Organics will soon be here!

Hello everyone! I am SO EXCITED!! Why, you ask?

Well, my organic fabrics arrived a few days ago and they rock (well, with one exception). The Harmony Art prints are as soft as they are beautiful and they wash extremely well. The organic is thick and as soft as the fleece, which is fantastic. The fleece isn't as thick as I thought it would be -- it's not like the blizzard or anti-pill fleece you find in stores, but it's still a great fabric. The sherpa, though, is a whole 'nother beast. I can honestly say I hate it, hate it, hate it.

Oh, don't get me wrong... It's thick, soft and super snuggly, but it's a bear to work with. First, I wash it (in Seventh Generation 100% natural, perfume free soap with no fabric softener) and it shrinks an ungodly amount -- I lost something like 20% of the original amount. I ordered one yard, which was 54" x 36" and I *might* have been left with a width of 40" when the washing and drying (tumble dry low) was done. I was ok with that, but that stuff is monstrous to sew. Talk about distortion -- I thought minky was bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to the sherpa.


Want to see what I'm talking about? Look at that serious distortion -- I'm meticulous about cutting out my squares exactly, I pin things in place to keep them from shifting, I sew slowly and I'm just careful, overall, to ensure things are in place. Sewing cotton is easy-peasy, I don't even pin that... but minky stretches, so you've got to be careful if you're not using stabilizer or interfacing (which I don't). Ugh. I'm seriously rethinking the sherpa now because it's major effort to sew and I'm afraid it'll shrink *again* when someone washes it (hint: iron!). I'll post more pictures of these blankets once I put the flannel on the back -- they really are going to rock when they're done... I can't believe how soft all my materials are :).

Anyway, you should see the bibs! They're amazing and the burp cloths (filled with 100% natural cotton batting!!) are going to be fantastic. All I have to do is put the snaps on the bibs and they're done -- the snaps will be the *only* thing on the bib that isn't either organic or natural. My cotton thread is Gutermann's 100% natural cotton thread and the fabrics are certified organic.

Also, I'll be away from my computer until Saturday -- we're going up to Gainesville to hang out with college friends for the BCS National Championship game. Go Gators! :) :) :)