{this moment}

inspired by The Gnome's Mom
 
A time to stop and reflect on the week and share a photograph. For me to remember what it's all for, where my inspiration and passion comes from and to share a piece of my life with you. ♥

First field trip, to a local orchard. was a lot of fun!

Sorry i haven't posted much this week! but don't forget that the giveaway ends on sunday!

sewing from the heart

i am sewing along with Hopeful Threads in a project this month to Remember Service Men & Women

this is my first month sewing along, i love this group and the idea behind sharing your talents with other to show them that you are loving and caring for them through your craft.

i made 3 e-reader covers to share, i wish i could do more but i hope that this helps

 

i used this easy tutorial i did not follow it completely (as you can probably see i did not quilt it as much and just did a simple few lines across the fabric. i didn't have time to do the tutorial for this one, but the one i followed is pretty good on it's own.


i realize it is late in the month and you may not have time to consider this months sew along, but maybe you can keep an eye out for one that you can participate in in the future.

happy crafting!

{this moment}

inspired by The Gnome's Mom
 

 A time to stop and reflect on the week and share a photograph. For me to remember what it's all for, where my inspiration and passion comes from and to share a piece of my life with you. ♥

 ♥ i can't believe my 'baby' is 6!

Why use wool covers - an experiment

I started using wool in a desperate attempt to figure out something for night time diapering.. I never knew that I would fall so in love with it =)

 
But why?! why is wool so effective for night time diapering, aside from some information for you I also did an EXPERIMENT! <<insert mad scientist laugh here>> (followed by a girlish giggle) hehe. along with my many other interests I do love a little science  

 
Why does wool work well at night?Night time diapering can be a challenge because with the length of time the diaper is being worn can cause it to get extremely wet, this can cause problems like discomfort and rash

Wool is a great choice because:

- it is water resistant AND absorbent, the outer exterior is scaly called the cuticle and is covered by an epicuticle that is coated in lanolin making it water resistant. The inner part of the fiber called the cortex is water loving and absorb up to 1/3 of it's weight before feeling damp.. so if you're cover is approximately 4oz, it can absorb around 40mL alone before even feeling damp.

- it is breathable and pulls moisture away from the body through the cover and to the outside to slowly evaporate

- it is antibacterial to help avoid rash and stink

- it is flame retardant



so onto the experiment:

Experiment on the power of wool

I set up the experiment: a wool cover with 1 unbleached indian cotton prefold for absorption (at night I usually use 2 however)

I hung it over a glass container with a dowel rod so that I would be able to see if the cover leaked or dripped out

I poured in 40 oz (125mL) of water directly to the middle into the prefold in the wool cover

 

I checked this approximately every 10 minutes for any changes and observed no drips or leaking

I applied pressure from the inside (to simulate the weight of a baby on the diaper) to check for a 'pressure wicking' and even with pressure applied to inside and outside simultaneously I felt no wetness on the outside even though at 30 minutes after 'wetting' the diaper' the prefold was wet the entire length front to back from absorption

After and hour of checking I decided to add another 4oz. (125mL) to the diaper making a total of 8oz (250mL)

I again observed no drips or leaking

 

I then again applied pressure from the inside (to simulate the weight of a baby on the diaper) to check for a 'pressure wicking' and with pressure applied to inside and outside simultaneously, this time I felt some wetness on the outside. At this point the prefold is literally over saturated with wetness.

So what does all of this technical business mean?

I gathered some information on the actual volume of urine output for a child to see how much a child will likely urinate during the night.

Newborn and infant up to 1 year: normal is 2 ml/kg/hour

Toddler: 1.5 ml/kg/hour

Using these rates for a 1 year old up to a 20lb (9kg) and a toddler up to a 35lb (16kg), I found an average of 25 mL per hour

So as a 'heavy wetter' a child could potentially urinate up to 300mL overnight, if sleeping for 12 hours.

The experiment tested up to 250 mL at which point there was some pressure wicking (potentially wet clothes/sheets here)

Wool can hold back the wetness and then absorb up to 1/3 of it's weight before feeling damp.. so if you're cover is approximately 4 oz (which is about what mine weigh) it can absorb around 40mL alone before even feeling damp.

Since we are only using a single prefold (to simulate an entire night of sleep) I think that after 250 mL of wetness if all we are getting is some pressure wicking, that the result is pretty good. I use 2 prefolds at night for more absorption.

I would like to mention, the pressure wicking would/should NOT happen if there were adequate absorption under the wool cover and if the cover is properly lanolized.

When the prefold, fitted etc (absorbent part) becomes so wet that it cannot hold anymore wetness the wool will begin to absorb the wetness and the wool will start to feel wet when it starts to become saturated. The wetness you feel then on the outside is the wool pulling the wetness away from the body and letting it evaporate on the outside of the cover.

All of this happens because of the structural make up of the wool fiber itself. the outer exterior is scaly called the cuticle and that is covered by an epicuticle that is coated in lanolin making it water resistant. The inner part of the fiber called the cortex is water loving and the part that does the absorption.

