I think it is quite apparent that River is a big boy. And as well as EC is going I am not venturing into diaper free outings quite yet. Big baby + cloth diapers= incredibly huge booty. Typical clothing just doesn't do for the boy. And impatient parents that need to dress said, "wants to move all the time, wiggly worm ginormous baby" need something to get on that big booty fast. It has been time for awhile, and we are going the way we did with Asher- the T-shirt pant. Stretchy, economical and so easy.
Grab yourself a pile of old shirts- I am trying to rid all evidence of the park district from my wardrobe so I have lots on hand. Find a pair of pants that you love your kid in, turn them inside out and fold in half to get one leg.
Cut shirt out into the two legs allowig at least a quarter inch for seams. I like to then cut the front of the leg in a bit in the leg as I like the way they fit this way, it tapers it a little. If you look closely to the picture you can see the top is smaller, don't do the same to the crotch, well you can but then lining things up may be a little more difficult (not much though)
Sew right sides together of each leg. Turn one of them rightside out (in?). Anyway, place the rightside one inside the wrongside one. And here folks is the magic.
I first sewed pants in highschool and I remember being amazed by their ease and the almost magical way that they came together. Line up the right sides touching crotches of each leg, I definitely recommend pins here.
Sew it up and voila, pants... not quite, but now they look awesome already. I like to get a bunch of pairs to this stage before turning on the iron and proceeding.
With a hot iron, fold the pants about half an inch and then another inch, iron and pin. I really recommend not stepping the pinning here if you are going to skip anything, skip the iron.
I get all my pants pinned and then sew them all in a row. Make sure to leave about a one inch opening in the round to get the elastic in.
Measure the kids waist, subtract an inch and cut your elastic. Thread it through with a safety pin and sew the elastic together. I don't know about you, but it drives me crazy when the elastic twists, so I use thicker elastic and am pretty meticulous about making sure it is all going in the same way. Oh and pin the elastic to sew it, maybe common sense but I am known to try it without and I always have to remind myself to pin it.
you can then finish sewing that inch hole for the elastic casing or leave it open. I choose to leave it open as my kids grow fast and then I can easily let out or replace the elastic...depends on who you are, I for one suck at finishing things so it is nice that this can be functional and the finishing can be excused.
Pretty instant gratification and easy wardrobe for the kids. I am planning on freezer paper stenciling some as well to funk them up a bit.
These girls joined us in August and we give thanks to them to nourish us for the rest of the year.
Meat eating is a very serious thing for us. This is the sixth year that we have raised and butchered chickens. We do it for a couple reasons. 1: you can't get a tastier bird anywhere. These birds are bred in Pennsylvania by an Amish man, Ben found them for his research. If you are lucky to live near Iowa City, you could have a chance to buy them from our friend Eric of Salt Fork Farms as he raises the same breed. 2: We still feel that we need to put some of the slaughtering into our own hands. As a meat eater, you are taking the life of an animal. For us not acknowledging this fact becomes part of unethical meat consumption. So each year we take the lives of some animals, thanking them for their gift to us and feel that this still allows us to indulge in eating other animals that have all been raised ethically, locally and organically. This day symbolizes such a huge portion of our diet. While we eat vegetarian meals on most days, animal protein is a staple for us.
If I can't do it myself, I shouldn't ignore the process and ask someone else to do it for me. I think that meat eating the right way can be a healthy part of everyones diet, healthy for the world and sustainable for local farms. It is hard to make a living on vegetable farming alone. Not that raising animals makes the job easy! But for a farm to be self sustaining animals fit in to the system. Their manures can't be topped, they can do a lot of good for composting and turning over spent vegetable and weeds, and really you can't top the taste for the family working so hard or the fuel their meat can provide for farming families.
Plus they are amazing creatures. The way animals are treated in conventional farming traditions in this country is appalling. It is all about the buck. I am happy that as a family we don't contribute to that system, that we support what farming and animal husbandry originated as, a relationship between man and animal, a respect, gratefulness and awareness. Be it vegetable or meat though, this amount of thought should go into all of it. Food is our life, without it we could do nothing else. Cherish it, be thankful and know where it comes from.
