Scheduling Conflicts

I started my part-time job about four weeks ago with the understanding that I would be working a total of 10-12 hours per week and 1-2 days per week with maybe a couple of Saturdays per month. Of course, this sounded perfect for what I wanted and after talking to my husband, we agreed that we could make it work.

Then, I found out I was pregnant right before I started working. I already had a start date and wasn't sure of what to do. I wasn't sure how I would feel being pregnant and wondered if I should tell my manager since we only have a total of four people working there. After talking about it, we decided that I should start the job and tell her after the first trimester at the end of this month.

I started working and everything was going well. Working two six hour shifts worked out well and I was learning a lot. I enjoyed the job and my manager was so happy with the job I was doing. In fact, she was so happy that she started adding more hours and days to my schedule. Now, normally, that would be great, but with the pregnancy, I get exhausted easily and super sore after I work. I thought it was just because she needed some coverage, but then we sat down to talk schedules.

She was changing the schedule daily and I kept getting more days and hours. I was originally scheduled for three days last week and one day this week, but the next day it was changed to five days this week...what?! Not only was I getting a ton of hours, but I was also scheduled for three weekends in a row. Once we sat down to talk about it, she asked how many I would be willing to do and I said two Saturdays.

She told me that wasn't going to work and she needed four weekend days per month. I let her know this is not what we agreed upon and she said she didn't remember that, but she probably did say it at the time. She asked me to talk to my husband about working at least three weekend days per month and being "on call" for the fourth and to get back to her on Monday.

Once again, we talked schedules yesterday. I let her know that we were not comfortable with me working more than 2 weekend days and more than 12 hours per week, but up to 18 would be the most. She told me that she had to find someone else and I told her I understood.

As of this point, I'm working as long as she has some hours for me, but it's honestly a little awkward. On top of that, it's 40 minutes away each way so the pay isn't worth driving there more then a couple of times per week and it adds to my exhaustion.

I'm looking forward to either working super part-time with very few hours for now or being able to stay at home and sew for my craft shows coming up this spring. I'm disappointed it didn't work out better, but there's always a reason and I've earned a little extra to help with some baby expenses so we're happy about that.

Diapering Decisions

Ever since we started TTC, I've done a lot of research when it comes to what we want to do with our children. While there are still many things that we are considering, one thing has been pretty consistent.

We want to cloth diaper.

Cloth diapering has come a long way since we were kids and the styles and options out there are incredible. As a nanny, one of the children I watched was cloth diapered through a service and it really wasn't that bad. Of course, we'll be doing our own laundry, but I'm certain that it's something we definitely want to try out.

I have already started our stash and plan on expanding it more over time. I want to have a decent selection of diapers so we're looking to purchase some and make some.

So far, I've ordered three and made two. The two I've made are OS (one size) AI2 (all-in-two) so they can have the soaker pad snapped or laid directly against the babies skin. I also will be making some pockets and maybe a couple of AIO (all-in-ones) so that I have more variety and see what we like.

The first one I made is a gender-neutral green one. It has green PUL with adjustable snaps and white minky on the inside. This is set to the smallest setting and I accidentally added two extra snaps in the middle...oops!

And this is on the biggest setting!

The second one I made is a girl one (because my mother-in-law really thinks it's a girl and I have some super cute fabric). It has a hidden layer of PUL and a cotton exterior. This one is made with velcro and an adjustable rise.

Set on the smallest setting...isn't it so cute?!

So, that's what I've been up to lately. I have a craft show coming up in the spring and hope to make some to sell there as well!

Hi Ho, Hi ho, It's Off to Work I Go!

Since we moved in with my in-laws to save for a house, my days have been a little different. You see, taking care of a bedroom versus an apartment is a lot less work. I cook two days a week per what my mother-in-law suggested and we're in charge in vacuuming our bedroom weekly and doing our own laundry. So, the chores are few and far between. It's awesome, really, but I get rather bored...don't tell my mother-in-law because I'm sure she could find plenty for me to do ;)

After really thinking about it, I decided that I might want to look into getting a part-time job. Something that would give me a few hours a week that wouldn't interfere with my business since I have shows coming up and wouldn't interfere with spending time with my husband. I wanted something that I would enjoy and would get me out of the house so I could be more productive.

A month ago, my mother-in-law needed a new sewing machine so I went to the local Viking Sewing Gallery that I like and talked to the manager about what machines they have and price points. Mom-in-law wanted me to do the research then she could make a decision since the last time she got a machine was when she got married 40 years ago! After talking to the manager (wearing sweats and no make-up, mind you) she asked me if I wanted a job.

Of course, I inquired about the hours/days and realized that it would definitely work for me! After talking it over with my husband and praying about it, I decided to put in the application and was hired on the spot at my interview!

I'm really liking my job so far. I work two days a week for a total of twelve hours. Right now it's week days, but I may work one Saturday a month once I'm fully trained. I am currently working on learning all of the sales techniques and all of the machines which makes me super excited. I get to learn to embroider and will be able to teach some classes once I'm trained so that will be awesome!