I hope that I didn't lose you by this point and that you enjoyed this =)
I hope that this helps show the awesome power of wool or at least explains a little more about how it works

 

300 Facebook Fans and gotemcovered etc blog kick-off event!

thank you, thank you, thank you!!! we hope you enjoy

                 ~ from my family to yours
 
I'm really excited to reach 300 facebook fans and to celebrate that AND the start of my new blog Gotemcovered etc i am giving away some fabulous prizes from my etsy shop

all winners will be verified and must contact me within 48 hours of drawing to win, otherwise a new winner will be drawn.

winners will be announced on my blog, on facebook and notified via email

if you have questions or problems please contact me at gotemcovered AT gmail.com


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

oh ye of little patience.. lesson learned

i enjoyed a lesson of my own folly by being too busy for my own good this week...

 

i wasted several (yes SEVERAL) pans of cupcakes and super awesome star wars cupcake liners due to my lack of patience and insistence upon doing at least 2 or 3 things at once.. one of which was trying to bake cupcakes for my sons class for his birthday.

boo and thoughts of /parentfail

i was taught a lesson for my impatience and not only wasted delicious cake but also afforded myself not 1, but 2 trips BACK to the grocery to buy more supplies.. so my idea of saving myself any time by... baking cupcakes and blogging and wrapping presents and making party preparations and checking emails .. oh and eating dinner all at once in different 2-3 thing combinations throughout the day just ended up costing me valuable time and frustration!

thank you universe, lesson learned =) i share this with you and a message saying be patient and just wait for the cupcakes to bake...

on a fun, brighter, and not quite so comedic note: our excitement for star wars and a star wars themed birthday is promising to shape up into a couple fun star wars themed craft tutorials!

Washing and lanolizing your wool diaper cover - simple and easy!

     I have been wanting to make a post like this for so long! It seems to me that washing and lanolizing is one of the most intimidating things for cloth diapering parents who want to try wool covers. I'm here to say it can be easy! and it is even easier still because you generally only need to wash your wool cover once every few weeks (unless they are stinky, soiled, or not as water resistant)
 
     Much like many other things in life, there are many ways that you can achieve the same goal... but this is how i personally do it and it's been working for us...
   
How to lanolize wool diaper covers

You will need:

- Lanolin (the kind used for breastfeeding)

- Baby wash or mild soap

- a small container with a lid or a stirring stick (for mixing the lanolin)

- a towel (bath size is good)

- a basin/container (or you can just use the sink)

- wool cover


Run some clean lukewarm water in to the basin (a little cooler than a baby bath) and a small quirt of the baby wash

If your wool cover is soiled leave the soiled side out for easy cleaning

Put the cover into the water push it down into the water, you will see that it resists the water a bit, flip it over and push it down again

 

Let the cover soak for about 20 minutes

If there are any soiled spots on the cover you can gently rub them to get the out using your hang and the mild soap if needed

rinse the cover out in the basin water and set to the side, dump the basin water

To prepare the lanolin put a pea sized (or small line) of the lanolin into your small container

Add some very hot water to melt to lanolin and a squirt of the baby wash to emulsify, put on the lid and shake until it is mixed well (no clumps of lanolin should be visible)

Add some very hot water to the basin (about 1/2-1" deep) dump in the lanolin mixture and stir.

Add cold water to bring the temperature back down to cool/lukewarm again

Add your washed, wet wool cover

Let it soak about 10-15 minutes then flip over and let it soak another 10-15 minutes

You will see that the lanolin looks oily floating on the top of the water. i usually try to put my hands under the cover and gently lift it up flat to pick up the lanolin off the top of the cover as the water falls through it. i do this on each side and then pick it up it open (like how your child wears it) a few times to get the lanolin through the crotch

After the soaking time is done, take your towel and lay it out on the ground (folded in half)

Gently pick up your lanolized cover and squeeze out the water, gently but firm enough to squeeze out the water (do not wring, pull or twist the cover)

Lay it out flat on the towel, roll the towel up jelly roll style

Gently step onto the rolled towel to squeeze out the excess water (or get some little feet to help... my boys always want to help with this part)

Unroll and lay the cover flat to dry (do not hang to dry!)

I hope this helps you. please let me know if you have any questions.

~ emilie

about me...

i am a stay at home/work at home mother to 2 boys and wife to a hardworking husband

i am the owner and seamstress of GotEmCovered

i love my family and spending time with them... when i'm not doing that i love sewing, crochet, art... of all kinds, reading, science, playing video games, screenprinting, hand dyeing yarn... okay so i've got alot of irons on the fire... the list could go on. so let's just say i'm a jane **ahem** well an emilie of many trades.

i am passionate about learning and i love to share what i know. i wish to never stop learning... learning and experiencing new things leads to growth, when you stop growing.. you start dying

i created this blog out of the compassion to share, so many other wonderful people who have shared their patterns, their tutorials, their life experiences and i have used these to my benefit and i now wish to share my ideas and experiences in hopes that it may help someone else.
My other motivation is my grandmother.. as a child i was sure that she could make anything that my heart desired or fix anything that may have broken. She was a loving, caring, and generous woman to anyone she met, i strive to be like this.

i will be sharing ideas, things i like... cloth diapering, breastfeeding, nature, natural living, excercise/health, charity sewing/crafting, and tutorials for things i make
 
there is no method to this madness... although i try to believe there is
 
i hope you enjoy!