Taxes, serger thread and fabric galore!

I got my first bit of fabric this week, yay! I'm researching direct suppliers now. I want to develop a relationship with a source buyer, I think it will be better off for me in the end. Today was a big day, I got my sister's serger in the mail. My serger just isn't workhorse enough to keep up with the demands I'll be putting on it so my sis graciously offered to loan me hers while I get things up and running. I also got in some thread cards from Superior and think that's the thread I'm ultimately going to use. Bottom line is that I'm going to use the best of the best I can so my products can stand the test of time. After all, one of the benefits of cloth is using the diapers for multiple kids, these dipes have to last. I washed some bamboo today and will start dying and sewing tomorrow, making some testers. Since I already have a construction design I'm happy with, and I know that absorbancy is fine, I'm really just testing serger thread and dyes at this point. I'll be a bit ahead of the game though, so when I get back from vacation in mid March all I need to do is start working.

why tickety bu?

I thought it would be a good idea to have a blog and start putting all my thoughts down while opening my new business. I started out in advertising and after 12 years of working in marketing, I had my daughter. I didn't start out wanting to stay home, but had the opportunity to when we moved from Richmond, VA to New York. It was quite an adjustment going from working 60-80 hour weeks to taking care of an 18 month old full time. I was having a blast! Lorelai is a wonderful girl and I started taking one day at a time for the first time in my life. Living each day to it's fullest and slowing my life down dramatically. It was just what I needed.

Part of slowing down meant taking stock in our lives as a whole. My husband and I began making changes for our family. We starting "going green." We started small, recycling more, eating organic, changing to florescent light bulbs. The normal stuff. Then, I got pregnant with our son Magnus, and the changes to our lives really started to happen. We composted, did away with paper towels and all chemical cleansers. When my son was born, we started to use cloth diapers. 

When I started using cloth I did what many do, I rejected the idea of prefolds and decided that we had to use pockets and AIOs. After trying a bit of this and a bit of that for 6 months, I found the prefold love. And with that of course, came my love of wool. I love how easy they are to use. I love using natural fibers on my son. The next logical step for me was to make my own. I have always enjoyed sewing and this was an opportunity for me to make exactly the diapers and covers that I wanted. I started using bamboo velour and wool exclusively on Magnus. The simplicity of the system, the softness, the superior absorbency and the renewable nature of the fabrics really appealed to me and made sense with our lives. And I had a lot of fun making them! 

After being out of the rat race for a few years, and given that our daughter is in school now, I had been thinking of doing something that would bring some money into the house, but that would fit with my desire to be home with the kids. Making cloth diapers seemed to be a natural fit for me. It's really the culmination of what we've been doing with our lives over the last few years. So, tickey bu was born!