Glue Stick
• Clip art cutouts/photos
• String, Yarn, or Keychain Ring
• Hole Puncher (I lost mine...had to use an awl)
• Stickers (Optional)

Have fun creating, everyone!!!

Snowy Owlet (DIY) ~ Crochet

I am excited to share this pattern with ya'll!! These little owelts are about the size of a large orange, and are simple to make! Assembly can be time consuming, but its worth it when you have the finished little owlet in hand!!

Here is where to get the FREE pattern (yay!). Remember, it's crochet, not knit! So get out those hooks :)

Little Owlet

I have been using Red Heart acrylic yarn for all of my owlets, with a size G hook, and of course, you WILL need a tapestry needle too, for sewing on the eyes, beak, face, and wings.

For a Barn Owlet, use 2 browns...one a dark rich brown, and the other a lighter brown...mix and match if you like!

For a Snow Owlet (above Photo), use cream/white and tan/cream for the owlet's face

For the beak, use orange or brown, its totally up to your creative desires

I stuff all of my stufties with wool scraps...Why? Because its can be shaped well, is waterproof, fire-resistant, slightly antibacterial, and you don't have those icky snynthetic polyfil poking out of all the crochet stitches!

IF you would like a bag of wool scraps from me, feel free to contact me and I can ship you one free (you just pay shipping!) Wool ships well since its so light, so think about $3 for a bag of scraps is enough to stuff 3 or 4 of these owlet babies ♥

Okay, have fun crafting, and I'd love to see photos of your creations!

Want to make your OWN wool soakers? AWESOME!

This is a big one people ask me about! Where do I find my upcycled wool soaker pattern?

As per her requirements, I was able to print off the pattern known as "The Katrina Soaker Pattern", and then donate one of my soakers! I am constantly making adjustments to this pattern, depending on specific measurements...but just recently I see Katrina has instructions for adjustments ON HER PAGE now too!!! Yay!

 The most common adjustment I am asked about, is extending the rise to cover a fluffy bum. I did the exact same thing she says to do, and it works great! I also like to make the waistband a LITTLE taller, as well as the thigh bands. This is why every cover at Baby Snickerdoodles is unique and One-of-a-kind!

Wool doesn't "speak to me", although it sometimes seems that way...I just love to feel it, touch it, and cut where it feels right. All a part of being creative!

I know your covers will be JUST as diverse, and one-of-a-kind!!

Katrina's Sew Quick Soaker Pattern: Free

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section here, and I'll try and help you with whatever I can!

"I SPY" Bags (DIY)

Well I figured for this weekend, I would share about my "I Spy" Bags!

Now, if you were like me, you had NO idea what these were! When I think "bag" I immediately think of a purse-like item, and "I spy"??? I was thinking of a collage-covered diaper bag, to be honest, lol!

But, in all actuality, they are essentially BEAN BAGS! Who would have thought! Now, many people use Rice, as in this tutorial: http://lindsaypinds.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-spy-bag-tutorial.html

Or Polly-Pellets, as in this photo: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpaRhUJl7JnEVGFeZgVV4W87fqJK2I3vfJtPDvJdblEQwBJOcagYbO4HOlGG-roSDTTOs_CYq6UFHqFDx78rrVMMm8HHZS5tfCr3-d2qAAdfFNfcNTl1XnVmyH62vsQ-I5iQZWUY8uHM/s400/i-spy-bag-web.jpg

I personally am hooked on natural, and LOVE the look of an *actual* bean bag, so I use beans in all of mine! Black is my favorite, but white is another great option. Pinto beans can be a little busy, so only do those for older children (IMO), and then red is good, but can clash with your color scheme, so just make sure you coordinate the color beans with your fabric print :)

There are so many different ways of making these fun toys, and the results are so rewarding! I made my first "I Spy" bag for my son one Christmas when we were short on funds, and a "homemade Christmas" was our only option. It turned out GREAT! That winter was when I first started selling my products online, and the orders started pouring in my etsy shop!

To give you a rough idea, here is what you'll need for an average sized bag:

♥ 2 8x8 pieces of fabric

♥ 10-20 trinkets (Can anyone say dollar store!?)

♥ 4x4 piece of clear vinyl (like the kind quilt/blanket bags are made of, or recieving blankets come in. Make sure its THICK, not the thin cheap stuff!)

 ♥ Photo paper (if you can print at home...otherwise go to a local photo kiosk)

♥ 1lb Beans (or rice)

♥ Various Scrapbook paper pieces

♥ Ribbon

♥ Clear Laminate/Packaging Tape

Now, I am not doing a step-by-step tutorial here, just giving you an idea of what it'll take :)

The window, I would suggest making smaller, for older children, and larger for younger children...and have fun with your fabric choices and prints! This one was spiderman, from an upcycled pillowcase!