The only downside is being so tired, but I know that it's better for me to keep myself occupied than not and it really helps the day to go by.

Saving Money Saturdays

This week I'm going to talk about how to spruce up your couch without spending a lot of money.

If you are crafty at all and can sew a straight ish line, you can make these!

I absolutely love to change the decor in our apartment from season to season. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is by making new pillow covers for our couch. It's super easy and doesn't take much time.

This time I was looking for something with a bright, summery feeling and I came up with these...

Nice and bright. The good news is that it only cost me about $8 to make both of these 18" covers! How's that for saving money and changing the decor?!

It's really easy to make and can be done in a short amount of time!

I love organizing. Seriously, I do. But, it comes to a point where it can be completely overwhelming. Take our apartment. It has two bedrooms, one bath, a small, cube of a kitchen, and an open living/dining room. It's not huge, but not too small either. It has a lot of closets {which I make sure to use for all of my storage and stocking up}.

Our apartment has been transformed many times. The living room has been rearranged three times and the guest room is on it's fourth turn. We still call it the guest room, but it's now used exclusively as my sewing room.

Reorganization is not easy. It involves moving furniture and a lot of organization...organization that has been desperately needed.

This time around we are completely changing around the guest sewing room. Nothing is the same and get this...my husband actually told me that he wanted me to buy a sewing table! Seriously, he let me find what I wanted and we actually bought it! It has made such a huge difference and I can't wait to show you once the room is finished.

Here's the table we bought...

(target.com)

It's technically a "writing desk", but was exactly what I was looking for. It has plenty of space for my machine and a drawer to put some of my sewing essentials in.

I'm definitely looking forward to finishing it all up. Hopefully that will be soon.



Sewing for my Business

I love sewing. It's something that I started doing randomly a couple of years ago and really got into last summer. Once I decided that I enjoyed it so much, I made the decision to start up a business!

I started making and selling clutch purses online on my Etsy shop and mostly at craft shows. I get tons of compliments on them, but they're not a hot ticket item. They are, however, really cute.

I also made some quilted cosmetic bags and wristlets that didn't sell well at craft shows, but they were a hit with people I knew!

A custom one for the school I was working for.

Since those weren't selling too well, I started branching out and making fleece scarves and felt rosette hair pins for kids and boy did those sell!

Which got me thinking...maybe baby and kid stuff would sell better at craft shows! This got me into making some new things for the craft show at the end of the month like...

Customized burp cloths...

Pacifier Clips...

And bibs!

I'm hoping that these items will be much more received (and purchased) since the price point seems to be more of where people are comfortable spending.



Recent Craftiness

When I was younger people would constantly tell me how creative I was. I loved to do arts and crafts and would always find something to create. Over time that has really fallen by the wayside. Even as a nanny there are many times where crafts would be great to do, but I'm at a loss of what to do. Getting this sewing machine has been a great thing for me. All I want to do every night is some kind of new project. I don't know much about sewing except for how to thread a bobbin, thread the needle, straight stitch, and now zig zag, but I've been able to do an apron, pin cusion, and small tote with it! I seriously only have been taught how to hem and turn inside-out, but with some creative thinking things have come out better than expected! Here's the tote bag I made out of the same material from the apron because I have tons of extra:

Apron Project

Last night I attempted my apron project. After work I went to my local JoAnn's Fabrics store to get some fabric and thread for the project. Earlier in the day I looked up patterns online, but didn't find anything that really struck my fancy. After a lot of thinking the decision was made to make a short apron, one that goes around your waist as opposed to a full apron. Here's the end result:

phil was a great sport letting me use him as a model...i think he looks kinda cute in it too ;)

Overall, I think it came out great for my first "by myself" project considering I know nothing about sewing. I literally thought about how it could work, did a lot of hemming and straight-stitching and this is how it came out! I thought about pockets, but when they were pinned on I didn't think they looked right with the apron so I am still undecided about those. Maybe I'll do a reverse one with the brown and white polka dot fabric for the main part and the blue swirl fabric for pockets and ties. If anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Sewing project

 This is my new sewing machine! It is a Singer 717 from 1971. I was lucky enough to get it from a friend for free! It is in great condition and sews perfectly. When Amanda first brought it over the bobbin threader was broken and she didn't know how to fix it. Determined to make it work, I took it over to Phil's parents and had them look at it. Dad said it was the bobbin winder tire most likely and a new one should be able to be picked up from Jomax to replace it. So, this morning I headed out to Jomax, picked up a new tire, brought it home, and tried it out and guess what...it works!!! This will make things much easier than going over to Phil's house to use his mom's machine to thread bobbins and it only cost $3 to fix! My first project is placemats for my table. I started on them yesterday with Phil's mom and will hopefully have them done this week and will post pictures.