I'm turning my attention to Things I Can Do For Money Without Leaving My Kid. An unexpected skill has cropped up -- apparently my June Cleaver gene was only dormant, not missing completely as was suspected by Ms. Michaels, my 11th grade Home Ec teacher. I flunked, by the way, as a result of my abysmal sewing project.
And yet ... since being home with the Cub, I've kind of fallen into this hobby of finding out what I can do/make for myself instead of buying it. You can call it a hobby, as I do, you can call it frugal, as my mother-in-law does, or you can call it remarkably cheap, as most people do. In any case, I discovered that I can make my own clothes soap, much better for the environment and our skins, for next to nothing. I save all our veggie scraps and freeze them, then make veggie broth to cook with (highly yummy!). I also use the broth to make seitan, a staple in our household, and a tenth as much to make as it is to buy. I get this wierd sense of satisfaction at the grocery store as I completely bypass certain aisles. I wouldn't have thought I'd head down this path, not at all.
Speaking of paths, I've gone off on a tangent, haven't I? This was supposed to be about a marketable skill I've discovered. I've been fooling around with patterns, sewing Cub's diapers, and finally hit on a combination I really like. There's a surprising number of parents using cloth diapers, and a surprising number of them like the ones I make. Can I actually make money at it? We'll see. I've sold a few cloth menstrual pads as well, so I'm adding them to the website-in-progress that my husband keeps promising me ... (actually, I should get off my ass and do it myself, it's not like I don't know how, I'm just in the habit of shoving computer-related stuff onto his to-do list) Gonna try making slings, since I think they're the greatest baby gadget on earth. And there are a couple of patterns for kid clothes that I'm trying out, too.
I have trouble envisioning myself this way. Self-employed? SEWING? But then, I never saw myself as a stay-at-home mom, either, and that turned out to be the best career move I ever made. Guess I need to expand my self-image a little.
So. Watch This Space for a website where you can see what I can do, and feel free to nag my husband if you don't see it SOON.
Pamela