This Monkey one, was actually a bandana from walmart! I doubled-up the fabric, so it was nice and thick. *ALWAYS* do doubled-edge sewing (go around twice). These things will get alot of abuse at little kids' hands, and you don't want the fabric busting open and beans/toys everywhere! :(

Do Double stitching around the vinyl window...and then put right sides facing each other, sew around, leaving a hole to turn right-side-out.
When you get that done, fill with your toys, and beans. Place your ribbon in the hole, and sew closed, continuing all around the bag. This gives 2 seams to the bag :) If you want to be VERY thorough, go around the outer edge again!

For the card, I always take a photo of my trinkets before they go in the bag. I print with dollar-store photo paper (great quality, by the way!), in my standard printer, and it always looks great! Now get into scrapbooking mode....paste/glue your photo onto a paper back that coordinates with your spy bag (as seen above). You can use other pieces of coordinating paper scraps to get creative, but make sure your writing/pen is clearly visable (Silver on black, darker colors on red/yellow/pink/blue/etc.).

Use your paper laminate or clear packing tape, and do both sides of card, then trim to about 1/4" edge. Punch hold in card, thread ribbon through, and tie in a knot (then a bow, if you wish).

Voila! I hope you have fun Crafting this weekend!!!

Norwegian House Slippers (DIY)

This is a very interesting process I tried last year, with great success! The original pattern was for knitting...which I am lame at, haha ;)

Thankfully, I was able to find THIS link, which gives the instructions for the "oragami" process, which was super awesome!
http://www.mommyknows.com/easy-norwegian-house-slippers-the-crochetted-version-by-mommyknows/

Problem? Yep...she didn't give any size gauge....so I had to figure it out by myself! I had a couple orders for adult slippers, children slippers, and then christmas gifts for my family members. All these size ranges went from size 1 (newborn), to size 9 (womens).

I used mainly patons, but also was able to work with a single-ply worsted weight, and fisherman's wool. There WILL be some variance depending on your wool, and your washing machine/hot water temp, and how loose/tight your stitches tend to be.

So, this is JUST a guide! Follow her instructions, using the shoe size chart below, and remember, gauge is more important than stitches. If your squares are ending up 3" when you wanted them to be 3 1/4", it IS gonna make a difference, and your slipper might end up too small. Err on the side of too big, and then compensate by doing a longer machine washing on hot, or re-run through the dryer on high heat.

Shoe Sizes/Square Gauge/Stitches Per Row

Infants/Children


1-3 / 1.75"x1.75" / 7 Stitches
4-5 / 2"x2" / 9 Stitches
6-7 / 2.25"x2.25" / 11 Stitches
8-9 / 2.5"x2.5" / 12 Stitches
10-11 / 2.75"x2.75" / 13 Stitches
12-13 / 3"x3" / 14 Stitches
1-2 / 3.25"x3.25" / 16 Stitches
3-4 / 3.5"x3.5" / 17 Stitches

Womens

5-6 / 3.75"x3.75" / 18 Stitches
7-8 / 4"x4" / 19 Stitches
9-10 / 4.25"x4.25" / 20 Stitches

Have fun creating your own Norweigan House Slippers!

T-Shirt Shrug Tutorial Link...

I came across a LOVELY pattern the other day, SO much fun to do, and easy peasy!

Me and my Sisters-in-law are planning on getting together for a shrug-making day soon, so we'll all crack out our tees, and see if we can go wild with it! I'll probably update this post once we are finished with ours, and maybe I can post some action shots!!!

Here is the link to the tutorial...
http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/tshirt_shrug

Now, pins drive me bonkers, so I usually cheat and don't use any if I can POSSIBLY help it, lol! If you're like me, my suggestion with this, is to use TWO pins, at both of the shoulder seams, to make sure you sew them uniformly when you get to that part of the casing. I Didn't, and now my shrug sits kinda wonky, so next time I'll be pinning at the shoulders seams for sure!

DoodleTie Tops™?

Well, I admit, its a VERY silly name, and not at all easy to remember or searchable, but since I eventually would have liked to sell the pattern on Etsy, I figured it should be original! :)

I had a sweet family member make me a similar dress for my baby girl when she was born, so I perfected the pattern for a newborn size, and then a toddler size! A sweet friend did a swap with me, and was able to give me some tips on size with her baby girl...and then my niece was able to test another one, so we FINALLY got the sizing down, yay!

    As for the other styles you may have seen...these are all just random creativeness, in the spirit of upcycling! I first had some scraps of fabric, so I made a couple shirts for my newborn baby girl...but then she popped out 8lbs 7oz and was to chubby for them, haha! So, a couple of them became baby doll dresses, and one is in my daughter's baby memory box ♥

 I had a friend that asked me to make her daughter some DoodleTie™ Tops as a birthday gift, and that was SO much fun! They were a very simple design, but one I didn't perfect any pattern for, I just winged it, lol! How's that for a lack of shareable creativity, eep! ;)

There is SO much you can do if you just put your mind to it!
All of the DoodleTie™ Tops are designed to adjust  which also allows for versitility when it comes to layering tees and pants with these cute tops in the cooler months! They are long enough for a summer dress, but short enough to allow movement and play with ease.

Want some wool covers? Measuring Tutorial!

Picture Tutorial!

Picture tutorial to measure your baby for wool diaper covers!

At some point in the future, I would LOVE to make a video tutorial, but in the meantime, I figured this would help any mamas that aren't quite sure how to measure baby!

Note: For modesty reason, I am measuring OVER a wool cover....DO NOT DO THIS in real life! LOL ;) Make sure to measure baby while he/she is wearing the system of diapers that is in your stash (fitteds, prefolds, disposables, trainers, etc...)

#1 Measure baby's waist, RIGHT above where their diaper comes. this usually will be just under their belly button in the front, and is typically not the chubbiest part of baby's belly. If you measure too high, this will give you a false waist measurement that will be too large, so make sure it is taken at the exact point that you want your covers' waistband to be.

 

#2 Measure Baby's Rise, by placing the tip of your cloth measuring tape RIGHT above the dipe in front...holding it in place, roll baby over and bring tape through his/her legs, over the fluffy bum, and to just above where the diaper comes in the back! With a prefold, you are going to get a smaller rise than a fitted, because fitteds are alot more bulky/fluffy.

This is why it is so important to measure baby while he/she is wearing your system of choice :) If you measure over a prefold, and wonder why your woolies don't even cover a fitted in the back all the way, this is why ;)

#3 Measure baby's inseam, by placing the tip of the tape in the very center of the gusset area. Hold the tape snug with baby'dipe as you bring it over to the thigh, and then down the leg...

Bring the tape all the way to the ankle, or heel, depending on if you want them to be regular or a little long. This shows Emilie having a 11.5" inseam, but I often will make her inseam 1/2" longer, just for some extra growing room for her body type...can anyone say Ballerina? LOL!

#4 To measure baby's thigh, you don't necessarily want the chubbiest part of the thigh...just wrap around RIGHT below the edge of where baby's dipe comes, as that is where you want a soaker's cuffs to be snug and fit well.

If you are measuring for longies though, yes, it is probably a good idea to measure the thighs at the chubbiest part, wherever on the thigh that may be :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okey doke, thats it! Your good to go! Remember that not all WAHM's measure the same, nor do they use your measurements the same way as I do, to create their covers. It is always a good idea to confirm with the shop you purchase with, what their specific methods are, ESPECIALLY if you are requesting a custom order ♥

Something Smells Delicious!

We have been sending wool wash bits with our woolies orders at Baby Snickerdoodles for awhile now, and we have been VERY pleased with the products at Crow Mountain Crafts! Lisa is extremely sweet, professional, and makes great products that work and smell DELICIOUS!

That is why this time, when we were re-ordering our wool wash bits, we decided to add another product to our sample list!!

 Lisa was SO sweet to send us the labels for the wool wash bits, AND the goat milk soap, so each little sample will have its own label, how cool is that!?

 Hello, Goat Milk Soap! For all the orders that won't need wool wash, you will get a wonderful slice of this deliciousness ♥ I can't wait!

 Packaging up the Wool Wash bits with the Baby Snickerdoodles Lanolizing instructions card ♥♥♥

 Making the Goat's Milk Soap slivers... ♥♥♥

Nursing Tank "Tutorial"

I know this blog is supposed to be for Baby Snickerdoodles news and patterns n'such...but now that the new baby is here, and I am still on my babymoon, there are a few crafty things I've been working on, so I figured I would share!

For all those nursing moms who struggle with finding an affordable option for nursing-wear, but who can handle some scissors, needle, and thread...this is for YOU! :D

 Here are two tank tops I bought from Walmart...$12 for the 2-pack!

 They were shelf bra tanks, but as some of you may know, a nursing mama doesn't always fit in a size medium juniors shelf bra... lol! Snip snip, that is better!

 Now, snip off the back straps. The tank should fit nice and snug so you won't need the support in the back. Trust me, you'll see...

 Now, you wanna cut the front of the strap, so there is about 1/2"-1" left

 Here you can see the end result. Tank. Straps.

 Now, I think you can get these clasps at any craft store, but I was on bedrest, so I just grabbed what was handy......the straps from my strapless bra, that I never wear the straps with! Snip snip, there ya go! Each tank will need 2 hook clasps.

4 hook clasps (2 per tank)

  Slip the 1" strap piece through the closed part of the hook clasp. You are going to sew this down...but make SURE that the hook is pointing towards the center of the front of your tank...so, facing each other.

 Grab your thread, and start sewing the strap down...make sure the clasp is flush against the tank, and held in place pretty snug

 All sewn up (I went back and forth a few times using a basic stitch)

 Here's the front!

Here's the back!

Now put your tank on over your nursing bra, and slip the hooks of the tank into the fabric loop of your bra that its clasp is on.
The idea is, when your bra cup comes down to nurse, it should take the tank top with it...keeping your belly covered for modesty/warmth!

Hope this inspires someone to get crafty and save their budget ;) ENJOY!